Price is Right: Kuzmenko could be best unrestricted signing in Canucks history
With no end in sight to the fabulous start to the NHL career of Andrei Kuzmenko, the charismatic Russian forward may have already played his way to the top of the Vancouver Canucks all-time acquisitions list.
Well, at least in terms of unrestricted free agent signings.
The non-cap era may have offered up some decent signings, but the Canucks mostly acquired their top talent back then via trades and the NHL Draft — Mark Messier, ahem, being one of the exceptions.
But UFA signings, generally, are fraught with peril. It’s a market that generally means overpaying for an aging asset that will struggle to meet expectations. See Loui Eriksson, for example.
So there isn’t exactly a long list of players to compare Kuzmenko to, particularly in the cap era.
And when you look at different positions it can be hard to compare as well.
Ryan Miller was a fabulous decision for the Canucks, who had already rid themselves of Cory Schneider and Roberto Luongo and were not quite ready to hand the reigns to Jacob Markstrom. Miller allowed the Canucks to chase the playoffs for a few more years with the now-aging Sedins — and even got them there once — all with a save percentage that ventured no lower than .911. But they did pay market value for Miller, so he wasn’t a steal.
On defence, there are two examples that come to mind of late in Chris Tanev and Dan Hamhuis.
Hamhuis was brought in to get the Canucks over the hump, and did he ever. A solid semi-physical defenceman that put up 23 mostly even-strength points in 64 games and then all the way to the Stanley Cup Final before his injury against Milan Lucic ended his run early. It was good value at $4.5 million on the cap. But he was solid, not spectacular.
“Tanev?” you’re (probably) thinking. Well, here’s the thing. As an undrafted free agent from college, Tanev signed a three-year deal during which time he never crested 38 games played. His true value wasn’t realized until he signed as a restricted free agent before the 2013-14 season. So he doesn’t count.
Alex Burrows doesn’t either. It wasn’t until the third year of his second contract that he blossomed. That’s not what we’re going for. They developed these two more than they were UFA signings dropping in to help.
Thomas Vanek jumps off the page somewhat recently because he was such an afterthought. Signed just before training camp for a paltry $2 million, Vanek ended up being the Canucks fourth-highest goal scorer and fifth-highest points-getter despite just 61 games played. But ultimately, it was still just 17 goals and 41 points.
Similarly, Pavol Demitra was a nice signing in the contending Canucks years. It wasn’t an extreme value, though. A $4 million cap hit was no small potatoes in 2008, but Vancouver did get 20 goals and 53 points in that first season.
Anson Carter was, perhaps, the best forward option before Kuzmenko. He signed with the Canucks for just a million bucks in an effort to kick start his career. And he hit paydirt on the ice, with the perfectly authored 33 goals, and 22 assists alongside number 33 and 22 in Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Carter parlayed that into a $2.5 million deal the next year in Columbus and fell to 11 goals in what ended up being his last season in the NHL.
Caveats aplenty, and now Kuzemko is undoubtedly reaping the rewards of playing with a superstar in Elias Pettersson, too. But he came in with impressive stats (albeit in a different league). He was suspected to be good. And he’s delivered.
So, whether Kuzmenko is ultimately dealt for a list of assets or re-signed for years to come alongside Pettersson, his huge value on an entry-level contract has to put him on top of the all-time Canucks unrestricted free agents.
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