Former Maple Leafs signs PTO with division rivals

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Tom Banks
September 5, 2024 (3:31 PM)

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The Ottawa Senators have made some intriguing moves
this summer, but signing a former Maple Leaf in Nikolay Kulemin that hasn't played since 2018 may be the most interesting of all.

The Ottawa Senators off-season has been a hard one to follow, as they traded for star goaltender Linus Ullmark, before making some other smaller moves as well as the trade of Jakob Chychrun to the Washington Capitals for a disappointing return. Now, General Manager Steve Staios has made even more of a head scratching move, as it was announced via social media that the team had signed former Toronto Maple Leaf Nikolay Kulemin to a PTO.

The reason this is such a shock move is that Kulemin, now 38-years of age hasn't played in the NHL since way back in 2018 with the New York Islanders, after he was drafted by the Maple Leafs in the second-round of the 2006 NHL Draft. Since his departure, he has played for six seasons and two different teams in the KHL, and while the production wasn't quite as good as expected, he was a solid contributor in those six years.

Now, Ottawa have given him a chance to resurrect his career in North America, and while a PTO doesn't mean a guaranteed roster spot, with the teams need for depth, he could end up being a solid, cheap option for this team in 2024/25. In 669 games over 10 seasons in the NHL, Kulemin had some solid years, tallying 274 points with a career high of 57 back in 2010/11 with Toronto, and now in what could be the shock story of training camp, he looks to end his NHL hiatus after six years.