Andrei Kuzmenko has been everything the Canucks needed him to be
Andrei Kuzmenko will be 27 when the Calder Trophy is awarded next summer, so he’s ineligible for the award.
But, heck. Let’s face it. He’s been one of the highest-impact “rookies” a month into the NHL season. Kuzmenko has had an excellent start with the Vancouver Canucks, scoring seven goals and 11 points in 14 games. It’s been a rocky season for the Canucks, who sit sixth in the Pacific Division with 11 points – 13 behind the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights.
Most of the headlines surrounding Vancouver have been centered around calamity, on and off the ice. But the instant success of Kuzmenko is a positive one.
There are always a few hyped KHL free-agent signings each summer. Artemi Panarin was one of them. But for every Breadman, there’s a Vadim Shipachyov or Nikita Gusev – players with immense talent that couldn’t strike gold early and were discarded quickly. KHLers are typically inexpensive and have years of pro experience before coming over. In theory, they should be plug-and-play from the get-go.
And luckily for the Canucks, that’s precisely the case with Kuzmenko.
Kuzmenko played eight seasons of KHL hockey before coming over, having a breakthrough season with 20 goals and 53 points in 45 games with SKA St. Petersburg last season. Having Gusev – one of the best KHLers ever – as a teammate can’t hurt. But KHL success, especially after turning 25, isn’t a direct indicator of NHL potential. Still, teams lined up to secure Kuzmenko’s services, which Vancouver ultimately won, signing him unofficially in June before the paper work was locked in by July.
A strong pre-season forced Kuzmenko into the team’s top six, playing mainly alongside Elias Pettersson. Pettersson is leading the team with 18 points, and paired with Kuzmenko, they’ve exceeded expectations. When lined up together, the pair have a Corsi-for percentage of 58.06 and an expected goals-for percentage of 66.90. When apart, they’ve struggled. The key is finding the right second winger for that line, with Ilya Mikheyev doing a solid job since returning from injury. While a sample size of 24.4 minutes isn’t much, the Kuzmenko-Pettersson-Podkolzin trio combined for a 73.1 expected goals percentage, according to Money Puck – that’s good for 10th in the league.
And then there’s Kuzmenko’s power-play play, too. He’s up to four goals and five points, with only Bo Horvat (five) scoring more goals on the man advantage on Vancouver. Kuzmenko is top five, or just outside it, in most analytical stats for the Canucks this season – there have been so few stumbling blocks as a whole in Kuzmenko’s transition to the NHL.
He looks like a seasoned veteran already. The Canucks needed scoring depth, and they’ve gotten it from Kuzmenko.
Kuzmenko’s goals have mostly come in spurts – he had six goals in a four-game span between Oct. 27 and Nov. 3, including a hat-trick against Anaheim. His ice time has fluctuated from 20:42 on Nov. 1 to 13:30 this past Tuesday. So consistency is still something the Canucks are looking for in Kuzmenko, but it’s still early days.
In terms of the next batch of KHLers that could make an impact, there aren’t many real standouts right now. It’ll be interesting to see if Winnipeg Jets fifth-rounder Dmitri Rashevsky comes over next season. He has 11 goals and 20 points in 28 games for Dynamo Moscow and many believe he could make his way over to the NHL next season. Then there’s 22-year-old goaltender Dmitri Nikolayev, who has a 13-1-0 record with a .944 save percentage with SKA St. Petersburg. This is his first full KHL season, and his team has a 20-2-5 record, but he’s been spectacular this season. He’ll be one to watch for sure, but that’s just open speculation.
Kuzmenko’s deal is a one-year entry-level deal worth $950,000. At the rate he’s playing, he’s in for a solid payday, as is captain Bo Horvat and bottom-six winger Nils Hoglander. There’s still some ironing out on the performance side, but it’s never bad when you can add an inexpensive winger to your top six and find immediate success. Given the on-ice performance of the club this year, you have to think there are changes coming to the team’s core, but Kuzmenko looks like a piece of the team’s future.
And everyone knows Canucks fans need something positive in their lives right now.
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