The Vancouver Canucks have signed forward Andrei Kuzmenko to a two-year extension worth $5.5 million per season.

Kuzmenko, 26, joined the Canucks after an eight-year KHL career and quickly became an impact player. Playing mainly with Elias Pettersson, Kuzmenko has 21 goals and 43 points in 47 games, good for third in team scoring behind Pettersson and Bo Horvat. Kuzmenko’s deal was just for one year at $950,00 as both parties evaluated how Kuzmenko would adjust to life in the NHL.

Clearly, it’s been a success. But the signing could be deemed controversial for the Canucks, a team that’s been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons this year. Earlier this month, president Jim Rutherford said the Canucks needed major surgery to get the team headed on the right track. That led many to believe that Kuzmenko and his high output would make him a valuable trade asset moving forward.

Kuzmenko now ties Horvat for third among Vancouver’s highest-paid forwards, with Pettersson ($7.35 million) and Brock Boeser ($6.65 million) leading the way. Quinn Hughes, Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tyler Myers are all signed for next season at $6 million or above, leaving the team in a tight cap crunch heading into the deadline.

The Canucks should be a major seller at the deadline, with the likes of Horvat, Luke Schenn and Brock Boeser all on Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli’s trade block. Kuzmenko would have been a target had he not signed his new deal. It’ll be interesting to see how Canucks GM Patrik Allvin approaches the next few weeks, with the Canucks sitting sixth in the wild-card race and firmly in the race to land Connor Bedard at the 2023 NHL Draft. The Canucks are 2-8-0 in the past 10 games, and are coming off of a crushing 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday evening.