Jets New Face – Dmitri Kulikov
6 years ago
The Winnipeg Jets signed Dmitri Kulikov and this is a deal that has the potential to be great in the next three years or a giant bust.
As someone that had the pleasure of watching Kulikov play the past year, there are some concerns with this signing going forward. Last year he suffered a freak back injury after getting checked into the door as it was being opened. The injury plagued him throughout the season, possibly contributing to his numbers being lower. He also suffered through Dan Bylsma’s system, which was probably worse than the back injury.
Normally, you’d look at one season and think that it was an anomaly and say that he could bounce back and this contract is worth it. Looking back beyond that and over the last few years, that might not be the case with Kulikov.
If we look at basic stats (raw points), for the 4.3 million per year we’re spending, we’re going to be lucky if we get 15 points out of him. He has only hit the 20 point mark in his career 3 times, though it was early on. Going deeper into the stats, he doesn’t exactly drive anything else either. If you compare him to Trouba, it’s not a good look historically.
Kulikov stats via Pucklytics
Trouba stats via Pucklytics
So, one could argue that he’s good defensively at least right? He’s ok at best. He’s not worth 4.3 million in my opinion, but you can be the judge. Again, this is against Trouba as a comparison.
Now, you can see that his last season is a bit of an outlier, but it’s not that much of one.
Kulikov stats via Pucklytics
Trouba stats via Pucklytics
He could easily bounce back but there’s not much bounce back when you’re middle of the pack to begin with.
The biggest thing to take into consideration is the long term effect that back injuries can play. We’ve seen this across the league with Cody Hodgson and Nathan Horton where a back injury has caused both of them to retire at a young age. I’m not saying that Kulikovs is bad enough, but it can be a nagging type of injury and one that we should be aware of as a fan. I think a 1 year show me deal was probably the better choice of a player like him instead of 3 years.
Let’s just hope this works out for the best, if just for the sake of the cap and not looking foolish.
*Note: Updated to reflect point totals from early in his career*
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