The New York Islanders announced today that Nikolay Kulemin has undergone surgery and will be out six months. That almost certainly means he’ll be out for the rest of the 2017-18 season, as the Islanders finish up on April 7th.
It also could very well mean an end to Kulemin’s career in New York, as the 31-year old winger is an unrestricted free agent this summer. After several years in Toronto where Kulemin once scored 30 goals in a season, the Islanders signed him and fellow ex-Maple Leaf Mikhail Grabovski in the summer of 2014. Both players would end up as disappointments for the Islanders, who jettisoned the injured Grabovski’s contract at the expansion draft this year.
In 248 games for the Islanders, Kulemin would score just 37 goals and 79 points. His $4.19MM cap hit will likely be placed on injured reserve if the team ever needs the room, and he’ll have to fight for a contract somewhere this summer. In 669 career games, he has 274 points.