Former NY Islanders F signs surprising PTO contract with Ottawa Senators

You remember Nikolay Kulemin, right? The guy who came over with Mikhail Grabovski from the Toronto Maple Leafs on the second day of free agency in 2014? The guy who made that hilarious Brooklyn Russian hipster short video with Grabo and scored a huge goal to take the lead in Game 6 at the Nassau Coliseum in 2015? That Nikolay Kulemin?

Well, he's not showing up on New York Islanders alumni weekend, at least not yet. Having last played in the NHL with the Isles in 2017, Kulemin is looking for another crack at hockey in North America, signing a PTO (professional tryout) with the Ottawa Senators where he will compete for a spot on their roster at training camp later this month. This is the second consecutive year a former Islander signed a PTO with the Sens after Josh Bailey did last season before being ultimately released. Bailey, as we know, did not play in the NHL or anywhere else last season.

The 38-year-old Russian has played the last six seasons back home in the KHL. He played the first three with the Magnitogorsk Metallurg and the previous three with Ufa Salavat Yulayev. Last season, in 46 games, he scored 13 goals and 12 assists. Kulemin had his best offensive seasons with the Leafs, scoring 30 goals during the 2011-12 season, but never eclipsed more than 15 in any year that followed, hitting that mark in his first season on Long Island during the 2014-15 campaign.

He suffered a season-ending upper body injury in 2017 which limited him to just 13 games in the fourth and final year of his contract with the Isles before his move to the KHL.