Tune in to watch the Capitals play any given night and you might see a top-10 offense or a bottom-five defense.
Both of those observations would be true, as the Caps boast the eighth-best goals for average (3.28) and the fifth-worst goals against average (3.39) in the NHL.
But a real keen observer might also see what's missing.
"His team deserves better," Caps analyst Alan May said of center Evgeny Kuznetsov during a Thursday morning appearance with The Sports Junkies.
May has long been a vocal critic of Kuznetsov when he feels his on-ice performance is lagging behind. He's also heaped the grandest praise on Kuzy when he excels.
But now? He's just plain tired of watching him play. May lowered the boom on Kuznetsov yet again in saying the Capitals, who have dropped six of their nine games in the month of February, aren't performing up to snuff and Kuznetsov is a big part of the problem.
"They're not a 60-minute team," May said. "I think they're a 45-minute team right now and, unfortunately, you have to be 60, 65 minutes in every game and they're nowhere near close to that."
"I'll be nice and I'll say that they've had two 60-minute games so far this season," he said. "It doesn't mean you're gonna dominate every game if you play 60 minutes, but there's huge lapses and periods afterwards you're just... I kind of get pissed off watching it sometimes because it's just painful for me. I love this game and I love my job, but some nights, you know, I feel sorry for the people around me because I get pissed off before we go on air."
"Who's bugging ya right now, Alan," Eric Bickel asked. "Who are you focused on?"
"Evgeny Kuznetsov makes $7.8 million a season," said May. "He's the guy that we're always talking about — Oh, he's got All-World skill. He's got to get it going. The other day I didn't see much out of him in that game. The effort's got to be better. He wasn't here for those games on COVID protocol. He missed way more games after that. He's got to up his level. He should be a dominant player every game. We're not even seeing flashes right now."
"To me, he's got to look within and he's really got to upgrade what he's doing out there," he continued. "They're playing the Pittsburgh Penguins. You need [Nicklas] Backstrom and you need Kuznetsov to be able to go against [Sidney] Crosby and [Evgeni] Malkin, and Backstrom's been the best Caps player, the most consistent player, every game this season. Tom Wilson was tearing it apart before he went out with that lower-body injury. But Backstrom's been the guy. They need Kuznetsov to step up and start playing a way better game. He's affecting his linemates, he's affecting the five-on-five play, the defensemen that he's out there with at times. He really has to be so, so much better."
"It's bothersome because you watch him and know how great he is," May said, "but I kind of get tired of saying the same thing over, and over and over again about the same guy."
"Is he just like on cruise control?" Bickel asked.
"I'm not sure what I'd call it," said May. "There's gotta be more battle."
"Kuze control," joked John-Paul Flaim.
"Believe me, I don't want to see Kuze control," said May. "He is so good. I look at Conor Sheary out there, who didn't have the great start to the season. He looked like he was nervous the first few games, trying to fit in with the new team, and it is hard. A short training camp. You don't really know anyone.
"We've got these weird rules that everyone's living with right now. And the kid is, he's the smallest guy on the team and to me, a small guy has to be noticeable every game. My bias is they better stand out. Well he's been standing out to me in board battles, grit and determination. I looked the other day when John Carlson scored on Sunday, it was Sheary that was parked right in front of the goaltender, takes his eyes away, and Carlson scores himself a nice goal on a shot as he comes in from the point."
"You've got to go the extra mile. You've got to grit your teeth. You've got to be determined," May continued. "And it's not an individual game, it's a team game, but you've got to do your part as an individual in the game to be a piece of the puzzle to be successful and to win. And I look at Conor Sheary doing that right now.
"I look at Lars Eller. Lars Eller could play a bad game to me, but his effort is always 110 percent and I absolutely love that. I'll take everyday players every day of the week over guys that you just get tired of watching."
"Kuznetsov is phenomenal. He's a world-class talent," added May. "And his team deserves better, and really, he deserves to be better for himself. He's got to start pushing himself to the max here."
Within hours of May's radio appearance, Caps coach Peter Laviolette announced the promotion of Sheary to the top line.