The LA Kings have acquired forward Andrei Kuzmenko and a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. As part of the trade, Philadelphia will retain 50% of Kuzmenko’s contract, which will expire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.
Kuzmenko, 29, joins the Kings after skating in 44 combined games this season with the Flyers and Calgary Flames, registering six goals and 20 points (6-14=20) with four power-play goals and three game-winning goals.
The 5-11, 194-pound forward joins the Kings having accumulated 67 goals and 140 points (67-73=140) points in 197 career regular-season NHL games over parts of three seasons with Philadelphia, Calgary and the Vancouver Canucks. Kuzmenko’s best NHL season came during his rookie season (2022-23) with Vancouver where he established career-bests in games played (81), goals (39), assists (35) and points (74). Of his 67 career goals, 26 have come on the power-play and 11 have been game-winning tallies.
A native of Yakutsk, Russia, Kuzmenko has skated in 315 regular-season games over eight seasons between CSKA Moskva and SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) while recording 85 goals and 200 points (85-115=200). He has also appeared in 61 KHL playoff games, tallying 29 points (18-11=29). During the 2021-22 campaign, Kuzmenko was named the KHL Forward of the Month in December en route to a KHL First All-Star Team selection at the end of the campaign.
Internationally, Kuzmenko has represented Russia in two International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournaments, including the 2015 IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship where he won silver in Toronto, and the 2021 Men’s World Championship.
