Nice

If Seattle is still planning on slow-rolling this, then I think that's a fair trade.

Habs pass

Kuzmenko will be a 1 year ELC, no? He's 25, and will be 26 on his next year, that should put him in ELC territory.

On that note, I really hope Dorion knows what he's doing on that front. Seems very early to be speaking about those kinds of things, and can really serve to make him look like an idiot if Kuzmenko signs with one of the 20+ other teams that will doubtless want him.

But man.... Kuzmenko looks like he would be an awesome fit for Ottawa. He's got finish and he's got that razzle dazzle that would compliment that forward group perfectly (assuming he's the real deal at the NHL level). Stützle has really come a long way in his overall game this season, especially down the middle, but he hasn't really had much of an extended opportunity to play with skill guys to compliment him. Idk if Kuzmenko plays the right side or not, but adding a high skill right shot RW sounds like just what the doctor ordered. You have Kemmell here, which would definitely be sick, but a hypothetical line of Slafkovsky-Stützle-Kuzmenko could be a lot of fun for Timmy.

"Kuzmenko signed post ELC last season" in description
He can sign a 1 year elc if im not mistaken

I think the way you get him over here from Russia is to give him the ELC as soon as the KHL season ends this year, maybe see him play once or twice, and then it expires on July 1 and you sign him for more money (i.e. what the Isles did with Sorokin, I'm pretty sure they signed him to a 1 year 2mil deal after burning a 1 year "ELC" with 0gp).

I also agree with everything you said. Kuzmenko is a right shot LW as far as I know (like most skilled Russians, it seems like he prefers to play his off-wing, probably for the better shooting angle), but I don't think he'd be bad on the right side. Regardless he'd be an excellent talent for Stutzle to play off of. If we manage to pull off the Seattle trade, McCann-Stutzle-Kuzmenko would be an excellent 2nd line. Formenton-Stutzle-Kuzmenko or Kuzmenko-Stutzle-C. Brown wouldn't be bad. Kuzmenko-Stutzle-Kemell would be awesome like 2 years down the line (I personally think Kemell should spend an extra year either in Finland or the AHL before cracking the lineup, if he's the guy we draft), and I'm the biggest Slafkovsky fan there is, so I'm 100% on board with a Slafkovsky-Stutzle-Kuzmenko line too lol. I think Slafkovsky might be our dream pick anyway (assuming on Wright/Savoie), because he's a high skill guy with good speed and a good shot, that should complement Stutzle excellently. Plus he's a giant (although not overly physical yet, at least he isn't gonna get pushed around). And then we'd just need to find a RW (either trade up for another 1st and try to snag a guy like Lekkerimaki or Mesar, trade for a guy like Boeser, or of course, Kuzmenko).

As for Dorion, talking about it now is a little iffy, but he has shown the ability to recruit Russians, I think Zub was a big win (especially when you compare him to the Leafs's recent track record with Ozhiganov, Mikheyev, Barabanov, Semyonov, Lehtonen, etc. it certainly looks like Ottawa is somewhere you can come to, get big minutes, and succeed without having to request a trade halfway through your first season just to get ice time).

don’t be hating Paul Byron