The Reading Royals [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/community/latest-news/royals-name-alyson-vecchia-spooner-first-female-athletic-trainer-in-franchise-history]have announced that they have acquired defenseman Artyom Kulakov from the Allen Americans [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/latest-news/allen-americans-announce-new-nhl-ahl-affiliation]in exchange for Future Considerations. The 22-year-old Kulakov joins the Royals entering his third-full professional season after totaling 27 points (10-17-27) and 149 penalty minutes in 117 career ECHL [https://thehockeynews.com/echl]games between the Worcester Railers [https://thehockeynews.com/echl/latest-news/railers-kick-off-eighth-season-with-exciting-opening-weekend](2022-24) and Allen (2024-25). Royals head coach and general manager Anthony Peters calls Kulakov a physical blueliner who takes a lot of pride in defending and shutting down the opposition. "He loves the game and is extremely excited to be a Reading Royal,” Peters stated. “We will look to him to be very hard to play against and continue to develop his game. We are very happy to have him as a Royal.” A native of Bolshoy Kamen, Russia, Kulakov joined Worcester at the end of the 2022-23 season following his second year with the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League [https://thehockeynews.com/ohl/]. There, he played for Royals assistant coach Wes Wolfe. In 102 games with Erie, the 6-foot-2, 216-pound left-shot defenseman tallied 16 points (5-11-16) to go with 145 penalty minutes.
