Name: Oleg Kulebiakin
Drafted: Second Round, 52nd overall
Bio: 18-years-old, St. Petersburg, Russia, left-shot, 5’10, 179 lbs.
Position: Left Wing/Right Wing
2025-26 Team: Halifax Mooseheads, QMJHL
The Lightning traded up a handful of spots in the second round to draft a player that a lot of the prognosticators had going in the middle rounds. When they have their sights set on a player, they aren’t going to let him get away, be it at the trade deadline or at the draft. So, what did they get for burning one of their fifth-round picks for a player who may have been available in the third round?
A player that reminds a lot of people of someone already on the roster – Nikita Kucherov. A sub-6’0″ Russian playmaker that will show up on highlight reels and dominate on the power play. Yup, that sounds a lot like Kucherov. While Kulebiakin (we’re going to go with the Lightning’s spelling) has a lot of shades of everyone’s favorite Hart Trophy winner, there is a tremendous gap between the two in reality.
The St. Petersburg-native does have some issues with the physical part of the game. He isn’t the strongest player along the boards and doesn’t like to engage with opponents to win the puck. As competition increases, his questionable ability to retrieve pucks on the forecheck or maintain possession cycling the puck around could hamper his growth. There are also some questions about his ability to create space on entries to set up plays on his own.
That being said, once he is set in the zone, there may not be a player currently in junior hockey that is better than Kulebiakin. He can attack defenses in multiple ways, from finessing pucks into the slot to saucering them to the far post, the 18-year-old has all of the tools in the bag. If he decides to attack the net he can stickhandle around and through defenders and then has quick enough hands to flip the puck up and past the goaltender from in tight. If defenses play off of him to take away his passing lanes, then he can hurt them with an accurate, deceptive shot.
Seriously, he is an absolute wizard with the puck on his stick. We really want to be level-headed about his skill level, but then we spend 20 minutes looking at highlights and are absolutely floored with what he can do to opposing defenders. When he’s cooking, it’s an absolute delight to watch him break down defenses.
He is a good skater, but lacks some of the explosiveness that NHL playmakers use to create space for themselves in tighter quarters. It is something that can be improved if he’s willing to put the work in with the skills coach.
Defensively…well he’s a good offensive player. He does show a willingness to backcheck and support the defense in his own zone, but he’s not the most physical player and is more likely to fly the zone in search of an offensive opportunity as opposed to ensuring the puck is out of the zone first.
Kulebiakin is the very definition of a boom-or-bust player. His playmaking skill is legitimately top-of-the-class, but he needs to show a willingness to take the next step in his development and put the hard work in to develop some of the less-exciting parts of the game. If he can do that, his ceiling is a top-six forward that can produce a ton of power play points. If he struggles, he could end up being a player like Alex Barre-Boulet – a very good AHL point-producer who can’t quite get there at the NHL level.
He’ll be in Halifax for another season and then has committed to the University of Massachusetts for the 2027-28 season. It will be interesting to see how the Lightning handle his development. He is not their prototypical, two-way, well-rounded prospect. Will they try and limit his offensive tendencies to round out his game or do they let him continue to be who he is with a little bit more responsibility and consistency.
