Andrei Alexandrovich Kuzmenko (russian: Андрей Александрович Кузменко; born February 4, 1996) is a Russian professional
ice hockey player currently playing for the
Vancouver Canucks of the
National Hockey League (NHL).
Playing career
Kuzmenko made his
Kontinental Hockey League debut playing with
HC CSKA Moscow during the
2014–15 KHL season
The 2014–15 KHL season was the seventh season of the Kontinental Hockey League. The season started on 3 September with the Opening Cup between defending champions Metallurg Magnitogorsk and Dynamo Moscow, replacing Lev Praha, last year's runner ...
. In the
2017–18 season, Kuzmenko broke out as a 21-year old establishing career bests of 13 goals and 25 points in 45 games with CSKA. In helping the club reach the
Gagarin Cup finals, he produced 4 goals in 15 games.
Approaching the
2018–19 season, Kuzmenko was traded by CSKA to fellow contending club,
SKA Saint Petersburg
The Hockey Club SKA (russian: Спортивный клуб СКА), often referred to as SKA Saint Petersburg and literally as the Sports Club of the Army, is a Russian professional ice hockey club based in Saint Petersburg. They are members o ...
in exchange for
Sergey Kalinin on August 8, 2018.
In his fourth year with SKA in the
2021–22 season, Kuzmenko increased his offensive output to over a point-per-game leading SKA in scoring with 20 goals and 33 assists for 53 points in 45 regular season games. He led the team in the post-season, continuing his scoring pace with 14 points in as many contests before losing in the Conference finals to eventual champions and former club, CSKA Moscow.
As an undrafted free agent and having gained NHL interest, on 20 June 2022, Kuzmenko was signed to a one-year, entry-level contract with the
Vancouver Canucks. He made his NHL debut on 13 October 2022 where he scored a goal in the eventual 5–3 loss to the
Edmonton Oilers. He continued to produce steadily through the early parts of the season; on 3 November, he recorded his first career NHL hat-trick in a four-point game, as the Canucks took an 8–5 victory over the
Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks are a professional ice hockey team based in Anaheim, California. The Ducks compete in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division, and play their home games at Honda Center.
...
. By this time, Kuzmenko had tallied six goals and four assists for 10 points through 11 games.
Establishing himself as one of the Canucks top offensive contributors, Kuzmenko as an impending free agent opted to remain with the Canucks in signing a two-year, $11 million contract extension on 26 January 2023.
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
International
References
External links
*
*
1996 births
Living people
HC CSKA Moscow players
People from Yakutsk
Russian ice hockey left wingers
SKA Saint Petersburg players
Sportspeople from Sakha
Undrafted National Hockey League players
Vancouver Canucks players
Zvezda Chekhov players
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