The Vancouver Canucks beat the Arizona Coyotes 2-1 today in a big win. Elias Pettersson and Dakota Joshua scored, Andrei Kuzmenko got benched again which was unfortunate to see, and I will be giving my opinions on that in this video! Let me know your thoughts!
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This is pure conjecture on my part, but I'm getting the impression from watching Kuz that he's overwhelmed. On top of defensive mistakes, he's doing stuff like trying to stickhandle and losing control, pass the puck too quickly to have a good look at where it's going to go, not trying to out-skate opponents or take an angle of approach that gives him more space to work in. There were two plays in Columbus where he did skate with the puck and get results; one where he drew the penalty that led to Pettersson's goal, and another drive to the net for a good chance in overtime, but those plays seem vanishingly rare on a longer timescale. I think something about Tocchet's system is just not clicking for him.
Miller makes D-zone turnovers too, but he also has an active stick off the puck, plays physical, forechecks, wins races and possession battles, makes precise passes through traffic, and was 89% in the circle against the Yotes tonight. Myers makes mistakes, but he knows how to start the breakout, is huge and can throw hits, is a plus player on the year, has a lot of experience and is often cited by younger players as being a helpful and stabilizing presence. I don't think you can compare the leash Tocchet is giving to those players with Kuzmenko, because they're doing the things he asks them to do. I think Mikheyev is getting less heat because his off-puck play is fine, and he forechecks in the O-zone, whereas his line's plays are breaking down when Kuzmenko comes under pressure. His lack of production is more of a symptom of the bigger problem.
Bench Myers. Wow, he is not good unless he plays minute minutes
K before I start watching this and I agree with 95% of the things you say. The whole kuzy situation especially tonight I feel was warranted. He played like absolute piss. His defence is horrible and we’ve known this for awhile now. Almost dished up the best apple of anyone on the team so far this season…. To the other team. so with that being said I think it’s fine he was benched tonight. Toch has a system and that system is clicking. So I think it’s completely fair to bench a player that’s going to hurt the system especially in a 1 goal game
Kuzmenko was creating lots of scoring chances during his shifts and then – as you said – he made one bad turnover and he's benched again. Forwards try to make plays and sometimes turn the puck over – Boeser does it ALL THE TIME – he did it 3 times I think this game. Even Petey turns over the puck sometimes. Boeser , who was
20 last season while Kuzmenko was +9, never gets benched for his bad passes that result in turnovers – he's not that good a passer. I give Tochett a lot of credit for the teams success this year, but this thing with Kuzmenko – last years top goal scorer on the team – just feels too much. As far as Myers goes – I'm not impressed with his skillset. He's pretty much a dump it outdump it in defenseman who rarely makes skillful breakout passes and takes bad penalties when he's caught out of position.I want to see Kuzmenko succeed as well, but I'm not going to risk the team's success to put him in situations that would see him have personal success. He showed again tonight that if he doesn't score, he is totally useless out there. Mikheyev, even if he doesn't score, uses his speed to forecheck and backcheck and he is a big part of the PK. He has a defensive sense, takes away passing lanes that lead to danger in the slot, and rotates all the way down below the goal line if necessary. Big difference when looking for accountability.
Love Tocc, love him holding players accountable but i do think hes been unnecessarily hard on kuzmenko, and Im not even a huge fan, definitely did not get on the hype train for him last season. He has 100% been punished harder than any other player in the lineup for mistakes that have been largely benign. The double whammy is that how this season has shook out for him seems to have really affected his confidence, its night and day from last year, and for a player like him i think that is a huge factor in his success.
Bottom line, kuzmenko is a good hockey player who has alot to offer, at the same time what he offers does not fit with this team at all right now. I think it would be in both parties best interest to trade him and let him try to shine somewhere fresh, becuaee him an tocchet do not se eeye to eye at all, and maybe give us a piece for a potential cup run. Whatever happens i hope he does well, seems like a really good dude.
This dude into the Kussy…
Kuzmenko sucks, let's be honest. He had one fluke year where he deflected a ton of goals, but he ain't doing half as well this year. He sucks defensively and doesn't back check hard. He doesn't know what to do with the puck sometimes, and it's worse when he's giving away the puck in front of the net. I'd rather call up Podkolzin, McDonough, or Karlsson at this point and see what they can do over Kuzmenko.
