Are Blackhawks interested in Kuzmenko for potential trade with Canucks?
There’s a new team that’s being talked about as a potential trade partner with the Vancouver Canucks for Andrei Kuzmenko.
The Chicago Blackhawks have been mentioned as a potential fit by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Freidman, who said the following on today’s episode of Donnie & Dhali.Â
“We all kinda see where this is going a little bit with Kuzmenko. The reason I named Chicago is that they really need some scoring. Especially with Bedard out they’re having a lot of trouble scoring. If you look at them, they’re looking for players that don’t have a lot of terms.”
Beyond just the situational fit, Friedman also said on Donnie & Dhali that he’s heard from sources around the league that there could be some talks going on between the two teams.
“I’ve had a couple people say to me they think it’s a little more than that, they think that Chicago has looked into the possibility of it. We’ll see if it goes anywhere. There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence but it makes a lot of sense for the Blackhawks and the Canucks.”
Why does @FriedgeHNIC believe Andrei Kuzmenko would be a fit for the Blackhawks?
Catch his thoughts with us earlier today.https://t.co/l8CCKGJLlh pic.twitter.com/oaqrbVz1oz
— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) January 29, 2024
The Blackhawks currently rank second last in the NHL in goals scored with just 105 goals in 50 games. As Friedman mentioned, their scoring issues have been intensified by injuries to players like Connor Bedard and Tyler Johnson.
While Kuzmenko has just eight goals and 21 points in 43 games so far this season, he finished tied for 20th in goals across the entire league last season. In addition, while this has been a down season for the second-year player, his eight goals would still be tied for fifth on the Blackhawks.
This is the second time that Friedman has connected the Blackhawks to Kuzmenko today as he also did so on The Jeff Marek Show this morning. During that hit, he said that the Blackhawks are looking for players who are not signed for longer than two years.
The Russian winger is under contract for just one more year after this one at $5.5 million. He inked the contract during his 39-goal season last year.
The Blackhawks and Canucks have already made one trade earlier this season when winger Anthony Beauvillier moved east. According to Friedman, that’s yet another good sign that the teams could make another move.
“Look, you guys have already made a deal with Chicago, you did the Beauvillier deal,” said Friedman. “You guys have proven that you can do trades with them.”
Kuzmenko’s name has been in the rumour mill for the past few months as he’s failed to replicate his performance from last season. Trading the winger and his $5.5 million cap hit would allow the Canucks to have the financial flexibility to make another move and upgrade the roster before the playoffs.