Sam Carrick Fined By Department Of Player Safety
The Department of Player Safety issued their only punishment from Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals, fining Edmonton Oilers’ forward Sam Carrick a total of $2,213.54, the maximum allowable, for slashing Florida Panthers’ defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. Elliotte Friedman of TSN followed up the report by announcing the league would not pass down any additional discipline.
The play in question occurred near the end of Game 2 after Kulikov delivered a hard hit to Carrick. Afterward, Carrick slashed Kulikov in what is best described as his ‘nether region’, resulting in a two-minute minor penalty for slashing, and a 10-minute game misconduct. Since Carrick was ejected from the game, teammate Evander Kane served his two-minute penalty.
Expectedly, the Department of Player Safety will expand its leniency throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs. Still, it is surprising that this will be the only supplemental discipline from Game 2. Aside from Carrick, defenseman Vincent Desharnais and forward Warren Foegele were ejected from the Oilers bench, with forward Leon Draisaitl delivering a controversial hit to Aleksander Barkov.
Nevertheless, the Oilers organization should view the lack of punishment as a silver lining to their Game 2 loss, as they will not be forced to lose any players for a pivotal Game 3. Managing only one goal through the first six periods of the Stanley Cup Final, Edmonton will need all hands on deck to get back into this series.
Game 1 Notes: Panthers, Oettinger, Henrique, Lindgren
When they take on the New York Rangers tonight in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Florida Panthers will have a fully healthy roster. Earlier today, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reported that Sam Bennett, Dmitry Kulikov, and Niko Mikkola skated at practice this morning, and the trio would be in the lineup this evening.
Bennett, who has seemingly become one of the more controversial players in this year’s postseason, has already had to sit out five games with a hand injury. In Game 2 of the team’s Round One series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Bennett took a slapshot off the hand from teammate Brandon Montour, and would not play again until Game 3 against the Boston Bruins. Likely still dealing with some nagging pain from the injury, it is not expected to keep Bennett out of the action moving forward.
Unlike Bennett, there were no formal announcements of injuries for either Kulikov or Mikkola, although the latter left Florida’s bench with about three minutes remaining in Game 6 against the Bruins. With both players confirmed to be in the lineup for Game 1 tonight, a completely healthy defensive core for the Panthers should give the Rangers quite a bit of trouble in generating offense.
Other Game 1 notes:
- On the other side of the bracket, the Dallas Stars may be dealing with some trouble in the net ahead of Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers, as goaltender Jake Oettinger left practice early today with an illness (Article Link). The team is expecting Oettinger to be healthy and ready for the opening matchup tomorrow night, but it could certainly complicate matters in the crease. In this year’s playoff against the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, Oettinger has started in all 13 games for the Stars, producing a solid .918 save percentage and 2.08 goals against average.
- Staying in the Western Conference Finals, the Oilers are not expecting back forward Adam Henrique until at least Game 3 (X Link). Dealing with an undisclosed injury, Henrique only managed to play in Game 2 of Edmonton’s Round Two series against the Vancouver Canucks, and has not returned to the ice since. Now that the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have shrunk to only four teams, the Oilers will need all the help they can get up front to take down the Stars.
- Moving back to New York, Dan Rosen of the NHL is reporting that defenseman Ryan Lindgren will enter into the lineup for Game 1. Although he has not missed a game this postseason, Lindgren did not skate with the team during Sunday’s optional skate and missed the team’s practices on Monday and Tuesday due to maintenance. Nevertheless, it appears that Lindgren will be good to go for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals this evening.
Panthers Interested In Extending Dmitry Kulikov
The Panthers hope to extend pending UFA defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest “32 Thoughts” column. Kulikov, a first-round pick of the Cats in 2009, signed a one-year, $1MM deal last summer to begin his second stint in South Florida after suiting up for six different clubs over the past four seasons.
The 33-year-old Russian had surgery last summer to address back problems that had plagued him since 2016-17. He played only 47 games that campaign, his first and only one as a member of the Sabres after they acquired him from the Panthers the previous offseason.
His results as a high-end depth shutdown option have been wildly up and down since. He’s had a few effective campaigns – namely, his 2021-22 season with the Wild when he put up 24 points in 80 games and a career-high +23 rating while averaging 18:12 per game with markedly positive possession quality numbers. But he followed that up with a stinker last year, albeit on a Ducks squad that was one of the worst defensive teams in recent memory. He failed to secure a full-time job with the Penguins after a deadline deal, though and didn’t post positive possession metrics in easy minutes when in the lineup.
