After scoring 39 goals in his rookie season last year and looking like a potential long-term core piece for the Vancouver Canucks, Andrei Kuzmenko‘s 2023-24 season has been quite the opposite of what was expected. Healthy scratches, line demotions, and being publicly called out by his head coach, it has been a mess for the Russian forward. However, after being a healthy scratch two games in a row, head coach Rick Tocchet has given his player another crack at things on the top line, an opportunity he must take advantage of.
Kuzmenko’s 2023-24 Season So Far
As previously stated, Kuzmenko’s season has largely been a disaster for him. His illustrious rookie season brought high expectations for this season, and it does not take a genius to see that those expectations have not been met. After tallying 74 points (39 goals, 35 assists) in 81 games in his rookie campaign, he’s scoring at a lower rate this season, tallying 19 points (8 goals, 11 assists) in 30 games.
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The issue hasn’t really been his scoring, however. The issue? He can not get consistent ice time under Tocchet. Despite all the success Vancouver has had this season (including being first in the league in points by Christmastime), the Kuzmenko-Tocchet storyline has almost outshone the team’s success at times.
The winger started the season playing with Elias Pettersson and Ilya Mikheyev on Vancouver’s first line, then was healthy scratched in late November after this defensive error against the Colorado Avalanche, and then found himself on the fourth line, which ultimately does no one good considering he needs higher-end offensively skilled players to bring the most out of his game. Fast forward to today and Kuzmenko is back on that aforementioned top line.
In his first game back with the top line, Kuzmenko scored twice in Vancouver’s 7-4 win against the San Jose Sharks on Dec. 23, 2023. Both goals felt like huge sighs of relief not for just himself, but for everyone connected with the franchise itself, too. What really stuck out, however, is Tocchet’s comments postgame. Despite being a minus-2 on the night, the head coach did not blame Kuzmenko for potentially blowing an assignment and in fact, sent him right back out there for another shift.
Perhaps Tocchet has concluded that Kuzmenko isn’t a reliable defender out there. Perhaps he’s taking a new approach to his forward’s game by letting him play through his mistakes. Whatever his plan is, it was a breath of fresh air to see Kuzmenko receive praise from his coach, hopefully harmonizing their relationship long-term.
Kuzmenko’s Potential Impact on this Canucks Team
Full stop: if the Canucks want to even sniff the Stanley Cup this season, Kuzmenko will have to be involved in the lineup one way or another. He is simply too much of a threat offensively, both at 5-on-5 and the power play, to not be getting minutes in order to help the Canucks go deep in the postseason.
In his last five games, Kuzmenko has started to find that scoring touch that had alluded him previously this season, netting four goals. If he can continue to score and make up for lost time, his defence – or lack thereof – won’t matter to this Canucks group. One way to look at things regarding him is that he could be seen as a potential in-season acquisition for the Canucks.
Yes, that sounds silly. However, Vancouver has been rolling the last month (10-3-2 dating back to Nov. 23, 2023) largely without Kuzmenko in the lineup or playing many minutes. Getting him back to at least half of what he was last season would be huge for this Canucks team. It would feel like a brand new player being injected into this already potent forward group.
Now, that’s not to say president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin should not look to bolster the top-9 with a high-end forward. It’s not a necessity, but in the same breath, it wouldn’t hurt either. Kuzmenko’s situation, however you want to look at it, has been a rollercoaster for all parties involved. However, if Tocchet’s new approach to his player’s game leads to a spark in his game and he takes advantage of this second chance, the Canucks become a whole lot scarier as they push for their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.