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Panthers re-sign Kulikov: three years, $13 million

Florida Panthers v Toronto Maple Leafs

TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 30: Dmitry Kulikov #7 of the Florida Panthers skates with the puck during an NHL game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre on January 30, 2014 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Leafs defeated the Panthers 6-3. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Claus Andersen

The Florida Panthers have locked up one of their young defensive cornerstones, inking Dmitry Kulikov to a three-year, $13 million extension on Friday.

Kulikov, 23, is coming off a campaign in which he set career highs for games played (81) and goals (eight). The Russian rearguard also averaged nearly 22 minutes a night while finishing second among Florida defensemen in hits and fourth in blocked shots -- as a result, he’ll now pull in $4.3M annually and become the team’s second highest-paid blueliner in the process.

The Panthers’ first-round selection (14th overall) at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, Kulikov is the third young d-man to re-up with the team in recent weeks -- eight days ago, Erik Gudbranson inked a two-year tender and four days ago, Dylan Olsen signed a two-year deal as well. With those deals in place, Florida projects to have a potential top-six defense of Brian Campbell, Willie Mitchell, Aaron Ekblad, Kulikov, Gudbranson and Olsen... which isn’t too shabby at all.