kulikov

[harv33173]

normally you play an offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman to cover for him. so which is kuli? offensive should be paired with weaver, or gubranson (not). or defensive should be paired with campbell, or gilbert. at this point in his career this guy is an enigma. i hope he returns to pre injury form, or better. remember he only has a 1 year contract and we may not even have him next year.

 

[gudzilla]

normally you play an offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman to cover for him. so which is kuli? offensive should be paired with weaver, or gubranson (not). or defensive should be paired with campbell, or gilbert. at this point in his career this guy is an enigma. i hope he returns to pre injury form, or better. remember he only has a 1 year contract and we may not even have him next year.

two way defensemen takes longer to develop. gilbert might work out for him. i just don't know, i like him and he needs a good allround top4 d-man, not a bunch of 3rd pairing d-men that specialize in just one thing

 

[Hockeycast]

normally you play an offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman to cover for him. so which is kuli? offensive should be paired with weaver, or gubranson (not). or defensive should be paired with campbell, or gilbert. at this point in his career this guy is an enigma. i hope he returns to pre injury form, or better. remember he only has a 1 year contract and we may not even have him next year.

Kulikov is a two-way defenseman.
You know that Kulikov is a RFA, right?

 

[Lampshade85]

Whatever happened to the not trading away our future mentality?

 

[SoupyFIN]

remember he only has a 1 year contract and we may not even have him next year.

2016 is the first year Kuli can test UFA.

7 years of NHL experience or age 27. Kuli is going to hit 7 years the year he turns 25 (24 when UFA begins in July, probably one of the youngest UFAs ever if he tests the market), which is 2016.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

I agree it gets frustrating at times, but it's not just him. For all the promise Gudbranson showed in pre-season, he has nothing to show for it in 10 games. But as it's been mentioned before, they are young, we can't give up on them. We really have to stay the course. If we trade them I have no doubt they'll become studs wherever they go. I have no problem changing our vets, but our young core I'm not giving up on.

My question to those supporting a decision to trade Kulikov would be: Why trade a player who's shown the ability to play top-4 defensemen minutes and is only 22 yrs old.

Patience is a virtue, with the influx of talent in the next couple of seasons Kulikov will blossom as will Gudbranson and hopefully Michael Matheson. Building thru the draft and sticking the full course is something as Panther fans (myself included) are use to hearing but never seeing.

We should be focused on the defensive laps from Campbell, Gilroy (who plays like a 4th forward), and Weaver. For all each brings to the table not one of them is a complete defensemen.

I always find it comical when this board decides to pick roughly 2-3 players each season to pick on and trade based on an entire teams performance rather than an individuals talent, many of whom then do get moved and produce else where. (Please I do not want an argument of "well which players were they" or "oh ok, name em then") I'm simply having an interventional discussion.

Nailed it. Let the kids learn from the vets and grow as people, friends and teammates. I believe the real plan Tallon is building is still 2 years away from all playing together. Trocheck, Matheson, Howden, McCohsen, Petrovic etc are still on their way.

Year 3 of 5 on the build is only 10 games in. Tallon has a B in my books so far with his budget, I'm hoping Viola opens the wallet to re-sign the core group and add the other puzzle pieces that need money when the time comes. Dale got us back to the playoffs and I'm very confident we are a playoff team by 2015/16. Playoffs before are obviously possible and would be the cherry on top.

Keep Kulikov and sign him based on his performance, I'm assuming a 2-3 year deal depending when he's at UFA status. Look at our UFA/RFA on D this year. Guddy needs a new contract plus the UFA's are Weaver, Whitney, Gilbert and Gilroy.

I think we can agree Robak or Petrovic need to take that next step and earn a spot for the 14/15 season. Matheson and McCoshen should be on by 15/16 season. Trading Kuli would mean Matheson and McCoshen would have to be rushed as we won't resign all the UFA's at year's end.

