If the Ottawa Senators had one unusual or surprising off-season signing, it’s their decision to bring in 38-year-old winger Nikolay Kulemin on a PTO. Sure, Kulemin had a decent career in the NHL, even putting up a 30-goal season with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But that was the outlier of all outliers, and it was 14 years ago, playing on a line with popular former Senator Clarke MacArthur. In his other seven full seasons in the league, Kulemin scored between 7 and 16 goals per season.
However, the Senators aren’t looking for him to be a 30-goal sniper. They’re holding auditions right now to cast a fourth-line player, which is right in Kulemin’s wheelhouse. He’s a player who’s hard along the boards, defensively responsible, and can still get you 20-25 points.
Connections do make the hockey world go around and Kulemin was in Toronto when the Sens’ current brain trust of GM Steve Staios and Dave Poulin, Senior VP of Hockey Ops, were both in that organization. They obviously liked what they saw back then, and hope he still has it now.
“Yeah, I mean, he’s a good pro,” GM Steve Staios said last week. “We talked about competitiveness at camp. He’s 38 years old, he’s in outstanding shape, and I think he’ll add some competitiveness. He played at a high level in the KHL, and I think (it’ll be good) for our younger players to see what it takes to be able to continue to perform at the pro level. But he’s a good pro.”
So that’s Ottawa’s explanation. What about Kulemin’s? His desire to return was also curious… at first. But it turned out to be a family decision, one that he hopes will support his son’s hockey aspirations.
“I decided this year that I wanted my son to play here in Canada,” Kulemin told The Athletic. “It’s a good level of hockey. It’s a fast game here, it’s a little different than Russia. Teams have less players, so it’s like only three lines of forwards and back home it’s four lines. It’s a little more exciting, a little more ice time, so it’s going to be something new for him to go through.”
This is Aleks Kulemin’s OHL Draft year and he’ll suit up in Triple-A for the Don Mills Flyers in the Greater Toronto Hockey League.
The Senators have a lot of young guys banging on the NHL door to fill out that fourth line right now. What Kulemin lacks in youth, he might make up for in experience and savvy. If he doesn’t make it, there’s still the Belleville option, which is even closer to his son.
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