Andrei Kuzmenko: Penguins Stats, No. 62 and Full Profile

Andrei Kuzmenko is a Russian forward for the Pittsburgh Penguins who went undrafted, arrived in the NHL at 26, and broke two club records in Vancouver. Andrei Kuzmenko now wears No. 62.

Fast facts: Andrei Kuzmenko
Current team	Pittsburgh Penguins, No. 62
Position	Left wing in the NHL’s own register, forward at Hockey-Reference
Shoots	Right
Born	4 February 1996, Yakutsk, Russia
Height / weight	5-foot-11, 200 lbs per the club. The NHL’s own register says 6-foot-0 and 186 lbs
Drafted	Never drafted. Signed with Vancouver as a free agent on 13 July 2022
Contract status	One year at $5 million, signed 1 July 2026, unrestricted free agent after 2026-27
Previous clubs	Los Angeles Kings, Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames, Vancouver Canucks, SKA St Petersburg, CSKA Moscow

Why does Andrei Kuzmenko wear No. 62?

Because of his father and his mother. Kuzmenko changed his Pittsburgh number from 10 to 62 on 2 October 2026, and he explained it himself at the rink that day: the number stands for his mother’s birth year, 1962, and for his father’s age when he died.

His father, Alexander, a hockey coach, died in southern Siberia on a fishing trip, killed by a bear. The Penguins confirmed the death on 24 September 2026 without describing the circumstances, which Russian media first reported. The statement, from general manager Kyle Dubas, said the organization had been “deeply saddened, this morning, to learn of the passing of Andrei Kuzmenko’s father, Alexander”, sent its sympathies to the family, and asked that their privacy be respected. “Andrei chose to be surrounded by his teammates and practice with the team this morning before returning to Moscow to be with his family this afternoon,” the statement said.

“It’s obviously terrible news that we heard this morning,” head coach Dan Muse said. “‘Kuzy’ wanted to skate with the team. He wanted to be with his teammates.”

Kuzmenko was away for just over a week and returned to the ice on 2 October 2026, where he spoke to reporters rather than release anything in writing. “I want it true, what happened,” he said, and then, about coming back: “Now, I’m happy to go back to Pittsburgh. I missed hockey, really.” He played his first game for the club the following night.

The channels and streams for every Penguins game are in our guide to how to watch the Pittsburgh Penguins.

What are Andrei Kuzmenko’s career stats?

Season	Team	League	GP	G	A	P	PIM
2012-13	Krasnaya Armiya Moscow	MHL	49	5	7	12	8
2013-14	Krasnaya Armiya Moscow	MHL	36	13	18	31	2
2014-15	Krasnaya Armiya Moscow	MHL	37	20	21	41	20
2014-15	CSKA Moscow	KHL	12	1	2	3	0
2015-16	CSKA Moscow	KHL	15	1	2	3	0
2016-17	CSKA Moscow	KHL	34	6	9	15	6
2017-18	CSKA Moscow	KHL	45	13	12	25	12
2018-19	SKA St Petersburg	KHL	58	12	19	31	20
2019-20	SKA St Petersburg	KHL	49	14	19	33	6
2020-21	SKA St Petersburg	KHL	57	18	19	37	14
2021-22	SKA St Petersburg	KHL	45	20	33	53	10
2022-23	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	81	39	35	74	8
2023-24	Vancouver Canucks	NHL	43	8	13	21	6
2023-24	Calgary Flames	NHL	29	14	11	25	6
2024-25	Calgary Flames	NHL	37	4	11	15	12
2024-25	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL	7	2	3	5	0
2024-25	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	22	5	12	17	2
2025-26	Los Angeles Kings	NHL	52	13	12	25	16

Completed seasons; his second-tier rows and three short junior spells are left out.

Andrei Kuzmenko scored 39 goals in his first NHL season and has not reached 25 in any season since. The seasons after it produced 22, 11, and 13, across four different clubs.

Was Andrei Kuzmenko drafted?

No. He was never selected in an NHL draft, and was twenty-six when he signed his first NHL contract. Nothing published explains why he was passed over, but the production curve is on the record: he was draft-eligible in 2014 on the back of MHL seasons worth 12 and 31 points, and the season that made clubs call was 2021-22, when he had 53 points in 45 games for SKA St. Petersburg.

His agent confirmed the Vancouver agreement in June 2022, but because of his age, the only contract available was a one-year entry-level deal at the league maximum, signed on 13 July 2022, the day free agency opened.

Who taught Andrei Kuzmenko to play?

His father, and an interview from long before 2026 says so. Speaking to the Russian junior league’s own site in July 2017, Kuzmenko said his father put him on skates about eighteen months after he was born. Alexander Kuzmenko was a coach, and his son’s account is of a constant presence: “My dad comes to every game,” he said, and “Whenever I had any trouble, he was always there and he always knew what to say.” His mother, he said, did not go to games because she worried too much.

The best story in it is about position. “When I was eight years old, I walked up to my father and told him I wanted to be a goalie,” Kuzmenko said. His father’s answer was a question: “And who’s going to score the goals?”

The family moved to Moscow when he was five, at his father’s suggestion and for the same reason, which is why he grew up there, not in Yakutsk. Years later, his father again told him he would have to join a better junior school if he wanted to keep developing.

How good was Andrei Kuzmenko’s rookie season?

Good enough to erase Pavel Bure from a club record book. Kuzmenko scored 39 goals and 74 points in 81 games for Vancouver in 2022-23, scored on his NHL debut on 12 October 2022 and his first hat trick on 3 November. On 23 March 2023 against San Jose, he passed Bure’s 34 goals from 1991-92 for the most by a Canucks player in a first NHL season, and five days later he passed Elias Pettersson’s 66 points from 2018-19 for the most by one.

“He’s just a pure goal scorer,” Pettersson said of him that season.

He received no Calder Trophy votes because he was not eligible: the award requires that a player not have turned twenty-six by 15 September that season, and his birthday falls in February.

Which NHL teams has Andrei Kuzmenko played for?

Five, and they came quickly. Vancouver traded him to Calgary on 31 January 2024 in the deal that brought Elias Lindholm the other way, with two defense prospects and two picks; he had to waive a no-trade clause. Calgary traded him to Philadelphia on 31 January 2025 in the deal for Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. Philadelphia traded him to Los Angeles on 7 March 2025, retaining half his salary, for a third-round pick.

What is Andrei Kuzmenko’s contract?

One year at $5 million, signed on 1 July 2026, running through 2026-27, after which he becomes an unrestricted free agent. PuckPedia carries the full history, including the two-year extension worth $11 million he signed in Vancouver in January 2023 and the $4.3 million deal that preceded it in Los Angeles.