The Canucks' bench boss Rick Tocchet was clear as day in his exit interview, he wants top end conditionning for his players and specified on various occasions that this summer's preparation would be huge for this franchise moving forward.
Kuzmenko received the harsh treatment from the coach and Tocchet pointed out how important his preparation was and how they were playing the long game with him. Even though he was elite all-season producing offense, Kuzmenko did not slack off over the summer break and his agent made sure everybody was well aware of how he was preparing:
Kuzmenko took the coach's notice to heart and he's been working his ass off ever since he left Vancouver. The Russian Winger was the author of 39 goals and 35 assists, the way he's preparing he may be setting us up for another Kuzmenkshow.