The Colorado Avalanche tweaked their already dominant defense, acquiring veteran D-man Brett Kulak from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The move also frees up cap space for Colorado, positioning the Avs to make more significant deals.
The Colorado Avalanche are at it again. It shouldn't be shocking to see that, once again, the Avalanche have made a major trade.
Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland pulled off one of the first post-Olympic break deals on Tuesday, acquiring defenseman Brett Kulak from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for blueliner Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round draft pick.
The trade makes the already-rich Avs even richer, giving them arguably the NHL's best defense corps – and it sets up Colorado to make other notable moves before the league's March 6 trade deadline.
Certainly, the addition of Kulak makes the Avs' defensive-zone play significantly stronger. Dealing Girard, a capable second-pair blueliner who chips in a bit of offense, is somewhat of a surprise. But bringing in a defense-minded blueliner in Kulak at a $2.75 million salary – a little more than half of Girard's $5 million annual salary – makes a lot of sense for the Avs.
The Avalanche now have about $8.7 million in salary cap space – a total that rises to $10.8 million at the trade deadline. Gaining more than $2 million in cap space is likely why the Avs attached a second-round pick in the Kulak deal. But after the trade, MacFarland still has two second-round picks in the next three drafts, and the Avalanche is a team in win-now mode.
Acquiring Kulak helps Colorado on a number of fronts, and MacFarland now has sufficient cap space to make more big moves.
If things work out well with Kulak, who is a UFA this summer, the Avalanche can re-sign him to a contract extension. Colorado has a projected $13 million in cap space next year, and all of its core players are under contract beyond this season. So the Avs can easily absorb a new contract for Kulak and have plenty of cap space to fill out their roster.
The Avalanche's D-corps of stars Cale Makar and Devon Toews, as well as Josh Manson, Brent Burns, Sam Malinski and Kulak, is a well-balanced group with minimal flaws.
If Kulak signs an extension, all Avs defensemen except for veteran Burns will be signed through 2026-27. That cost certainty was likely why Colorado was comfortable surrendering two assets for Kulak.
Brett Kulak (Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images)From Pittsburgh's perspective, picking up the 27-year-old Girard gives them the flexibility to keep him over the long term or flip him to another team.
Pens GM Kyle Dubas did well to turn Kulak, who played only 25 games for Pittsburgh since he was acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in mid-December, into a high-end draft pick and a defenseman who gives them numerous options moving forward.
However, the Avs are the big winners of the Girard-Kulak trade. Colorado has made an already-strong D-corps stronger, and the player they're acquiring is on a short audition to stay in Denver. If it doesn’t work out, the Avalanche can walk away from Kulak and use his cap space on someone else.
Thus, this trade is a low-risk, high-reward move for Colorado. The bottom line is that MacFarland just took an Avs team that was already one of the favorites to win this year's Cup and made them that much better. So if you're an Avalanche fan, you have to be happy with this deal.
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