You will not be jealous of the management of the Edmonton Oilers: in the off-season, the brigade Ken Holland it will be a lot of work. Forwards Evander Kane, Josh Archibald, Ryan McLeod, Jesse Puljujärvi and Kyler Yamamoto, defender Brett Kulak and goalkeeper Mikko Koskinen will remain contract free. However, the main purpose of the “Oilmen” may not be these hockey players, but the one who has long been proposed to the National Hockey League – we are talking about a Russian striker Andrey Kuzmenko.

The other day it became known that Kuzmenko, after four seasons in SKA, is strongly inclined to move abroad, and Andrei has a special desire to get into a certain club, and we are talking about the Edmonton Oilers. Trying to sign a particular team and not just go to the NHL is pretty rare for European players. While this creates good opportunities for the Oilers themselves, it also brings with it a huge pile of problems.

Kuzmenko hopes to follow in the footsteps of seasoned Russians making progress in the NHL and making progress at a fairly mature age. But if the Oilers risk taking Andrey for star status as a KHL player, they’ll inevitably have to shake up the roster: there’s absolutely no place below the salary cap, and in the playoffs, the Oilers pay. exceeds the limit by almost 6 million dollars.

Kuzmenko has everything to become an elite striker in the NHL. Players often go unnoticed by the international community if they play in Russia for years and never cross the ocean. At the same time, there are several star hockey players who came after many seasons in the KHL and entered the American scene in a big way.

A recent and comparable example: Artemy PanarinHe scored 1.15 points per game in his final season in the KHL before signing with the Chicago Blackhawks. Kuzmenko performed similarly this season, scoring 53 points in 45 KHL regular season games and 12 points in 10 playoff games. Other examples of successful transfers of former KHL players: Kirill Kaprizov, Nikita Gusev, Ilya Mikheev, Artem Zub and even Nikita Zaitsev. Of course, there is always the possibility of a difficult adaptation to the NHL style of play, as Gusev did, but that didn’t stop him from scoring 44 points in 66 games in his first season.

Players moving to North America from the KHL usually don’t expect much from their first contract and make short-term deals. It’s a smart strategy for them and one that works for NHL teams as both sides take risks and see if players can adapt to the new style of play.

If the Oilers plan to bring Kuzmenko to the team this summer, a two or three-year contract worth an average of $3-4 million per year can be expected (which is exactly what Panarin did at the time).

It will take more than one sacrifice for the Oilers to sign Kuzmenko to an anticipated mid- to short-term deal. Despite a $1 million ceiling increase next season, the Oilers have four key forwards who will soon be free agents and defender Darnell Nurse will receive a $3.65 million raise.

Ryan McLeod will get a small contract – signing him won’t be as much of a hassle as Kyler Yamamoto’s salary. But the new deals between Evander Kane and Puljujärvi are a serious challenge. At the same time, it would be a clear mistake for the Netherlands to refuse these players’ serves, as they both complement each other decently: Kane is aggressive and can score goals, and Puljujärvi is a two-sided machine that can move a lot. work without disc.

Kuzmenko will be able to fit into Edmonton’s starting nine forwards and play with a savvy central quarterback no matter which line he plays. But the salary cap and vacancy situation doesn’t allow the Oilers to keep all of their current ones for next season, especially if they plan to take the KHL superstar with them.

However, in addition to Edmonton, about five more NHL teams, including Vancouver and Vegas, could claim Kuzmenko. And if the Oilers don’t get their payrolls in order, Andrei may have to reconsider his overseas dependencies and agree to a transfer to another club.