"That's why we have a great coach, and he already has a plan," he said. "He going to give us the plan, and we have to stay with that plan. If it's bad or good for you, doesn't matter. You have to stay with the team, and you have to play like a team.
"So if you play good in your position, good. Don't worry about other guys. They have to worry about themselves. If everyone going to be good, so whole team going to be good. If something bad over there, of course, we can help them, but just have to worry about your position on the ice.
"I mean, just the small details on the ice, you have to be patient, because when we get the puck, the transition, our team can play so quick. We can go 2-on-1, 3-on-1, so easily. We just have to defend well like we defend in playoff."
At the 2018 Player Media Tour last week, NHL.com asked players to name a Cup favorite other than their teams. Kuznetsov refused to play along.
"I think we're going to win," he said.
Asked for a team other than the Capitals, he said, "Nobody."
It's almost like he wants a do-over or two of the big moment.
"You can see fans, you can see people, they're, like, 'Oh, congrats! Congrats!'" he said. "And now I start understand. So Stanley Cup, it means a lot. Can you imagine the people who got three Stanley Cups? How cool is that, yeah? That's unbelievable."