When they acquired Dmitry Kulikov over the weekend, members of the Sabres brass expressed confidence that he could play the role of a shutdown defenseman in Buffalo, perhaps even alongside Rasmus Ristolainen on the top pair.
Kulikov, after all, is coming off a season in which he averaged 21:02 of ice time for a Florida Panthers team that won the Atlantic Division and then averaged 25:09 with a plus-4 rating in six playoff games. Now, he's ready to do whatever's necessary to help his new team reach similar heights.
"I just want to help out in any way possible," Kulikov said during a conference call on Tuesday.