Wake With Elias: Andrei Kuzm-Extension

Jan 27, 2023 - 2:00 PM

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Canucks News

• The big news of the day was the Andrei Kuzmenko extension. He’s certainly exceeded my expectations and on a team with a number of floundering “scoring” wingers (see: Garland, Conor; Boeser, Brock), he’s undoubtedly been a bright spot. Is it the right move? I’ll talk about it a bit more below.

• Before we get into the nitty gritty analysis, though, Kuzmenko’s family wrote a wholesome letter to Canucks fans. How sweet!

• It sounds lie this deal was hammered out reasonably quickly, and it’s not super surprising. It’s the classic Rutherford mentality of “Good player good, I see good player”, and he’s obviously the team’s prized jewel. At least they took decisive action.

• And here is more or less where I land on the signing itself. On paper, it makes sense — quite a bit of sense, actually. A high, but not absurdly high cap hit, for just two years for an effective but unproven guy? Pitch perfect, really. My concern is with the overall circumstances. They likely could have gotten good assets for him, he’s not all that young, and I doubt he’ll ever be a truly foundational player. So on a very surface level, I like it; when I think about it a bit, I’m more skeptical.

• This tweet was making the rounds the other day and for good reason. It’s very funny. I like Softy, but it’s a loud American media guy coming in swinging pretending to know the sport. And listen, I respect it — try and get the Kraken fans into a rivalry, rile up your own fanbase, I get it. But hopelessness is our entire identity as Canucks fans. You can tell he has no real idea what he is talking about.

• And a Horvat update, with both the Stars and Devils having interest. Neither seem like especially great fits, and I’m not too well-versed on who they would get from these clubs, but keep an eye on them.

Hockey News

• Some big news out of the PHF: Daryl Watts of the Toronto Six has become the highest paid player in the sports. A big development and cool to see.

• A minor trade from the Sharks and Avs. I think Merkley used to have some upside, so maybe keep an eye on him. Otherwise, pretty insignificant, but it kinda sorta kicks off trade deadline season.

• And like clockwork, Matt Dumba rumours. I’m sure we’ll see our share of Boeser for Dumba tweets. (Yes, I know the logistics don’t work. I’m not the one saying it!)

• And a cool new documentary on diversity and racism in hockey coming soon:

BC Place Bulletins

BC Place Bulletins is a Friday WWE feature summarizing scores and news from the local Vancouver sports scene.

• Okay, I knew I wanted to talk about this here the moment I saw it. This is a total outrage. The people of Lockport, Illinois have decided they’re going to build a bigger hockey stick than the one in Duncan, Vancouver Island. I believe the good people of Duncan should add on to this stick. It is that town’s finest monument, and frankly one of the finest things on this Island. I’m livid!

• Some big NFL awards news for the Seahawks, after a rather successful campaign:

• And an extension for the BC Lions: