You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. That popular phrase seems to fit Andrei Kuzmenko to a tee right now. The 28-year-old quickly became beloved by Calgary Flames fans after being acquired in a trade last February. Now, it’s a much different story.
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Kuzmenko was fantastic for the Flames to close out the 2023-24 season, scoring 14 goals and 25 points in 29 games. Along with his scoring, he brought an infectious personality which resonated with the fan base. The belief was that he would be one of, if not the Flames’ best goal scorer in 2024-25.
Although many fans understood that Kuzmenko was likely to be traded at or ahead of the 2025 Deadline, some held hope that he would be extended. Flames management reportedly felt the same, as it was reported before the season began that they were considering an extension.
“With the way last season ended up playing out, the reports that I got back was that there were some pretty good vibes,” Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff said to Sportsnet 960 THE FAN’s Pat Steinberg on Flames Talk just before the season began. “The Flames would consider extending Kuzmenko, without a doubt. They have to weigh whether the return they could get on the market exceeds what he could provide by sticking around.”
Thankfully, general manager Craig Conroy and his management team chose to remain patient and not rush into an extension. Had they caved into what was just a 29-game sample, they would already be regretting it wholeheartedly.
Kuzmenko Playing His Way Out of the NHL
The Flames have had an impressive first half of the 2024-25 season, though not at all due to Kuzmenko. He has struggled immensely, scoring just one goal through the 30 games he’s dressed this season. Additionally, he’s recorded only nine assists.
Kuzmenko’s struggles were so blatant that head coach Ryan Huska has been forced to sit him out as a healthy scratch several times over the last month. There is now zero chance of him re-signing in Calgary, and all of a sudden, a player who looked like he was going to be able to bring in a haul by the trade deadline may not receive interest from any teams around the league.
Some are still holding out hope that Kuzmenko can heat up and have some value heading into the trade deadline, but they shouldn’t hold their breath. Following a disastrous game versus the Nashville Predators in which he recorded two offensive zone penalties, both of which resulted in power play goals against, Huska was noticeably frustrated with the winger. Not only did he limit his minutes tremendously in the third period, but he made note of the penalties in his post-game press conference.
“Two offensive zone penalties,” Huska said about Kuzmenko’s performance. “The one thing I would say is a positive thing for him is that he had a lot of shot attempts tonight.”
Based on his play all season long and the comments from Huska following the Predators game, there is a good chance Kuzmenko will be out of the lineup once again going forward. It’s never a good sign being a healthy scratch, but it stands out even more given that this is a Flames team that doesn’t have many offensive weapons.
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Unless another NHL team becomes very desperate, it looks as though Kuzmenko will remain with the Flames for the remainder of the 2024-25 season. He’ll be a free agent this coming summer, and based on his serious inconsistencies during his time in the NHL, it looks like there is a strong chance he will be back in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in 2025-26. It’s been quite the downward spiral for the highly talented forward, and while many Flames fans feel for him, they should also be counting their lucky stars that the two sides didn’t agree to an extension months ago.
