Former Oilers Defenseman Kulikov Returns to Face Struggling Edmonton Squad
The Edmonton Oilers confront a depleted Florida Panthers lineup tonight, a far cry from the formidable Stanley Cup Final opponent they previously battled. However, one Panther who will definitely suit up is former Oiler Dmitry Kulikov, a specialist in penalty killing whose absence may be keenly felt by his old team.
Kulikov's Journey from Edmonton to Florida
Now 35 years old, Dmitry Kulikov last played for the Oilers during the 2021 playoffs after being acquired at that year's trade deadline for a fourth-round draft pick. He ultimately fell out of favor in Edmonton and was benched for the team's final playoff game in their first-round loss to the Winnipeg Jets. Since joining the Florida Panthers at the start of the 2023-24 season, Kulikov has evolved into a useful cog on their penalty kill unit.
Although he played just third-pairing minutes on two Stanley Cup championship teams, Kulikov's role in Florida has expanded significantly. In the Panthers' most recent game against Vancouver, he logged Top 4 minutes due to Florida's injury situation, demonstrating his continued value as a reliable defensive presence.
Edmonton's Persistent Penalty Kill Problems
The Oilers have been a mediocre penalty killing team every single regular season since 2020-21, and this year the situation has deteriorated further. Edmonton currently ranks 26th in the entire NHL for penalty kill effectiveness. While the team demonstrated stellar PK work during the 2024 playoffs, their regular season performance has been consistently and unfailingly average at best.
This raises the question of whether the Oilers would have been better off retaining veteran Kulikov for their own third-pairing and PK units. Over the past three seasons, Kulikov has established himself as one of the better NHL defensemen on the penalty kill, at least according to on-ice statistical measures.
The Challenge of Evaluating Penalty Kill Performance
Assessing team penalty kill performance is relatively straightforward—teams are rated based on what percentage of penalties they successfully kill. However, evaluating individual penalty killers presents significant statistical challenges.
Individual players' numbers are heavily influenced by how well their teammates execute on the penalty kill and how effectively their goaltender performs behind them. Additionally, the small sample sizes create complications, with even top penalty killers typically playing less than 300 minutes of PK time per season.
Despite these limitations, examining on-ice PK numbers for shots and goals against over the past three seasons provides some indication of how various Oilers and former Oilers defensemen have performed. This includes not only Kulikov but also Adam Larsson, Vincent Desharnais, Philip Broberg, and Cody Ceci.
Comparative Analysis of Defensive Performance
For context, we can compare these players against both the top and bottom performers across the league. The NHL defensemen with the lowest rate of goals against per 60 minutes (below 5.00 goals per 60) over the past three seasons include Thomas Harley, Brett Pesce, Jalen Chatfield, and Derek Forbort.
Conversely, the defensemen with the highest number of goals against per 60 (anyone with more than 10 goals against per 60) include Jackson Lacombe, Travis Hamonic, Alex Romanov, Ben Chiarot, and Cam Fowler. This comparative framework helps illustrate where Kulikov and other former Oilers defensemen might stand in the broader landscape of penalty killing effectiveness.
As Kulikov takes the ice against his former team tonight, his presence serves as a reminder of what might have been for an Oilers squad struggling to find consistency in their defensive special teams play.