That placed him on the open market this summer after completing the two-year, $4.5MM contract he signed with the Wild in free agency in 2021, which saw him dealt twice despite carrying modified trade protection. Florida picked him up on the cheap to help address their early-season depth issues, with Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour set to miss some time from offseason shoulder surgeries. Kulikov, along with Oliver Ekman-Larsson, has been one of the best signings of the bunch, beating out Uvis Balinskis, Josh Mahura and Mike Reilly for a spot in the lineup when everyone returned to full health.
He’s dressing in the Panthers’ Game 1 lineup today in a third-pairing role alongside Ekman-Larsson after skating in 76 regular-season games, only his second season with more than 70 appearances since 2016. Despite his lengthy injury history, an extension in Florida would put him in line to cross the 1,000 games plateau as a Panther next season – he sits at 948 entering the summer.
Kulikov was quite effective in his bottom-pairing role, posting a goal and 20 points with a +15 rating while averaging 16:31 per game. He finished third on the club in blocked shots (84) and fifth in hits (145), all the while posting a 54.0 CF% at even strength – a career-high – and a 54.1 xGF%. However, he wasn’t used in his traditional shutdown role. Kulikov instead acted as an anchor for Ekman-Larsson for most of the year, deployed in offensive situations at even strength more often than not. That certainly contributed to his increase in shot attempt control, although that shouldn’t be interpreted as diminishing his value.
After again establishing himself as an everyday player, he’s likely in line for a small raise. But at age 33, don’t expect more than a two-year term on a potential extension. The Panthers have $20.7MM in projected cap space next season with a roster size of 13, meaning they can afford an average of around $2MM on the deals they sign this summer for their NHL roster. They have more than a few higher-priority UFAs to sort out before Kulikov, though, including breakout sniper Sam Reinhart and Montour. Young center Anton Lundell is also in line for a raise on his $925K cap hit as an RFA.
Panthers’ Dmitry Kulikov Suspended Two Games For Head Contact
Florida Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov has been suspended for two games for an illegal hit to the head on Tampa Bay’s Conor Sheary. The hit came early in the second period and earned Kulikov a match penalty. It also voided what would’ve been Florida’s first goal of the game, with Josh Mahura firing the puck into the net immediately after Kulikov’s hit. The league explained that the hit violated both grounds of a suspendable hit to the head – with Kulikov making forceful contact with Sheary’s head on an avoidable hit.
This is the second suspension of Kulikov’s career, joining the four-game suspension he received for a low hit on Tyler Seguin in February of 2015. Seguin would go on to miss 23 days with a resulting knee injury.
Florida’s lineup has been incredibly consistent this season, with 14 different players appearing in 60 or more games. That includes Kulikov, who has carved out a strong role on the team’s third pairing, averaging just over 16 minutes of ice time through 64 games. He’s also managed 16 assists – his highest scoring-pace since the 2014-15 season – though he’s still searching for his first goal of the year.
Kulikov’s absence could pave the way for 22-year-old Tobias Björnfot to make his debut with Florida after the team claimed him off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights at the Trade Deadline. It was Björnfot’s second waiver claim of the season, with Vegas acquiring him from the Los Angeles Kings. He’s managed three NHL games on the year between the two sin cities, failing to record any scoring. He’ll search for his first point of the year with Florida, pending any call-ups.
Dmitry Kulikov To Have Player Safety Hearing
Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov will have a hearing Monday for an illegal check to the head of Lightning winger Conor Sheary, the NHL Department of Player Safety announced.
Early in the second period of yesterday’s 5-3 loss, Kulikov pinched to join a net-front scrum that resulted in a Florida goal, although it was disallowed due to the penalty on the play. While entering the slot, Kulikov leaned to lay a check on Sheary, who was slightly bent over in an attempt to play the puck. Kulikov’s principal and only point of contact on the hit was Sheary’s head and shoulder. Kulikov did not leave his feet or extend his elbow on the hit, leading into the check with his upper arm (video link).
Kulikov was assessed a match penalty on the play by on-ice officials and missed over half the contest, which could factor into the length of a potential suspension. He’s been suspended once in his 15-year, 936-game NHL career, receiving four games for clipping Stars forward Tyler Seguin during his first stint with the Panthers in 2015. However, since the discipline occurred nearly a decade ago, he will not be considered a repeat offender by the Department of Player Safety.
The 33-year-old has 16 assists and a +9 rating in 64 games for the Panthers this season, averaging 16:22 per game. Now on his sixth team in the past four years, he inked a one-year, $1MM deal last summer to return to the team that selected him 14th overall in 2009.
