Andrei Kuzmenko announces he’s signed with the Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have won the Andrei Kuzmenko sweepstakes.

The 26-year-old KHL standout announced on his personal Instagram page on Monday that he had come to terms on a contract with the Canucks.

Kuzmenko has been spending the past few weeks touring North America, as he had meetings with a handful of teams including the Edmonton Oilers. He ultimately wound up with the Canucks, an organization that his agent, Dan Milstein, had been communicating with for a few months.

Back in May, Milstein said that Kuzmenko’s expectation was to play in an NHL team’s top-six…

“I expect him to be a top six forward, he can play on the power play,” said Milstein. “He’s very strong, he’s a hard worker, he plays on both sides of the ice and we expect him to make an impact from early on.”

Kuzmenko is a bit of a late bloomer. He wasn’t selected in the NHL draft and didn’t score any points in seven games when he represented Russia at the 2016 World Juniors. This season was his breakout in the KHL, as Kuzmenko scored a career-high 20 goals and 53 points in 45 games for St. Petersburg before adding 14 points in 16 playoff games.