A year ago, unrestricted free agent Karson Kuhlman was coming his second straight campaign where he was a full-timer on an NHL roster. However, his time in North America is now over, at least for the time being as Lukko in Finland announced that they’ve signed the winger to a one-year contract.
The 28-year-old signed with Boston out of college back in 2018, spending parts of five years in their system. In three of those seasons, he split time between them and AHL Providence before becoming a full-time NHL player in 2021-22.
That season, Kuhlman broke camp with the Bruins and got into 19 games with them before being waived in mid-January where he was claimed by Seattle. He remained with the Kraken for the rest of that season and the beginning of 2022-23 before being waived in December, being claimed by Winnipeg.
Despite being a full-timer on the roster for two straight years, Kuhlman didn’t generate strong interest in free agency last summer, instead settling for a two-way deal with the Islanders. While the hope was that he could push for a depth spot or at least position himself as one of the first recall options, that didn’t materialize. Instead, he spent the entire year with AHL Bridgeport, recording 12 goals and 10 assists.
Kuhlman leaves North America with 147 career NHL games under his belt between Boston, Seattle, and Winnipeg, totaling 30 points. He also has played in 146 AHL contests over that stretch, tallying 61 points. Now, he’ll look to establish himself as more of an offensive threat in the Liiga and a good showing there could get him back on the North American radar next summer.