LATEST | Tocchet reveals new information on Andrei Kuzmenko and it's positive
The Vancouver Canucks made coaching changes in the season to bring in Rick Tocchet. Since he's been in, the utilization of the team's star winger Andrei Kuzmenko has only decreased.
Rick Tocchet faced the media today and was asked about Kuzmenko and what they (Tocchet and the coaching staff) were trying to implement in the young man's game. He repeated that for him, they were looking at the long-term gain and trying to develop his 200-foot game.
Tocchet advanced that the team's newly hired director of development, and fellow Russian, Sergei Gonchar, had been spending lots of time with the Kuzmenkshow:
Tocchet also pointed out that bringing Gonchar's Nationality but also his teaching methods are definitely tools that can be used to make him a better version of himself.
In his first NHL season, Kuzmenko has been great. Since the season began he managed nothing less than 22 goals and 45 points in only 53 games. Whilst some believe that Kuzmenko puts up his points mostly because of the cohesion he developed with Elias Pettersson, when the two were separated he's shown again and again that he's a constant offensive menace.
The Canucks inked him to an $11M deal for the following two campaigns, did they make the right choice?
| POLL | ||
Did they make the right choice in re-signing Kuzmenko for 2 years? | ||
| Yes, great deal for both parties | 477 | 85.8 % |
| No, that's too much | 24 | 4.3 % |
| No, they should've traded him | 55 | 9.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
