Kulikov has been out since November 9th but will return Friday vs. the Blues. Kulikov doesn’t provide a lot of offence to the Jets blueline, collecting just 12 points (3G / 9A) in 68 career games with Winnipeg.
The Jets already announced that Kulikov would miss at least four weeks, so his move to IR is just a formality. Moving Kulikov to IR opens up a roster spot and gives the Jets some flexibility.
Kulikov and Joe Morrow continue to shuffle in and out of the Jets lineup and Friday will be Morrow’s turn to play. Kulikov has registered just one assist in 11:57 TOI/GM in his first five games of 2018-19.
Kulikov has been a healthy scratch for the last three games, but will replace Joe Morrow in the lineup tonight. Kulikov has one assist while averaging 14:04 TOI/GM in two games this season.
Kulikov was sent back to Winnipeg after suffering an upper-body injury in New Jersey last Thursday. With Kulikov out for the next two games, Joe Morrow will remain on the Jets blueline in Washington on Monday.
Kulikov will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury that he suffered last Tuesday in San Jose. The Jets are extremely banged up right now and without Jacob Trouba they could definitely use Kulikov, but that will have to wait until Thursday at the earliest.
Kulikov is expected to miss two weeks, which will likely cost him about five games. The 26-year-old blueliner has picked up three points (1G / 2A) in five games this season but will not be replaced by Tucker Poolman for the next few weeks.
Kulikov broke into the NHL with a bang, but has struggled in recent years, culminating in him being traded to Buffalo last summer and him only posting five points (2G / 3A) in 47 games with the Sabres. Still only 26-years-old, the Jets obviously see something they like in the former No.14 overall pick (2009). Kulikov will be leaned on as a No.4/No.5 defenseman in Winnipeg, which should help him in the defensive aspect of the game.
Kulikov missed Friday’s practice for an undisclosed reason and is listed as a game-time decision for this afternoon’s game against the Blues. Expect him to be in the lineup, but monitor his status as the Sabres hit the ice for warmups at 12:30p.m. ET.
