Dmitry Kulikov is going to miss the end of the regular season and potentially the start of the playoffs with a back injury. Surgery is on the table. He has not played since leaving the game against the New Jersey Devils on March 8.
Kulikov missed most of last season with a bad back when he was with the Buffalo Sabres. He picked up that injury by being checked into an open bench door during the pre-season. He did not have surgery then; instead opting for rest and rehabilitation (s/t to Joe Yerdon). It seems that they are opting for rehab and rest again with the potential for surgery if this does not work (s/t to Murat Ates). This is the most prudent approach as back surgery can be very difficult to recover from.
The important part to note with this news is back injuries are bad and bad backs can be a constant issue that never fully go away. Hopefully Kulikov recovers fine and is ready to go soon, but that might not be the case because of the tricky nature of any back injury. The Jets will just have to play Joe Morrow and Ben Chiarot more I guess.
On another note, all of Tobias Enstrom, Mark Scheifele, and Adam Lowry could return tomorrow so maybe take back that Morrow/Chiarot thought.
