Canucks fans are buzzing after a familiar name resurfaced as a reunion possibility
Andrei Kuzmenko and Elias Pettersson might be a strange fit on paper, but Vancouver should still think hard about this reunion.
Because the upside is obvious.
Kuzmenko is heading toward free agency, and the Canucks are in no position to ignore low-risk bets with real offensive talent still attached.
That matters even more because Elias Pettersson still feels like the center of Vancouver's biggest problem.
Not only because of his contract.
Because his value has slipped.
- Trevor Beggs, Daily Hive
Kuzmenko's best NHL work came in Vancouver, and it was not random. He exploded for 39 goals and 74 points in 2022-23 while spending major time with Pettersson at 5-on-5.
Pettersson put up 102 points that same season, and Kuzmenko was a huge part of why that line was worth watching.
- Trevor Beggs, Daily Hive
Andrei Kuzmenko is now being linked to a Vancouver return
That is the angle.
Kuzmenko is not a clean player. Coaches can get annoyed with him, and his game still runs hot and cold. That part has followed him since leaving Vancouver.
But the offense has never fully disappeared either.
Even in a down 2025-26 season, he still finished with 12 goals and 25 points in 53 games, and 10 of those goals came in his final 30 games while mostly playing bottom-six minutes.
That is why this should interest the Canucks.
You are not buying a sure thing.
You are buying a bounce-back shot.
- Trevor Beggs, Daily Hive
The contract projection in the piece was 2 years at 4 million per season. For a team in Vancouver's spot, that is not reckless money if the goal is to find tradable value or wake Pettersson back up.
And honestly, that second part may be the bigger prize.
If Kuzmenko helps Pettersson look like himself again, the whole board changes. Maybe Vancouver keeps pushing with them. Maybe it boosts Pettersson's market if the organization ever wants to move him. Either way, there is leverage in that. That last sentence is an inference based on the article's trade-value discussion.
- Trevor Beggs, Daily Hive
«But really, what's the risk?»
- Trevor Beggs, Daily Hive
No one should expect 2022-23 all over again.
Kuzmenko is 30 now.
Pettersson is not skating with the same pop.
And the team around them has changed.
But for the right price, this is exactly the kind of move Vancouver should explore.
Short term.
Real skill.
Actual upside.
That is enough to make the call.
Source : Should Vancouver Canucks bring back Andrei Kuzmenko in free agency?
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YESTERDAY
MAY 29, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Eric Robinson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Carrier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexander Nikishin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Andrei Svechnikov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Frederik Andersen | - | - | - | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zachary Bolduc | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Phillip Danault | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||