New Jersey Devils sign Dmitry Kulikov to one-year deal

Let's take an in-depth look at the team's newest player.

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The New Jersey Devils added more depth to the blueline on Thursday, signing veteran defenseman Dmitry Kulikov to a one-year contract worth $1.15 million.

The 29-year-old has 11 seasons of NHL experience. He spent the last three with the Winnipeg Jets and enjoyed the most team success of his career, helping them get into the playoffs in all three years.

What will Dmitry Kulikov bring?

He came through the ranks as a highly regarded puck-moving, offensive defenseman. He is anything but today.

Kulikov is not an effortless skater you’re going to see rushing the puck end-to-end. He’s not going to be making two-zone stretch passes on the tape. He’s not going to be hammering one-timers in the offensive zone.

Once a month he’ll make a play that’ll leave you thinking ‘wow, I’m surprised Kulikov pulled that off’ and that’s the extent of his offensive game.

What Kulikov will bring, though, is some stability defensively. He’s a pretty good defender off the rush – although he can have difficulties vs high speed – and, in my opinion, is above average in-zone.

Kulikov is generally in good position and he has a really sturdy frame he uses to lean on guys in the corner and separate them from the puck.

Winnipeg allowed shot attempts, and scoring chances, at a lesser rate with Kulikov on the ice in two of the last three years. The Jets gave up a lot more than you’d think so it was not the highest of bars to clear, however, it’s still encouraging to see Kulikov on the right side of the ledger.

Don’t get me wrong. He is not somebody who should be playing against Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and all the stars the Devils run into on a regular basis. But he is competent defensively and, if played down the lineup, I think he is capable of providing some value.

If he plays up? That’s where he’ll get into trouble. He may be a solid defender but you’d be pushing it at that point and he is generally somebody who not only helps neuter opposing offenses, but his own as well.

He’ll be exposed playing vs top competition and, in the process, slow down Nico Hischier and the quality forwards playing in front of him. It’s a double-edged sword if he’s high in the lineup.

Play him where he’s paid to play.

Why Dmitry Kulikov?

Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald said several times in recent months he’d like to make the team more physical and ‘tougher to play against’, particularly on the back end. That’s a trend we’ve seen with some of their defensive drafting over the last few years – not to mention the Kevin Bahl trade – and we saw it again with this signing.

As I mentioned previously, Kulikov is a guy who likes to steer guys wide and then attack. Be it going in for a big hit, or leaning all his weight into them, he likes to use his body.

That shows in the numbers. Last season he ranked 4th on the Jets in hits, 3rd in hits taken, and 2nd in blocked shots. He plays a physical game and is used to both taking and giving punishment.

The Devils could use more of that. While I don’t think Kulikov is anything special, he is an NHL talent and does bring some value beyond intangibles. I think the Devils can actually justify signing and playing him.

As an aside, Kulikov was Winnipeg’s choice for the Masterton – awarded for leadership, perseverance, etc. – in 2019. He is a no-maintenance player, he works hard, and his teammates like him.

He is exactly the kind of pro you want to put around guys like Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and the team’s core of young players.

Where will he play?

As it stands, I think Kulikov will slot in as the left-defender on the 3rd pairing – likely alongside youngster Ty Smith.

Here is how I have the Devils’ defensive depth chart penciled in:

Ryan Murray - Damon Severson

Will Butcher - P.K. Subban

Dmitry Kulikov - Ty Smith

Extra: Connor Carrick

Kulikov strikes me as a good partner for Smith as the latter breaks into the league. He can do most of the heavy lifting, and physical work, defensively and free up Smith to take chances and make things happen offensively.

I also think Kulikov will be able to contribute on Alain Nasreddine’s penalty kill, which is generally very good.

Worth noting

It is always good to have extra defensemen laying around. I think it’ll be even more imperative this year. We’re likely heading for a condensed schedule, which means a lot of games in a short period of time. There will be injuries. Fatigue will be a factor at times as well. The more NHL-caliber players the Devils have around, the better.

Also, it is a cheap one-year deal. If Kulikov is even mediocre, and a good locker room presence, he’s worth the money.

Not to mention, if the Devils struggle *again* next season they can always move Kulikov at the deadline for a draft pick.

I don’t see any risk in this deal. I mean, if Kulikov’s game literally craters to a Jack Johnson level he’s still an easy guy to get rid of. It’s not a hard contract to bury.

How are the financials looking?

With Kulikov on the books, the Devils are looking at a hair under $14 million in cap space. This is with cheap plug-ins like Jesper Boqvist and Nick Merkley.

They still need to take care of their big RFAs – Mackenzie Blackwood and Jesper Bratt – but the roster is mostly complete.

For fun, let’s just say Bratt gets the Connor Brown deal. I don’t think he will make that much unless there is more term – Brown had arbitration rights and was more productive in terms of raw outputs – but we’ll roll with it. That’s $3.6M x 3 years.

Then, Blackwood signs the Tristan Jarry deal. Again, not a perfect comparable but it should be a good reference point. That’s $3.5M x 3 years.

If the Devils give Bratt and Blackwood those contracts, they’d have ~$7 million in space.

I think that is right in line with their internal budget (I’ve heard the $75 million range). So, the off-season shopping would more or less be done unless a) the Devils move some money out or; b) a golden opportunity arises, so to speak, and Fitzgerald can convince the higher ups to give him more wiggle room to pounce.

info via NaturalStatTrick.com, PuckPedia.com, CapFriendly.com