One of the biggest questions the Kings have to answer is if they are going to bring back Andrei Kuzmenko. Is he worth keeping or should Los Angeles let him walk?
Back at the 2025 NHL trade deadline, the Kings were in desperate need to improve the power play. For help, Los Angeles acquired forward Kuzemenko from the Philadelphia Flyers, specifically to fix the special teams.
Kuzmenko is renowned for power plays due to his ability to move around the net and score from within the slot. This type of skill helped the Kings have closer looks at the net and, ultimately, better scoring chances.
Since his arrival, Kuzmenko has generated a dangerous presence from the left wing and has been the most relevant goalscorer. He recorded 3 goals in the 2025 playoffs, which was the most for the Kings, and was the highest amongst all first round exit teams.
In the 2026 regular season, Kuzmenko once again led the Kings with 8 power-play goals. To complement the most goals, Kuzmenko also recorded 18.8% shooting, the highest on the team.
During his tenure, Kuzmenko has delivered as a power play scorer, the exact reason he was brought to Los Angeles. If a player executes what they’re required to do, then it would make sense for the Kings to keep that player.
On the other hand, there is a glaring problem the Kings have to look at with Kuzmenko, the decline in the production. Every year Kuzmenko has been in the NHL, his output plummeted worse by the season.
When Kuzmenko was a rookie in 2023, he had an impressive season with 39 goals and 74 points total. The next season, Kuzmenko only had 46 points, as over one-third of the production disappeared. Eventually, that number dwindled even more in 2025, with only 37 points.
This past season, Kuzmenko’s season was even more underwhelming with an all-time low 25 points with the Kings. If the quality of play has shown to continuously decline, then the Kings have to ask why they would keep Kuzmenko.
Similarly to the Kings, the Vancouver Canucks and Calgary Flames saw original promise in Kuzmenko at first. Then, when both of those teams saw Kuzmenko’s decline, they decided that they had to trade him elsewhere.
If Los Angeles were to keep Kuzmenko, then there would be a strong possibility that there would be another underwhelming season. It wouldn’t make sense for the Kings to sign a player that has a good possibility of underperforming for them.
The options for the Kings are to keep their best special teams player or to get rid of a liability in production. As valuable as Kuzmenko has been on the power play, it hasn’t improved the Kings that much overall.
Los Angeles had one of the worst power plays before Kuzmenko and that hasn’t changed since. Despite Kuzmenko having the most power play goals, the Kings still landed with the fifth-worst power play last season.
Of the 25 points Kuzmenko recorded last season, 13 of them were on special teams. So if you take away all of Kuzmenko’s 13 power play points, then he would’ve only had 12 points on the season.
The fact that Kuzmenko is mainly contributing on power plays, but he hasn’t improved on the special teams is eye-opening. This shows that his power play stats don’t lead to successful hockey for the Kings,
Kuzmenko doesn’t help at full strength and leads a struggling power play. That is not a good sign for the Kings. It would be best for Los Angeles to let Kuzmenko walk and look for another left wing in free agency.