"Little bit disappointed": Rutherford talks Canucks' plans for Kuzmenko
Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford gave an update on Andrei Kuzmenko yesterday. The winger tied for the team lead in goals last season but has sat out multiple games so far this season as a healthy scratch.
“We’re a little bit disappointed. He worked very hard this summer, I think when you look at his conditioning and you compare him to another person his age, he’s in top condition,” said Rutherford on The Bob McCown Podcast. “He prepared himself, he worked hard at it. Probably didn’t work at the kind of things you need to be in hockey shape and that affected him a little bit.”
Kuzmenko’s offseason workout regime in Bali made plenty of headlines this past summer, as the Russian player shared lots of photos and videos doing unusual workouts on his social media pages.
However, the player’s conditioning isn’t the only factor that Rutherford pointed to when discussing the sophomore slump.
“He got a little bit more attention this year, coming off a terrific first year where he had 39 goals,” Rutherford continued. “But he’s a good player, he’s a highly skilled player that right now is not in our lineup, but he could go back in at any time and get things going again.”
Kuzmenko’s movement in and out of the lineup has pushed his name into the rumour mill this season. Teams are reportedly calling the Canucks and inquiring about the team’s plans with the player.
“I certainly don’t look at this player as a guy that all of a sudden can’t play the game, he certainly can, and as of today, he’s part of the Vancouver Canucks,” Rutherford said during his podcast interview.
The president of hockey operations’ wording in that response certainly does not take the possibility of a trade off the table.
The Canucks are currently first place in the NHL. They’ve had other players, namely Sam Lafferty and Pius Suter, perform well in Kuzmenko’s role, and thus a trade to reinforce weaker areas of the roster could make sense. The Russian player has another year on his $5.5 million contract.