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Edmonton Oilers Trade For Kulikov from the New Jersey Devils

It appears the Edmonton Oilers have landed a second-pair left-shot defenseman before the deadline, Dmitry Kulikov from the New Jersey Devils.

It appears the Edmonton Oilers have acquired left-shot defenseman Dmitry Kulikov for conditional draft pick in 2022 from the New Jersey Devils. Kulikov was paired mainly with P.K. Subban in New Jersey and while he doesn’t bring much offence, he comes with solid analytics. In other words, he is a pretty solid defensive defenceman who’s having himself a great (probably sample-size-outlier) season for the Devils.

Gord Miller of TSN is reporting, “The holdup is Kulikov’s immigration status. His passport expires within the next six months, he may need a new one before he can get a Canadian work visa.” It sounds like it isn’t something that will stop the trade, but it could delay when he’s first available to the team.

As per Jason Gregor of TSN 1260, his underlying numbers read like this:

  • 53.7 CF%
  • 53.01FF%
  • 52.05 SF%
  • 53.07 SCF%
  • 54.43 XGF% 4
  • 2.55 GF%
  • Only 30% O-zone starts.
  • 45% TOI v. Elite.

The question now will be who he pairs with in Edmonton? Will he slot in beside Adam Larsson and be on Edmonton’s second pairing? Or, will they use him on the third pair alongside Ethan Bear? Mark Spector writes, “Kulikov a top pairing Dman in PK minutes in NJ this season. Pairs with Larsson, pushes Russell to 3rd pairing with Bear. Jones has proven 1 thing this season – that he’s not ready yet.”

Right now, the Oilers are using Kris Russell and Ethan Bear in the second pairing and the Oilers felt like they were being pounded in that spot. This has to be considered an upgrade. He’s a pending UFA making and has a $1.15M cap hit.

Through 715 career games with Florida, Buffalo, Winnipeg, and New Jersey, Kulikov posted 35 goals and 137 assists for 172 points.

Other Needs for Oilers

The Oilers would like to add a top-six winger and potentially a third-line center, if they can do so this season. If not, GM Ken Holland will use this offseason to really change the team as a bunch of cap space opens up. He can then look to do what he wants with this team, including making decisions on Tyson Barrie, Adam Larsson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins.

Next: Stars Claim Vatanen Off Waivers, Senators Claim Mete from Canadiens

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