Oilers Rumours: Andrei Kuzmenko leaning towards the Oilers

After months of continuous rumours, it sounds like KHL standout forward Andrei Kuzmenko is almost ready to make his decision on where he will play when he crosses over to the NHL and the Edmonton Oilers are in the running. The 26 year old put up 53 points in 45 games with St. Petersburg which was good enough for 2nd in the entire league, only behind Vadim Shipachyov.

Kuzmenko has been described as a lethal offensive weapon and as someone that can step into any lineup with immediate impact on both ends of the ice. It would take some getting used to moving from European to North American rules, ice etc. But, I really like the idea of bringing him in.

Playing with the likes of stars like McDavid, Hyman, Draisaitl and more would only boost his impact in the offensive zone. If the team brings him in to play this season after the Gagarin Cup Playoffs (KHL) completes, then the lineup could look like this:

Kane-McDavid-Puljujarvi

Hyman-Draisaitl-Yamamoto

McLeod-RNH-Holloway

Kuzmenko-Ryan-Foegele

Obviously, you would have to move some players into positions they aren’t used to playing. But with Holloway ready to go, the Oilers forward group could look lethal. Now, it’s very likely the lineup I created won’t come to fruition, bu trying some of the players out at new positions and having Kuzmenko be an offensive powerhouse in the bottom 6 could be scary to face in the playoffs. Although, I’m going to assume he doesn’t sign until next season, and we look at the lineup again at that point.

The Left Winger has been connected to many teams in the past, specifically Canadian teams as the Ottawa Senators, Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers all had their hats in the ring. But as per a new source Mikhail Zislis, who is a Russian hockey analyst, tweeted this out today, claiming Kuzmenko is close to making his choice.