Insider: Canucks' Forward Becoming Trade Candidate

As it was put by NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman on Hockey Night in Canada this weekend, there's an "emergent situation" happening in Vancouver with Canucks' forward Andrei Kuzmenko. He's been a healthy scratch recently twice, and has been limited to anywhere from just 10 to 14 minutes a night when he has started. 

He's obviously lost some favour with Canucks' head coach Rick Tocchet, and rival GMs around the league have noticed, and have started sniffing around. 

As you can imagine, there are some conversations around him, other teams have called Vancouver asking 'what are you willing to do here?' They know the Canucks are always looking to clear cap room. 

Tocchet said recently that there are a few improvements he's looking for from Kuzmenko. 

"I want to see a bit more net drive from him.."#Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet on Andrei Kuzmenko's game after he was scratched.

Full interview..https://t.co/RzX7gboNnG pic.twitter.com/ERTlidpSB3

— Donnie & Dhali (@DonnieandDhali) December 4, 2023

"I want to see a bit more net drive from him... A little more conscientious in his own end... He has to know where to be (in his own end) at certain times... If you're not scoring,... that's when you've got to know that... little things matter."

The 27-year-old forward still has one more year after this one at a $5.5M cap hit, and a partial no-trade clause. But teams are checking into it, no doubt.

Photo: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports