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It's been a full six seasons since Nikolay Kulemin played a National Hockey League game — but it looks like the 38-year-old is going to get another opportunity to play in the show. The Ottawa Senators signed the Russian to a professional tryout (PTO) on Thursday, the team announced.
“Roster update: The [Senators] have signed defenseman Calen Addison and forward Nikolay Kulemin to professional tryout agreements,” confirmed Sens Communications on X, formerly Twitter.
Kulemin has spent the last six seasons split between Salavat Yulaev Ufa and Metallurg Magnitogorsk in the KHL. He's been a decent scoring forward in that time, averaging around 25 points per game over the last few campaigns.
In 2023-24, Kulemin scored 13 goals and 25 points over 46 regular-season games with Salavat Yulaev, finishing sixth on the team in scoring while serving as an alternate captain.
Originally a second-round selection (No. 44 overall) by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2006 NHL Draft, Kulemin has played 669 NHL games over 10 seasons.
He played just over a half-decade in the Leafs organization before signing a four-year contract with the New York Islanders in July of 2014. Over his nearly 700 games, he's totaled 121 goals and 153 assists for 274 points.
Nikolay Kulemin coming back to the NHL is stunning
After spending six years in his home country, it's certainly quite surprising that a player who is almost 40 is looking to come back to North America.
“Kulemin is an immediate contender for the most eye-popping PTO of the offseason,” wrote Josh Erickson of Pro Hockey Rumors on Thursday. “After falling to a fourth-line role amid a rash of injuries in 2017-18, the final season of his contract in New York, Kulemin opted to return to his native Russia the following summer… It’s a puzzling career move for Kulemin, but it appears he’s intent on getting another shot in North America.
“There is an outside chance he could land a fourth-line role and make the opening night roster, competing with players like Angus Crookshank and Zack MacEwen. But if he’s intent on adding to his 669 career NHL games, he’ll likely need to do it by starting with the Sens’ AHL affiliate in Belleville and working his way back up.”
Kulemin certainly doesn't seem like he fits the mold of a fourth-line player, and it'll be interesting to see if he can earn a shot in Ottawa's offensively-gifted top-nine during training camp.
Most likely, he'll spend at least the beginning of the season in the American Hockey League, which makes it even more puzzling why he would try to make an NHL return.
But as a player who has proven that he can make an impact at the NHL level, Kulemin could add another element to a Senators team that is desperate to make the playoffs in 2025.
