Wild trade Dmitry Kulikov to Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild made a National Hockey League trade on Wednesday to close out the month of August. The Wild traded defenseman Dmitry Kuilkov of Lipetsk, Russia to the Anaheim Ducks for future considerations. The Ducks will be Kulikov’s seventh NHL franchise following seven seasons with the Florida Panthers from 2009 to 2016, one season with the Buffalo Sabres in 2016-17, three seasons with the Winnipeg Jets from 2017-20, 38 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2020-21, 10 games with the Edmonton Oilers in 2020-21, and 80 games with the Minnesota Wild in 2021-22.

2021-22 Regular Season

In 80 games with the Wild in 2021-22, Kulikov had seven goals and 17 assists for 24 points. He was a +23 with 39 penalty minutes, two game-winning goals, 74 shots on goal, 103 blocked shots, 100 hits, 16 takeaways and 31 giveaways. Kulikov’s game-winning goals came in a 3-1 Minnesota win over the Carolina Hurricanes on April 2, and in a 5-4 Minnesota win over the Nashville Predators on April 24. The game-winning goal against the Predators happened to be an overtime winner as Kulikov scored from Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov with two seconds left in the extra period.

Career Statistics

In 13 NHL seasons, Kulikov had 42 goals and 156 assists for 198 points in 805 games. He was a -38 with 494 penalty minutes, 51 power play points, two shorthanded points, nine game winning goals, 944 shots on goal, 1060 blocked shots, 1249 hits, 227 takeaways and 495 giveaways. Both of Kulikov’s shorthanded points came with the Panthers. Kulikov’s shorthanded goal came in a 6-3 Panthers loss to the New Jersey Devils on March 31, 2014. Kulikov’s shorthanded assist came almost one year later on March 29, 2015, on an empty net goal by Dave Bolland in a 4-2 Panthers win over the Ottawa Senators.

Playoff Statistics

Kulikov has played in 29 NHL playoff games in his career. He has one goal and seven assists for eight points. He is also a -9 with 20 penalty minutes, 40 shots on goal, 28 blocked shots, 66 hits, six takeaways and 15 giveaways.