Evgeny Kuznetsov Receives Four-Year International Ban After Positive Cocaine Test

Evgeny Kuznetsov has been suspended after testing positive for cocaine at the IIHF World Championships in May.

Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov received a four-year suspension from the International Ice Hockey Federation after testing positive for cocaine at the IIHF World Championships on May 26.

The federation announced the suspension on Friday and said Kuznetsov "didn't require the analysis of his B-sample and was provisionally suspended on 13th June 2019." His period of ineligibility ends on June 12, 2023. The ban does not affect the Capitals, who he is under contract with through the 2024-25 season.

Kuznetsov, 27, competes internationally for Russia and cannot participate in the 2022 Beijing Olympics or the next three world championships.

In May, he appeared in a now-deleted Twitter video that showed him near a table with two lines of white powder. Kuznetsov denied using cocaine and explained that the video was taken during the summer of 2018 when Washington won the Stanley Cup. He said he went to meet up with friends and left soon after seeing "strange substances on the table."

The NHL investigated the incident but closed its review within a few days, saying it didn't question his account of the event.

Kuznetsov scored 21 goals in 76 games in 2018–19. The Capitals finished the regular season at 48–26–8, but fell to Hurricanes in the first round of the playoffs.

Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.