Newly acquired Los Angeles Kings 29-year-old Russian left-winger Andrei Kuzmenko, traded to the Kings from the Philadelphia Flyers at the trade deadline on Friday, played in his first game against the St. Louis Blues last Saturday at Crypto.com Arena and seemed to fit right in. He had no practice time and only a brief orientation to some of the Kings on-ice schematics during the pregame.
Despite having little time to prepare, Kuzmenko seemed to be very comfortable during the Kings 2-1 overtime victory, playing almost as if he wasn’t a newcomer. His ability to quickly adapt to the team’s style of play was very apparent.
Kings head coach Jim Hiller inserted Kuzmenko right away into the top line, joining Kings superstars Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, giving him an opportunity to have an immediate impact. And he did just that.
The Kings like Kuzmenko for multiple reasons, especially because he’s a great skater, quick in the offensive zone and from one end of the ice to the other. With his skills, he’s dangerous on the power play (Hiller also inserted Kuzmenko into the top power play unit), has a wicked shot, knows how to pass the puck, and proved it with his quick “spin-o-rama” pass to Kempe who got a one-timer goal near the end of the third period.
Hiller spoke about Kuzmenko’s performance after the game. “Yeah, I thought he played really well. Good on the power play, kept some pucks alive under the hash marks, turns quick. I thought it was a really good start for him.”
“He’s somebody that’s experienced and seems to be comfortable making plays from that spot. I mean what a pass to Juice (Kempe). We haven’t seen that one all year, have we, I think we were used to seeing that one from time to time before. So, it’s great to see.”
Hiller went on to specifically speak about Kuzmenko’s fit on the top line with Kopitar and Kempe. “I think historically, I would say Kopi and Kempe have been really good off the rush, I think a lot of their offense comes off the rush, they’re really dangerous. We’ve kind of always felt like it’d be nice to get more o-zone danger out of them and I think Kuzy, he’s an o-zone player. He’s a rush player, but I would primarily say his greatest strengths are in the o-zone, he’s hard to handle. I just think, hopefully, we’re going to see more zone time and those quick, tight little plays. Having a righty (on the left wing), even though it’s not the power play, it still makes a difference at 5-on-5.”
More will be revealed as time goes on and Kuzmenko gets more playing time and experience as a member of the Kings, but if his first game is any indication, things are looking good.”