The Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes got surprising news on Monday, as reports came out that Evgeny Kuznetsov is planning to leave the NHL for the KHL.

Per the Russian publication Championat, Kuznetsov intends to sign a four-year contract with SKA St. Petersburg and will do so after he works with the Hurricanes to terminate the final year of the contract he originally signed while he was with Washington.

Despite the news breaking earlier in the day, it is still just a report, as Russian agent Shumi Babayev, who is also a friend of Kuznetsov’s, emphasized in an interview with Championat, explaining that there is interest from SKA and other teams but that it is too early to discuss him definitively leaving the NHL.

“Everything is possible, but it is too early to talk about the return of Evgeny Kuznetsov to Russia. It’s not even clear why this information came out because he has another year left on his contract with Carolina. But there was interest from SKA,” Babayev said, adding, “I would be glad if Evgeny comes back, he will strengthen the KHL and he will be a star in the league, but it’s too early to say that he will return to SKA or some other team. We are friends and communicate all the time; he is hungry for hockey and wants to enjoy the game.”

If Kuznetsov does indeed depart to play overseas, what does this all mean for the Capitals and their former star center, whose talent led them to their first Stanley Cup title in 2018? And what happens to his cap hit?

Kuznetsov has one year left on the eight-year contract he originally signed with the Capitals back in 2017 and carries a cap hit of $7.8 million. He was traded to Carolina back in March after requesting a change of scenery, and Washington is retaining half of his salary.