Edmonton Oilers acquire defenceman Dmitry Kulikov

The Edmonton Oilers have acquired shutdown defenceman Dmitri Kulikov from the New Jersey Devils in a move that will help shore up the clubs defence.

Kulikov, 30, has appeared in 30 games for the New Jersey Devils this season scoring only two assists, but offence isn’t his strong suit. According to hockeyviz.com, at even strength Kulikov provides offence at a league average rate, but brings defence at a 10 percent rate higher than league average.

With him on the ice in New Jersey this year, the Devils expected goals against per hour is 20 percent lower than that of league average.

According to TSN’s Gord Miller, the Oilers are giving up a conditional fourth round pick that becomes a third if Edmonton wins a playoff round. Kulikov is a UFA at the end of the season and carries a $1.15-million cap hit. No word if the Devils retained salary or not.

The left-shot defenceman is a definite upgrade over the likes of Kris Russell and William Lagesson,. Kulikov has been a strong play driver this year for the Devils this year at 5×5 controlling 53.76 percent of the shot attempts and 54.43 percent of the expected goals.

His actual 5×5 goals for rate is only 42.55 percent, but that can attributed to a low 6.56 on ice shooting percentage. These underlying numbers, however, appear to be a bit of an outlier for his career, which is a bit of a concern.

Kulikov’s most common defensive partner this year is P.K. Subban, a right-shot puck-moving defenceman who has dragged down his numbers ever-so-slightly.

While it appears to be an outlier season for Kulikov, they’re undoubtedly getting a defenceman who is going to help make them better this season.