The Vancouver Canucks announced they have signed breakout forward Andrei Kuzmenko to a two-year, $11 million contract per his agent Dan Milstein.
Andrei Kuzmenko agreed to terms on 2 year contract extension with NHL Vancouver Canucks. #WeAreGoldStar! pic.twitter.com/cLotFNQWib
— Dan Milstein (@HockeyAgent1) January 26, 2023
The contract carries a salary cap hit of $5.5 million.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has agreed to terms with forward Andrei Kuzmenko on a two-year extension with an average annual value of $5.5 million. pic.twitter.com/1hs6WHsaLz
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 26, 2023
In addition per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Kuzmenko’s contract carries a 12-team no-trade list.
Well this would confirm it…12-team no-trade. https://t.co/fEEdufjOW4
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) January 26, 2023
Along with the bump in salary over the two-year bridge deal, Kuzmenko will receive a $2 million signing bonus in the first year of the contract and a $1 million signing bonus in year two.
Kuzmenko
1st year – 2 million signing bonus
2nd year – 1 million signing bonus
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) January 26, 2023
The #Canucks re-signed pending UFA 26 y/o F Andrei Kuzmenko to 2 year $5.5M Cap Hit Extension:
Year 1 $3.5M Salary & $2M Signing Bonus
Year 2 $4.5M Salary & $1M SBIncludes 12 team no trade list
21G 43P in 47GP
Rep'd by Dan Milstein @GoldStarHockey https://t.co/wqDqKXFNTg
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) January 26, 2023
Kuzmenko is playing well for the Canucks despite this season being not so great. In 47 games, Kuzmenko has recorded 43 points (21 goals and 22 assists). He joins Elias Pettersson as the only player in franchise history to record 20+ goals and and 20+ assists in their first 47 games as a member of the Canucks.
Kuzmenko was not drafted and was gaining interest from several teams around the league prior to him signing with the Canucks back on July 13, 2022. He spent eight seasons in the KHL, where he recorded 53 points (20 goals and 33 assists) in the 2021-22 season, which was his final year.
Rick Dhaliwal: Appearing on the Donnie & Dhali, Kuzmenko’s agent Dan Milstein said he met with management back on January 14th to discuss a bridge deal for the player. Today it became a reality. Milstein went on to say that Kuzmenko told him to get the deal done, so I did.
Andrei Kuzmenko, signed 2x$5.5M by VAN, has scored extremely efficiently as you might imagine considering his 25% shooting percentage. That won't sustain, but he's otherwise been a capable middle-six offensive winger. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/40RUoIgDmG
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) January 26, 2023
His shooting percentage is one of the highest in the league and will not sustain. However, there is no doubt he has made an impact in this lineup for the Canucks. Especially on the powerplay. He has the potential to score even more power-play goals over the next couple of seasons.
The Vancouver Canucks have re-signed Andrei Kuzmenko to a two-year deal with an AAV of $5.5M. That's a big steal for Vancouver. Kuzmenko is legit 1st line winger and could be a PPG player in both next two seasons. pic.twitter.com/3WT5B90wXh
— Rono (@RonoAnalyst) January 26, 2023
Kuzmenko’s name has been out there in trade rumors.
Pierre LeBrun of the Athletic: Teams are calling more on more on pending UFA Andrei Kuzmenko. At the time the Canucks were unsure what they wanted to do with Kuzmenko. They did not want to part ways with him as they haven’t given up hope on the idea of re-signing him.
NHL Rumors: Andrei Kuzmenko’s camp looking for a short-term deal with the Canucks
I would imagine the starting price from the Kuzmenko side would be at least $6 million a year on a bridge deal.
Well, that number came to just under $6 million at $5.5 million.