With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Dmitry Kulikov

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 32

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 201 pounds

2022-23 NHL statistics: 67 games, 16 points (three goals, 13 assists)

Contract: In the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.25 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in the upcoming offseason.

(Note: Kulikov’s contract includes a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of eight teams he would not accept a trade to.)

Acquired: Trade, March 3, 2023

(Note: As a condition of the trade that brought him to the Penguins, the Anaheim Ducks retained $1.125 million of his salary cap hit.)

Last season: Dmitry Kulikov finished the 2022-23 campaign much in the same way he opened it. And in a pattern that has become commonplace throughout his existence as an NHLer.

Somewhere else.

A first-round pick (No. 14 overall) of the Florida Panthers in 2009, Kulikov has carved out a 14-year career with eight different teams as a steady but hardly spectacular defensive entity.

The Ducks became Kulikov’s seventh team on Aug. 31 when the Minnesota Wild traded him for salary cap purposes.

Largely deployed on the Ducks’ top pairing, Kulikov had the fortune of playing alongside All-Star defenseman Cam Fowler though the results statistically were lackluster considering the Ducks were in the middle of a rebuilding project in 2022-23.

In 67 games with Anaheim, Kulikov recorded 15 points (three goals, 12 assists) while averaging a robust 20:13 of ice time per contest, including a team-best 3:09 on the penalty kill.

With the Ducks going nowhere fast, Kulikov was sent to the Penguins at the trade deadline in exchange for ineffective forward Brock McGinn and a third-round draft pick in 2024.

Kulikov made his Penguins debut March 7 and appeared in four games — primarily on the third defensive pairing with Jan Rutta — but suffered a suspected left foot injury in his fourth game, a 3-2 home win against the New York Rangers on March 12. The ailment sidelined Kulikov for the next 14 games.

As the Penguins’ playoff hopes were euthanized in the waning days of the season, Kulikov was healthy enough to play in the team’s final two games. In total, he appeared in six games for the Penguins and recorded one assist.

The future: Just given how his career has tracked, it’s safe to assume Kulikov will be suiting up for a ninth team by the fall.

The Penguins are pretty well stocked with young left-handed defensemen in Marcus Pettersson, P.O Joseph and Ty Smith so there really isn’t a need to re-sign Kulikov.

At this stage of his career, Kulikov, who turns 33 on Oct. 29, can still be a viable defensive force, provided his ice time is limited to the duties of a bottom-pairing defenseman. He understands the game well, is a good teammate, has some level of physicality and can even chip in the occasional goal. There’s a reason he has lasted nearly a decade and a half in the NHL.

But, once again, it’s time for him to move on.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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