The Pittsburgh Penguins keep adding, the latest is the report that winger Andrei Kuzmenko is joining the team for one year and $5.0 million.
Kuzmenko has been among the NHL’s slowest skaters, but has the hands and scoring ability to cover up that deficiency. Curiously, his salary is right in the price range of Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust – two players often in the trade rumor mill. Could this signing be a precursor to a move to come? The Penguins are definitely loading up on talent coming in the door, it’s just a matter of time before action starts heading in the other direction for players heading out.
Kuzmenko, 30 has had mostly abbreviated seasons, far from his impressive NHL rookie campaign of 39 goals and 74 points for Vancouver back in 2022-23, as seen below in his hockeydb card. He has played for three different teams since the start of the 2024-25 season, and in some ways could be seen as a replacement option for the role than Anthony Mantha filled last season for the Pens.
It’s been a very active day for the Pens in free agency, this $5 million signing is their biggest move of the period yet. Despite that, CapWages shows Pittsburgh with still over $33 million in space under the salary cap (with restricted free agents like Egor Chinakhov and Arturs Silovs to take from).
