The 32-year-old Kulikov has spent the 2022-23 season with the Anaheim Ducks, where he's appeared in 61 games and recorded three goals, 12 assists and 15 points while averaging 20:13 minutes of time on ice per game. He leads all Anaheim players with 103 blocked shots, and his 87 hits are tied for second on the team.
The 6-foot-1, 201-pound Kulikov is in his 14th NHL season split between Anaheim, Florida, Buffalo, Winnipeg, New Jersey, Edmonton and Minnesota where he's appeared in 866 games and recorded 45 goals, 168 assists, 213 points and nine game-winning goals. Kulikov also has 29 games of Stanley Cup Playoff experience, where he's accumulated eight points (1G-7A).
Kulikov was drafted in the first round (14th overall) in the 2009 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers. Among all players in his draft class, Kulikov's 866 regular-season games played ranks seventh, and his 168 points are eighth most among defensemen selected that year.
The native of Lipetsk, Russia has represented his country on the international stage on multiple occasions. He won one gold medal at the 2007 World Under-18 Championship, three silver medals at the 2008 World Under-18 Championship, as well as the 2010 and 2015 World Championship, and one bronze medal at the 2009 World Junior Championship. He was teammates with Evgeni Malkin at the 2017 World Cup of Hockey, as well as the 2010 and '15 World Championship.
Prior to his professional career, Kulikov spent one season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2008-09 with the Drummondville Voltigeurs where he won a QMJHL Championship and was also named the QMJHL Rookie of the Year and QMJHL Defenseman of the Year (Emile Bouchard Trophy).