Pretty harmless pass lmao? Did you watch the game? Threw it directly to Keller in the slot, and they got a great scoring chance off of it. You want to see him play with less pressure? How about he starts being responsible with the puck? Dude has 2 goal games and still winds up -2 on the night because he floats around the blue line waiting for a breakout pass like Ovechkin. If everyone else on the team can grasp Tocchet's system, Kuzmenko can too. Clearly he isn't getting it, and deserves more time up in the box. Mistakes like his "harmless pass" as you described it, will turn us into a first round exit.
AS FAR AS MIKAYEV AND KUZMENKO GO – TRADE BOTH OF THESE ( INFECTIONS ) AND 2 FIRST RD PICKS NOW
PREFERABLY FOR LUKE AND JACK HUGHES OR ANY TWO PLAYERS AS GOOD AS THEM – STATS BELOW
LUKE 42 games played with 24 points this season
JACK 32 games played with 45 points this season
And they done that on a devils team who is 21st in the leauge and struggling, if these brothers came here we would have a line of credit to back up the lotto line . And 11.8 million a year would free up with kuz an mik gone.
GO ALL IN – FORGET THE FUTURE IF IT MEANS A DEFINITE CUP – AN WITH THESE TWO MISSING PUZZLE PIECES – ITS PRETTY SLIM WE DONT GO ALL THE WAY . Think of the lines with just adding these two guys . Imagine the firepower of " line 1 " hughes x3 , petey an miller OR – " line 2 " hronek , myers , boeser , joshua , lafferty OR " line 3 " zedorov , soucy , bluegar, garland, hoglander
Thats not true. Kuzy litterally played the next shift after the give away…and got PP1 time.
( Thats when he high sticked the puck down on the zone entry)
Then… He got benched.😢
JT miller does one of those every other game too
Kuzy has been really timid ever since he got hit in the jaw with the puck. It seems to have taken all the drive out of him and he's unsure of what he's supposed to do. I think his Russian Teammates need to have some sessions with him and get his confidence back, it's almost as if he's afraid to get into corners with other players and sometimes he's just floating around out there. Did you see his face when that red bearded goon attacked Laff at the Canuck's bench? He looked horrified and backed away, while the other players looked pissed. I think this is all in his head and he's skating around out there in fear all the time. I hope he gets his mojo back because he's a great kid. If that line he's on could just start scoring we'd be golden, and he's the key.
If Kuzzy is playing the third, who knows he might get a turn-over which can lead to an opponent goal. I trust Tocchet more than Kuzzy. He had his chances
I totally agree. Either play Kuzmenko or trade him for someone who plays the way Tocchet wants, but don't take away his confidence.
I feel bad for Kuzy. It has to be difficult to play under that kind of pressure. He does get a of PP time though.
O’Brein seems like he was born with Homer Simpson syndrome where he can take a beating no problem because he was not even trying to duck any of those punches and just took some fists to the dome
When u reached the speed and skill of kuz, its all in your head. maybe he needs to see a Sports Psychiatrist like Bratt does?
The Canucks are going to have some really tough roster decisions to make this offseason but I think Zadorov offers this team something that they would probably miss if they didn't have it. Having a guy who can play tough and who plays to his size, especially as a defensemen, is still valuable and I think that value goes way up in the playoffs. Love the way he steps up for his teammates.
if you actually really laser in on kuzmenkos game, it’s pretty clear that he’s been trash for a decent 5-6 game stretch. his whole game is his offence and his ability to create space and opportunities in the o zone but it seems like whenever the puck has gotten to him recently, he has more often than not become a black hole, turning the puck over way too easily and killing any offensive zone pressure the canucks would have had. for him to succeed, he needs to be on a line with pettersson as he obviously seems the most motivated when playing with petey. mikheyev needs to be better as well, he’s looked lost on the ice ever since the road trip started. in my opinion kuzmenko just needs to simplify his game in all parts of the ice, which include safe plays in the d zone and shooting the puck more in the o zone
It’s time to trade Kuzmenko. He’s useless defensively and we need better players. He’s getting chances and wasting them.
Our whole second line needs reworking, trade both kuzmenko and mikheyev and some picks for a better second line