Kuzmenko focused on Flames, not stirring pot before Canucks matchup

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Andrei Kuzmenko’s eyes light up when he’s asked about eating at Vancouver’s restaurants.

The Russian likes sushi, that much is clear, and even the most hardened Calgarian knows that the sushi in Vancouver can’t be beat.

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Otherwise, though, the Calgary Flames winger wasn’t about to provide bulletin-board material about his time with the Canucks, who he’ll face for the first time since being traded in the package that saw Elias Lindholm moved the other way.

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“It was good. It was a good time,” Kuzmenko said. “It’s a good city, good fans and good coaches and stuff, good players. Vancouver is a good moment for me, I like this time in Vancouver, but now is my next page in Calgary.
“I like this team. I like these guys. It’s an interesting moment in my career in Calgary.”

Kuzmenko had a lot of highlights during his time with the Canucks and quickly emerged as a fan favourite. He’ll likely be greeted by appreciative cheers at Rogers Arena on Saturday night and not the boos that often accompany a former player’s return.

After signing with the team in the summer of 2022, he turned heads in his first season in Vancouver, scoring 39 goals and adding 35 assists in 81 games.

But he saw his ice-time dwindle after Rick Tocchet took over as head coach midway through the 2022-23 season, and few were surprised when the Canucks included him in the package they sent the Flames in exchange for Lindholm’s services at the end of January.

If there’s any bitterness, Kuzmenko hasn’t expressed it publicly.

And that was true again on Thursday when reporters asked him how it felt to be playing his former teammates for the first time.

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Kuzmenko had every opportunity to take shots at the Canucks. Instead, he opted for the high road — or rather, he avoided saying anything that would stir the pot in two hockey-mad Canadian markets, which is smart.

“It’s a very interesting game,” Kuzmenko said. “It’s a good game. It’s against Vancouver. It’s a good game.

“Great fans in Vancouver, same in Calgary. I’m a little bit excited, we’ll see, but same game.”

Kuzmenko appears to have moved on from his time with the Canucks and is focused on building something new with the Flames. He’s got a contract that will keep him in Calgary through to the end of next season, at least.

But it hasn’t been entirely smooth sailing during his time in Calgary, so far.

He’s been in-and-out of the lineup while he recovered from an illness, and while he’s scored five goals and added three assists in 15 games, so far, he’s averaging only 14:20 per-game. That’s actually a second less than he was playing in Vancouver, a talent rich team that’s running away with first-place in the Pacific Division while the Flames linger well outside of the playoff picture.

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There have certainly been flashes of his offensive talent and it’s way too early to give up on Kuzmenko’s potential to be a difference-maker. The guy can score goals, that’s for sure, but the Flames would definitely like to the Russian showing he can fit their system shift-after-shift and game-after-game.

“I think we have a good sense of what he brings to the table,” said Flames head coach Ryan Huska. “It’s now a matter of finding ways to try and get him to do it consistently.

“We understand who he is and what type of player he is, without a doubt, and the positions we have to put him in. Now, it’s about connecting the dots so he’s really consistent in what we’re looking for.”

There’s work to do for Kuzmenko, just like there is for most players.

And for now, that’s his focus. Not anything that happened in Vancouver.

daustin@postmedia.com

www.twitter.com/DannyAustin_9

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