Orpik takes Kuznetsov under his veteran wing
He calls him Batya. It is a Russian colloquialism, meaning Dad. And at first glance you might assume it is in reference to Alex Ovechkin.
After all, when the Washington Capitals took a chance and drafted Evgeny Kuznetsov with the 26th overall pick in 2010, they did so with the hope that Ovechkin would not only convince his fellow Russian into leaving his home country but also would ease the transition to playing in the NHL.
That, more or less, finally happened last year. But during Kuznetsov’s first full season in North America, it has been a California-born defenceman who has acted as the 22-year-old’s father figure. “Oh yeah, Batya,” Brooks Orpik said of the nickname Kuznetsov gave him. “Obviously, someone did that for me. I think it’s really important to make younger guys — whether they’re European or North American — to feel comfortable off the ice, because if they don’t feel comfortable off the ice, they’ll never feel comfortable on the ice.”
On the ice they are polar opposites. Orpik, who grew up around Buffalo and Boston, has had an 11-year career as a stay-at-home defenceman. Kuznetsov, who was born in the bleak, industrial town of Chelyabinsk, is a magical forward.
Kuznetsov has introduced Orpik to some restaurants he might never try on his own. And the 34-year-old veteran has returned the favour, by acting as a sounding board for what was an up-and-down season for the Russian rookie.
“I feel like he is Russian,” Kuznetsov said of Orpik. “He’s just a really great guy.
“He talked to me around the beginning of the year,” said Orpik, “about how he was having a tough time transitioning to the smaller ice and the different game. I don’t know what game it was, but halfway through the season, you just saw his confidence shoot right up.”
Kuznetsov scored 11 goals and 37 points this season. But more than half of those came after the All-Star Break, when he had seven goals and 22 points in 36 games. He has carried that momentum into the playoffs, where the second-line centre scored the series-clinching goal in Game 7 against the New York Islanders.
Heading into Wednesday night’s Game 4 against the New York Rangers, Kuznetsov was tied with Ovechkin with a team-leading four goals in 10 games.
“The first 20 (games) he was struggling to be in the lineup on a consistent basis because there wasn’t a lot of consistency in his game,” said head coach Barry Trotz, who converted Kuznetsov from a winger into a centre. “And then that consistency and learning sort of came around and he got better. You just need to be patient.”