By 2015/16 Our Defense depth would be something like this:

Kulikov
Gudbranson
Campbell
Petrovic
Matheson
McCoshen

Robak

Looks pretty good to me as long as the development in all of them works out.

 

[ursavolta]

Nailed it. Let the kids learn from the vets and grow as people, friends and teammates. I believe the real plan Tallon is building is still 2 years away from all playing together. Trocheck, Matheson, Howden, McCohsen, Petrovic etc are still on their way.

Year 3 of 5 on the build is only 10 games in. Tallon has a B in my books so far with his budget, I'm hoping Viola opens the wallet to re-sign the core group and add the other puzzle pieces that need money when the time comes. Dale got us back to the playoffs and I'm very confident we are a playoff team by 2015/16. Playoffs before are obviously possible and would be the cherry on top.

Keep Kulikov and sign him based on his performance, I'm assuming a 2-3 year deal depending when he's at UFA status. Look at our UFA/RFA on D this year. Guddy needs a new contract plus the UFA's are Weaver, Whitney, Gilbert and Gilroy.

I think we can agree Robak or Petrovic need to take that next step and earn a spot for the 14/15 season. Matheson and McCoshen should be on by 15/16 season. Trading Kuli would mean Matheson and McCoshen would have to be rushed as we won't resign all the UFA's at year's end.

By 2015/16 Our Defense depth would be something like this:

Kulikov
Gudbranson
Campbell
Petrovic
Matheson
McCoshen
Racine

Robak

Looks pretty good to me as long as the development in all of them works out.

You forgot Racine (just look at that depth).
I think Racine is going to be weaver's replacement in the long run. Just a strong defensive and mean paladin in the back. I think Racine will surprise alot of folk once he gets his game up. Just a matter of time.

In regards to kuli I think most of us would not mind him gone if there is a suitable replacement (although rare in most cases) and another strong piece coming back. But he is young and growing, we should keep him until an offer comes.

He has the potential no doubt. He plays strong on the boards and is prone in making bonehead decisions. He needs to hit the net more often, it is like if he was afraid of hitting someone with the puck on the ice. I honestly believe that our dmen need to hit the net more often and try to create offensive chances by communicating with the forwards. Tip - ins and deflections my boys! a simple stick held out in the middle of the ice could create random puck chances of hitting the net. Right not we are not screening enough and the dmen are hitting the boards to land on the sticks of the forwards.. sort of like a dump in.

What happens is that we usually collapse in the middle so when a dmen hits the net (rarely) and the puck bounces back that leads to an offensive chance for the other team. Or if the puck is shot blocked then the other team has a chance to rush it up while our boys still collapsed or behind the boards have to catch up. We don't hit, we don't go guns a blazing in the back end because we are a puck possession team. We play with stamina conserved and puck possession (even tho our faceoffs havent been that great and our entrance to the opponents zone haven't been great) Our top 6 are squishies that like to hold and playmake not grind it up and play dirty hockey. There is no variation to our offense.

Kuli is not entirely to blame, the composition of the team needs adjustments.

 

[Hockeycast]

What do you guys think it would take to land Luca Sbisa once he's healthy?
Kulikov-Sbisa could actually work, both young two-way defenseman.
Didn't realize Sbisa is only 23 before now so the asking price would probably be pretty high though

BTW: Great avatar Soupy

 

[Big Bjugs]

I think Kulikov is in a rare situation where he is still young, with good potential, but I don't think he will fulfill it here. I honestly think Kuli would benefit from a change of scenery and system.

I'm in no way saying he is bad. I'd love to be greedy and keep him but I think it would be selfish to hold him back and good for his career and our team, for whatever asset we get in return. Which I'm hoping would be a good one.

 

[PanthersHockey1]

The problem with kulikov is that the flashes of future brilliance that should be some indication of his future value happen far less often imo than the flashes of brilliance i see from gudbranson.

Kulikov lacks the physicality and shot accuracy to be a top 2 dman imo.