Flames shopping Andrei Kuzmenko: The former Canuck expected to be in demand
Former Vancouver Canucks Andrei Kuzmenko could be trade chip for the Calgary Flames this season.
Andrei Kuzmenko is set to enter his first training camp as a member of the Calgary Flames after being dealt to them in the middle of the 2023-24 campaign from the Vancouver Canucks.
Kuzmenko's role heading into the 2024-25 season is a bit uncertain and while he may start in the top-six, it's not a guarantee that he'll be in that position for very long as it'll depend on his production offensively.
The 28-year-old played quite well for the Calgary Flames after the trade, registering 25 points (14 goals, 11 assists), along with six penalty minutes and was a minus-eight in 29 games. After being dealt to Calgary, Kuzmenko looked like the player he was during his rookie season with the Canucks when he put up 39 goals and 74 points.
In a recent article on The Hockey Writers, Jim Parsons mentions that Andrei Kuzmenko could potentially be a trade chip for the Calgary Flames next season is he isn't able to round out his game and remains just a good goal scorer.
The other layer to this is that Andrei Kuzmenko is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 season and it's unlikely that the Calgary Flames will be a playoff team, which could then lead to them trading the Russian forward rather than him walking for nothing by the time July 1st rolls around.
If Calgary isn't in the playoff picture by the time the trade deadline rolls around, the Yakutsk, Russia native would be a solid piece to a contending team and would provide scoring depth in a middle-six role, while also being a potential powerplay option for whichever team acquires him.
Do you think the Calgary Flames will trade Andrei Kuzmenko this season? Let us know what you think in the poll below.
| POLL | ||
Will the Calgary Flames trade Andrei Kuzmenko? | ||
| Yes | 235 | 85.8 % |
| No | 39 | 14.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
