Oct. 15: Florida’s doctors have determined surgery is required for Kulikov’s injury. It was actual a labral tear in his shoulder, not a wrist issue, per the team’s Jameson Olive. The procedure carries a recovery time of five months, head coach Paul Maurice told Sean Shapiro of DLLS Sports. The team ended up recalling Björnfot from AHL Charlotte a few days after Kulikov’s IR placement, and it’s now clear he won’t be heading back to the minors anytime soon while he and Balinskis fill Kulikov’s shoes for what will be the vast majority of the regular season. A five-month return timeline puts Kulikov back in Florida’s lineup in mid-March, shortly after the trade deadline.
Oct. 11: The Panthers have placed defenseman Dmitry Kulikov on injured reserve due to an apparent right wrist injury, via Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald. The team hasn’t made any comment on his status, so his return is unknown. They haven’t made a corresponding transaction, either.
Kulikov left Thursday’s game against the Flyers midway through the second period and did not return. He left the ice holding his right wrist after it got crunched while trying to check Philadelphia winger Bobby Brink against the wall in the neutral zone. The IR placement is backdated to then, meaning he’ll be eligible for activation on Oct. 16. Florida plays the Devils that night, but Kulikov has been automatically ruled out for three games in the interim.
It’s yet another blow to a skater corps that’s been decimated early in the season. The Cats survived preseason injury scares for Aaron Ekblad and Anton Lundell but didn’t avoid LTIR placements for Aleksander Barkov (ACL and MCL tear), Tomas Nosek (knee), and Matthew Tkachuk (adductor) to open the season. The defense started fully healthy to help compensate for the loss of forward depth, but they’ve now lost half of their veteran third pairing with Jeff Petry for at least a few games, if not more.
Uvis Balinskis will step into Kulikov’s spot as the lefty on that bottom pairing alongside Petry. Balinskis is a quality option to pull from the press box. He spent most of last season as Nate Schmidt’s partner until the acquisition of Seth Jones near the trade deadline pushed him down the depth chart and out of the regular playoff lineup. That wasn’t before the 29-year-old Latvian made 76 appearances in the regular season, posting a 4-14–18 scoring line with a -7 rating in 14:51 of ice time per game. Florida signed the 6’0″ lefty as an undrafted free agent in 2023, and he played in only 26 NHL games the year prior.
As for Kulikov, the 17-year veteran looks on track to continue posting stable results in a depth role for Florida. He only had a -1 rating and one hit through one-and-a-half games but posted good possession results on his unit with Petry, controlling 60% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. Florida has also outattempted opponents 17-16 with Kulikov on the ice at even strength so far.
Kulikov will be 35 in a few weeks. The first-round pick by the Panthers back in 2009 isn’t the minute-muncher he was during his first stint in Florida, but he’s been a strong support piece and frequent penalty killer since returning to the club in free agency in 2023. He’s beginning Year 2 of a four-year, $4.6MM deal he signed last summer.
The IR placement leaves Florida with an open roster spot but doesn’t change their cap picture. The Panthers have $2.27MM remaining in their LTIR pool, though, more than enough to make a corresponding recall from AHL Charlotte. Atop their minor-league depth chart, particularly among lefties, is former Kings first-rounder Tobias Björnfot.
Poor Kitty Cats.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer team too.
Couldn’t agree more haha
And it will be next man up and they will keep winning. By the way jealousy and envy are not good qualities. Also when you are in agreement with @ feel the teardrops congrats ha ha
You are an idiot and I genuinely hate you
I think that says more about you than it does about me. I repeat myself again because I know you aren’t very bright that jealousy and envy are not good qualities to demonstrate. That and plain out ignorance but I guess you can’t help that
Your constant homerism makes you look like a waterhead. Your team is dirty, but because they’re wearing the laundry you like, you look the other way. I’ll bet you have a red hat and hate brown people too, don’t ya bud… Maybe get Tkachuk’s wang out of your mouth and form a real sentence, you lepton.
You make an assumption that I own a red hat and hate brown people too? Nowhere in any of my posts have I ever made any remarks indicating a hatred or even dislike for any group or subset of people. You however have shown that you are a self hating homophobic dirtbag based off your last post. So before you lecture someone else maybe you can clean up your act first.
You have a Bruin fan and a Lightning fan cheering players being injured. Classic! But just like we’ve ended both your teams seasons twice recently the same will occur again this season
Another great game from Vasilevskiy tonight.. ha ha ha
Now, now ladies. It’s only hockey.
Still hanging around,puppy? How many sock puppets do you have, Cybulski? Dozens, I guess
I just don’t like that a&&clown @ feel the teardrops .
Jeff Petry please stand up
Oof – depth will be tested this year
They’ll still win the cup again
Playing that many games over the past 3 seasons takes its toll on players.
Lightning, Leafs, and Bruins fans: The hockey gods have heard your pleas loud and clear.
To the rest of the league, the gods are real busy with the Panthers right now but will return to the regularly scheduled screwjobs, after this.
Dirty players deserve no sympathy. Dirty teams deserve less.