Rumor: Kuznetsov may walk away from positive drug test without so much as a slap on the wrist.

Things had gotten very quiet this summer in the National Hockey League. The somewhat unique situation surrounding the National Hockey League's top restricted free agents this summer had seemingly brought the news cycle this summer to a grinding halt, that was until the International Ice Hockey Federation dropped an absolute bombshell on the hockey world. 

The IIHF shocked everyone when it announced that Washington Capitals star forward Evgeny Kuznetsov had received a massive suspension from their organization after the Russian star had failed a recent drug test. Now for some context several months ago a video surfaced online where Kuznetsov could clearly be seen around a white powdering substance that was cut into lines on a mirror, leading just about everyone to believe that he was in fact using cocaine in the video. However after an investigation from the National Hockey League the Russian player was cleared of any wrongdoing and the story simply appeared to have died out. It seems as though the IIHF was not nearly as convinced as the NHL however and after that body administered a drug test the ugly truth was revealed. 

In spite of all his previous denials there is now no doubt that Kuznetsov was in fact using cocaine and the IIHF has hammered him with a massive 4 year ban from international competition as a result. This will of course have a tremendous impact on the international events Kuznetsov would have been eligible to participate in, and after the NHL forced its players to skip the Olympics in South Korea, this will likely mean the end of Kuznetsov's Olympic dreams for the time being. The reality is however that Kuznetsov makes his fortune playing in the NHL and many are now wondering how the North American league will handle this incident, an incident that unquestionably has made the NHL itself look a little silly.

Well as it turns the answer may simply be that the NHL is going to do nothing at all. The timing of this situation, although obviously not a good thing for Kuznetsov, could actually work out in favor of the troubled Russian. Kuznetsov released a statement following the suspension, one in which he owned up to his mistakes, but having to give that statement may actually turn out to be the harshest punishment he receives from the NHL.

“I have disappointed so many people that are important to me, including my family, teammates and friends,” Kuznetsov said in an official statement on Friday.

“From the first day I took the ice in D.C., the Washington Capitals organization and our fans have been nothing but great to me and my family. I feel absolutely terrible for letting you down. I realize that the only way I can win you back is to take ownership of my situation and my actions from this point forward.”

According to a recent report from Scott Burnside of The Athletic, it now appears as though multiple sources believe that Kuznetsov will not be disciplined by the league. In fact some of those very same sources are unclear on whether or not NHL commissioner Gary Bettman even has the authority to suspend Kuznetsov for what the NHL considers a "recreational" drug and not a performance enhancing substance. There is another matter here however that may be playing a major factor in this decision, and that is the negotiation of the current collective bargaining agreement(CBA).

The NHL and the NHLPA have already sat down together to begin work on a new CBA in the hopes of avoiding another potential lockout, and a fight over a suspension to Kuznetsov could potentially damage the relationship between the two parties at a critical moment in time. Although getting popped for cocaine use is never a good thing, the timing of his positive drug test could end up saving Kuznetsov from any further discipline, at least as far as the NHL is concerned.