Panthers give injury update on Dmitry Kulikov. How long will he be out?
The Florida Panthers will be without Dmitry Kulikov long-term.
The veteran defenseman had surgery to repair a labral tear in his right shoulder, Florida coach Paul Maurice told reporters Wednesday in Detroit prior to the team’s game against the Red Wings.
Maurice said Kulikov will be out five months, a timeline that sidelines him until mid-March.
Kulikov is the fourth Panthers player and first defenseman on IR already to start the season. Forwards Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk and Tomas Nosek are already sidelined as each recovers from various surgeries.
“Dmitry is like some of the other players we have out of our lineup,” Maurice said. “He is unique in his role. Excellent penalty killer, physical player in the 5-6, but he can skate and close gaps. That’s the hole. … You don’t replace these guys that we have out of the lineup, but the weight doesn’t get heavier. You just have fewer guys to lift. Everybody shares it.”
Kulikov left Florida’s 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday with 9:41 left in the second period after attempting to make a hit on Philadelphia’s Bobby Brinks on the wall at center ice. His right arm was limp, and he held his wrist as he left the ice.
The Panthers placed defenseman Kulikov on injured reserve Friday, a move that sidelined him for at minimum a week but will now be much, much longer.
Kulikov has been a fixture on Florida’s third defense pairing the past two years when the team’s blue line is at full strength. He played in 146 regular-season games the past two years with 33 points (five goals, 28 assists) and a plus-minus rating of plus-27. He has 247 career points over 1,020 career NHL games.
With Kulikov sidelined, Uvis Balinskis has slotted into Florida’s third pairing with Jeff Petry for the immediate future. The team recalled Tobias Bjornfot from the Charlotte Checkers, their American Hockey League affiliate, to serve as their seventh defenseman. They also claimed Donovan Sebrango off waivers on Wednesday.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 12:48 PM.
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