Dmitry Kulikov agrees to 3-year, $13 million extension with Panthers
The Florida Panthers have agreed to a three-year, $13 million contract extension with young defenseman Dmitry Kulikov, reports Bob McKenzie of TSN. The deal locks up one of the team’s cornerstone players long-term and makes Kulikov one of the highest-paid players on the roster.
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Kulikov, 23, was drafted by the Panthers with the 14th overall pick in the 2009 draft. He quickly made his debut with Florida as a 19-year-old, but didn’t have his true breakout season until 2013-14, when he appeared in a career-high 81 games for the Panthers and established himself as one of their top blue-liners.
Big numbers aren’t a part of Kulikov’s game — he recorded just eight goals and 19 points last season — but he was among the team’s leaders in hits and blocked shots last season. At his age, he should give Florida years of steady performance even if he doesn’t take another step on the offensive end.
With an annual cap hit of $4.3 million, Kulikov becomes one of the highest paid players on the Panthers. Only Brian Campbell, at a cap hit over $7.1 million, makes more among the team’s defensemen, while Dave Bolland, Tomas Fleischmann and Roberto Luongo also top that figure.
As Pro Hockey Talk notes, the Panthers should have a pretty solid group on defense next season, with Campbell, Kulikov, Willie Mitchell, Aaron Ekblad, Erik Gudbranson and Dylan Olsen looking to be a strong top-six. Gudbranson and Olsen also signed new multi-year deals with Florida in the past few days, so the team is doing some serious work to establish stability on that part of the ice.