Per Lebrun's saying, Kuzmenko would gather lots of trades interested since he's proven his ability to play in the NHL and only commands a $950K which would make him extremely valuable for playoff-bound teams with tight salary caps. The fact that he has 35 points after 38 games certainly make his reputation. Lebrun revealed:
From the information that Lebrun has, Canucks management and Kuzmenko's representative, Dan Milstein, have not yet chatted about the winger's future. Though he expects that they will have begun the contract talks by the end of the month. Lebrun even went further in his comments:
Now, unless Horvat leaves, or they found a miraculous way to add room under the cap. How can they possibly fit this under the cap? A bridge deal for Kuzmenko would most likely be in the one to three years range. The positive that comes out of all of this though, is that even with the mess going around the team. Kuzmenko really enjoys Vancouver and the chemistry he's building with Pettersson also adds to it, especially if they see Pettersson as the face of the franchise.
