Meet Andrei Kuzmenko. He’s a 26 year old Russian player who came second in scoring through the entire KHL season with fifty three points in forty five games (20-33-53) and also added fourteen points in sixteen playoff games. He’s also a free agent this offseason and is looking to make the jump to the NHL next season. It’s no wonder that almost every NHL team is lining up to court his services this offseason. It’s like a season of The Bachelor where every NHL team is hoping to receive that final rose from Andrei.
Vancouver had their opportunity today to put their best foot forward and try and sweep the Russian off his feet in the hopes of receiving a rose from him, so to speak. Part of the allure with this player is that you are adding a player who is about to enter his physical prime as a hockey athlete, twenty seven years of age, for absolutely no acquisition cost other than a contract.
#Canucks interview highly coveted Russian free agent Andrei Kuzmenko 👀 https://t.co/citDPIfHet
— Offside (@OffsideDH) May 6, 2022
Rick Dhaliwal, a well known radio personality and Canucks insider, has been reporting for several weeks now that Vancouver has a legitimate shot of being able to impress Andrei enough to choose to sign with them and make the jump to the NHL. Andrei will be looking for the best opportunity for himself to come to a team where there is a spot open for him in a team’s top two scoring lines and be able to thrive.
In his introductory press conference when he was first hired, Canucks General Manager, Patrik Allvin, commented on how The Canucks are a great landing spot for any European free agent right now because there isn’t much in the way of competition or depth, which gives that signing player a big advantage to come in and seize whatever role is up for the taking and run with it.
Lets hope that these positive changes keep occurring for Vancouver and is able to start on the player side by landing the best available European free agent. Talk about a good first impression!