Vancouver Canucks forward Andrei Kuzmenko will be a healthy scratch for a second straight game, head coach Rick Tocchet said Thursday.
Tocchet told the Athletic's Harman Dayal that for Thursday's game against the Dallas Stars, the team would go with the same lineup as Tuesday's win over the Nashville Predators. Kuzmenko was a healthy scratch on Tuesday and was replaced in the lineup by Nils Aman.
A 39-goal scorer in his rookie season, Kuzmenko has failed to generate offence this year, scoring just six goals and 17 points in 29 games. He had been recently demoted to the fourth line after starting up top with Elias Pettersson and Ilya Mikheyev.
Kuzmenko was previously a healthy scratch for three consecutive games at the end of November, but has registered just three points (three goals) since making his return to the lineup.
After his breakout first year in the NHL, the Canucks inked him to a two-year, $11-million contract during the off-season. He's set to become an unrestricted free agent after 2024-25.
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