Snapshots: Kulikov, Hagg, Blidh
Continuing with their five-game homestand this week, the Florida Panthers may be without defenseman Dmitry Kulikov tomorrow night against the Anaheim Ducks (X Link). It is unclear what exactly is plaguing Kulikov, but he only managed a tad under 14 minutes of ice time in the team’s most recent loss to the New Jersey Devils.
If Kulikov is unable to play on Monday, it likely means that Josh Mahura will join the bottom-pairing on defense, after serving as a healthy scratch since December 16th. Although there is an argument to be made that Mahura is ultimately the more well-rounded defenseman comparatively, Kulikov’s recent work on the penalty kill has given the Panthers little choice but to put him in the lineup.
Already operating as the fifth-best penalty kill in the league, Florida’s penalty kill has allowed only four goals in the last 17 games, as they’ve been operating at over 90% efficiency for over a month. The penalty kill unit as a whole is bigger than just one defenseman, but Kulikov’s ability to shut down the other team’s top power-play units has been a tremendous boon to the Panther’s defensive core this season.
Other snapshots:
- Per the AHL transactions page, the Ducks have returned defenseman Robert Hagg to their AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. Hagg was originally recalled on an emergency basis on January 9th, in correspondence with Anaheim’s trade of Jamie Drysdale to the Philadelphia Flyers only a day prior. Fortunately for Hagg, he was ultimately able to make his Ducks’ debut, playing in two games overall, with no points to show for.
- The New York Rangers have assigned forward Anton Blidh to their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, per a team announcement. It was a brief stay with the Rangers for Blidh, who was originally recalled on an emergency basis to suit up in last night’s game against the Washington Capitals. In only a little over five minutes of ice time, Blidh had very little effect on the outcome of the game, and will now return to a Hartford team where he has nine points in 29 games on the season.
Morning Notes: Benn, McGinn, Benoit
Former Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Jordie Benn has signed a one-year contract to play for Brynäs IF in the second-tier Swedish league HockeyAllsvenskan. Brynäs IF had been in the top tier SHL for 63 years until they were relegated at the end of last season. The 36-year-old elder brother of Jamie Benn had been on a PTO with the Dallas Stars but was cut earlier this week.
The veteran of 607 NHL games spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs but dressed in just 12 NHL games registering a goal and an assist. Benn spent much of last year in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies where he posted two goals and four assists in 23 games while providing a veteran presence to the Marlies’ younger players. Benn was apparently close to signing with Brynäs IF earlier this summer but elected to take the Stars PTO to see if he could hang on to an NHL roster spot. Given Benn’s age and current skillset, it could be very likely that he has played his last game in the NHL.
In other morning notes:
- CBS Sports is reporting that Anaheim Ducks forward Brock McGinn has been placed on injured reserve effective October 13th. The move means that the earliest McGinn can return from his lower body injury is October 21st. McGinn had been on a day-to-day timeline with the injury but was downgraded yesterday and will likely be replaced in the lineup by recent waiver claim Ross Johnston. McGinn was acquired at the 2023 trade deadline along with a third-round pick in exchange for defenseman Dmitry Kulikov. He is expected to be a regular in the Ducks lineup despite his struggles in recent seasons. Last year McGinn posted 12 goals and seven assists in 75 games and was essentially a cap dump for the Penguins as he still has another year on his contract after this season at a cap hit of $2.75MM.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Simon Benoit for the second time this week. This comes on the heels of the club loaning Benoit to the AHL Toronto Marlies just two days ago. The moves are of little financial consequence to Benoit as he is on a one-way contract and is paid $775K regardless of whether he plays in the NHL or AHL. Benoit is certainly capable of playing in the NHL having dressed in 78 games last season with the Anaheim Ducks where he posted three goals and seven assists. However, given the Maple Leafs precarious salary cap situation he could find himself shuffled back and forth between the NHL and AHL throughout the season as the team tries to maximize salary cap space.
Florida Panthers Sign Dmitry Kulikov
The Florida Panthers have signed yet another defenseman, bringing back familiar face Dmitry Kulikov, according to TSN’s Chris Johnston. The deal has been officially announced, with the Panthers specifying that it’s a one-year pact. Per CapFriendly, it’s a $1MM AAV deal.
Florida brought Kulikov into the NHL with the 14th overall pick in 2009, and he went on to play 460 games for them over seven seasons before departing the organization in 2016. He overcame some long-term injuries in the middle of his career to rebound as a rather effective shutdown defender in the past few seasons, but he got stuck on one of the worst defensive teams in recent memory last season with the Anaheim Ducks.
