Los Angeles, CA—Coach Jim Hiller wasted no time in declaring his intentions for new acquisition Andrei Kuzmenko, added just before the bell sounded to indicate that all horse trading must cease in the run up to the end of the season and playoffs. He came over from Philadelphia, where he has played seven games this year and scored 2-3-5 points. He began the season with Calgary, where in 37 games he had 4-11-15 points.
So not a big splash on the part of the Kings, who never are all that aggressive in their approach to trade deadlines. Sure, who wouldn’t want Rantanen or even Marchand, who was legitimately linked to LA, by rumor at least, before he shocked everyone and signed with Florida. But that kind of bomb was never going to happen for LA. The Kings just aren’t wired that way. So they made what is often called a “minor move.” Their intentions are hardly as sedate as you might expect, however.
For this player, it’s straight into the fire. Here’s how Coach Hiller described his anticipated fit during pre-game media availability prior to the Kings’ third game against St. Louis in eight days “We’ve been looking for someone to play with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe . . . so he’s going to complement those two, so that part was an easy decision,” Hiller said.
He will also be on the first power play unit. When Drew Doughty was asked about Kuzmenko’s anticipated impact, he referenced the somewhat anemic PP and used the words, “Instant improvement.” A couple of years ago, when Kuzmenko scored 39 goals with Vancouver, 14 were on the Power Play. The Kings are clicking at 29th in the league at 15% on the PP. Actually, “clicking” is obviously not the right word there. But that’s the number.
Pressure or not, how did this 29 year-old Russian get to this stage in his career? Born in 1996, Kuzmenko played for a variety of Russian Junior and KHL teams. In fact, a dizzying number, though he stabilized for four solid seasons with St. Petersburg SKA from 2018-19 through 2021-22. His NHL journey has equally been a wander. He started his career with Vancouver, and was traded In his second season to Calgary.
The Flames kept him half of the next year and shoveled him off to Philly. His coach there, John Tortorella, praised him for his energy and creativity.
Now he’s been moved to LA for a third-round draft pick. (A seventh-round pick came with him.) What’s up with all the moving around? This Kings team has endured its ration of troublemakers of late. Everyone remembers DuBois, now gone to Washington. How about Fiala, still in the lineup but having been in Hiller’s doghouse earlier in the year for missing a team meeting after being benched in-game.
Is the new guy a pest? A bad boy? One person I spoke with explained Kuzmenko’s seemingly frequent mobility by saying none of the above. “He’s just not that good,” he claimed, and indicated that he should have been a secondary move, rather than the team’s primary one. Looking at his trade history, he never seems to be “the guy” in any trade he’s been involved in.
In terms of salary, he is middle of the road, too, with a cap hit of $5.5 million. Should he live up to his historical average of about .7 points per game, that’s probably about the right money. However, the Kings will demand fully responsible two-way play, a rounded game.
Until then, he has the freedom to play in whatever way best shows off his skill set, according to Hiller. “He’ll play with Kopitar and Kempe. He’ll have an important role with that group on the power play. He’s a dangerous offensive player. That’s what I know about him.”
Soon enough, though, won’t he be swallowed up by the Kings’ lockdown style?
As for what he did on the ice versus St. Louis on Saturday, he started out fumbling a couple of pucks. Nervous? New gloves that match the team colors? He was also all over the ice in period one, floating and looking for a pass from one of his two premier line mates. In P2, he was most noticeable on the power play, where he was in and around the net, even dominating the play behind the cage and bringing the puck out a couple of times. He also stood in directly in front of the St. Louis goalie while waiting for shots from teammates. Nothing reached him, but Hiller noticed. He would comment after the game that Kuzmenko was present at the net front on the PP.
Note that Kuzmenko was on the ice for the first LA goal, though he did not figure in the scoring. In fact, he had given the puck away just prior to the scoring play. Those participating in the goal were Kopitar, Doughty, and Mikey Anderson.
In period three, Kuzmenko carried on with Kopitar and Kempe, once dancing the puck through center and down the slot. He wheeled to the left dot but lost it trying to pass to himself between the legs.
He was visible most of the night, and he played bigger than his dimensions, 5’ 11” and 194 lbs., would indicate. After the game, which the Kings won, 2-1, in OT, Kuzmenko was effusive with the media, though he warned us that if he missed a word of the questions posed to him, he would not be able to give a good answer.
About his defensive play (on a team which prides itself on stinginess): time will tell which is correct: “He’s got to learn our system, and we don’t want to burden him with that right away. ‘Just go play’ he was told.” Or “This guy doesn’t play defense.” Jim Hiller said the first thing; someone else the second. Hiller would add about his new player’s first game, “We want to let him play his game offensively. Certainly there’s a few things defensively we need him to understand, but mostly, he’s gotta go. Gotta go. Do what he does best.”
Also of note is that the Kings needed a right-shot player. I counted the other night and found that nine of the 11 forwards (Hiller was playing his recently favored 11-and-7 lineup) were left shots. Kuzmenko is a right shot playing on the left side. How does that help matters? Hiller explained before Saturday’s game that many European players favor playing on their off-wing, saying, “It’s very natural for both [Kempe and Kuzmenko]. There’s way more advantages offensively, certainly at the offensive blueline the ability to cut in, be the driver if someone is driving to the net. Avoid a stick if you’re trying to pass across the ice.”
At the end of the day, or night, one player of this caliber is not going to make “all the difference,” but one player who lights up the first line and gets an anemic power play going might just be enough for an over-the-top push. At least the Kings are hoping so.
Notes
Hiller went with 12 forwards and six defensemen, a more conventional lineup than he has been using for a number of weeks. He said that he would be doing that more in games to come as a way to balance everyone’s minutes to avoid fatigue as the season winds on.
Kuzmenko’s choice of #96 makes him the first Kings player to get so suited up. They had another guy with a close number. I think it was #99. Nobody can wear that anymore. Perhaps you’re familiar with that story.