He’ll try and show he’s still got what it takes to be an everyday NHLer this season in Florida, although he’s a candidate to slip out of a lineup spot upon the returns of Aaron Ekblad and Brandon Montour from injury. Still Kulikov’s defensive upside is worth the gamble at $1MM and can be buried in the minors if need be without penalty.
Injury Updates: McLeod, Kulikov, Jenner, Vlasic, Larkin
The Oilers welcomed back one of their centers before their game tonight against Colorado, announcing (Twitter link) that Ryan McLeod was activated off LTIR. The 23-year-old missed four weeks with an upper-body injury and was retroactively shuffled to LTIR over the weekend. McLeod has put up nearly identical numbers compared to his rookie season, notching 11 goals and 11 assists in 55 games heading into tonight’s action although he got to those numbers in 16 fewer contests than a year ago.
Other injury news around the NHL:
- Prior to their game tonight against Chicago, the Penguins announced that they activated defenseman Dmitry Kulikov off LTIR. The 32-year-old was brought in from Anaheim at the trade deadline but suffered a lower-body injury in just his fourth game with his new team. Kulikov has 16 points, 107 blocks, and 93 hits in 65 games this season and suited up on the third pairing.
- The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that center Boone Jenner is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. He took the pregame warmup but was a late scratch. Jenner has had a nice season, notching 26 goals, the second-highest total of his career while winning nearly 55% of his faceoffs. While it would be easy to say Columbus should shut him down for their final two games after tonight, their AHL affiliate is currently one point out of a playoff spot and keeping Jenner out would result in Cleveland losing another player to recall, hurting their postseason chances.
- Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic did not accompany the team on their season-ending road trip, notes Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News, meaning his campaign has come to an early end. The 36-year-old suffered a lower-body injury in their home finale against Edmonton over the weekend. Vlasic saw his playing time increase by more than two minutes per game this season to 17:28 but with a $7MM AAV for three more years after this one, San Jose still didn’t get a great return on this contract this season.
- The Red Wings announced (Twitter link) that center Dylan Larkin is dealing with a lower-body injury, keeping him out of the lineup tonight against Carolina. The captain is averaging a point per game for the first time, collecting 32 goals and 47 assists in 79 games. His absence created the emergency conditions to bring up Danny O’Regan earlier today although they opted to play seven defensemen instead.
East Notes: Samoskevich, Kulikov, Maple Leafs
Another star player from the University of Michigan will be joining the AHL, as Colby Guy of Florida Hockey Now reports that Mackie Samoskevich will be joining the Charlotte Checkers on an amateur tryout agreement for the rest of the season. Samoskevich was drafted 24th overall by the Florida Panthers in the Michigan-loaded 2021 NHL Draft.
Featuring such players as Matthew Beniers, Owen Power, Kent Johnson, and Luke Hughes, among others, Samoskevich was a part of one of the most star-studded NCAA teams of all time. In the 2021 NHL Draft, four of the top five picks were products of the University of Michigan, and Samoskevich would make five total players drafted in the first round altogether.
Helping the team to two straight Frozen Four appearances, Samoskevich’s freshman season included 40 games played, tallying 10 goals and 19 assists. This season, showing steady progression, Samoskevich played in 39 games, scoring a total of 20 goals and 23 assists.
In joining the Checkers, Samoskevich will continue his run in the postseason, as the team has already clinched a spot in the Calder Cup playoffs. If the season ended today, the team would play the St.Louis Blues AHL affiliate Springfield Thunderbirds in a best-of-three opening round.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Before tonight’s important game against the Chicago Blackhawks, a trade deadline acquisition of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Dmitry Kulikov, is expected to be in the lineup. After 14 games on the long-term injured reserve, Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports reports that after dealing with a suspected foot injury, Kulikov will be returning to the Penguins. Kulikov has only managed four games in Pittsburgh since being acquired from the Anaheim Ducks, and now currently on the outside looking in for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Penguins could certainly use all the help they can get to win their final two games.
- In the last 48 hours, the Toronto Maple Leafs have had one of the most interesting goaltending carousels of all season. After recently signing both Jett Alexander and Nick Chenard for one game each to be backup goaltender, Chris Johnston of TSN reported that two new unknown goalies were seen at Toronto’s practice this morning. Later on, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet mentioned that one of the mystery goaltenders may be Windsor Spitfires product Matt Onuska. Fortunately for the Maple Leafs, the dust has completely settled, as Jonas Siegel from The Athletic reports that Toronto has been able to emergency recall goaltender Joseph Woll, and he is on the active roster for tonight’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning.