EDMONTON – Good help can be hard to find, especially if you are an NHL GM.

The Edmonton Oilers' GM, Stan Bowman, has been around the block a time or two. He knows what is at stake with free agent negotiations. While Connor McDavid is a different animal than the rest of his teammates, that doesn’t make the other teammates’ negotiations easier.

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But the future of one Oilers defender could be in peril come next summer. Brett Kulak is in the final year of his team-friendly deal.

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Earlier in the summer, Bob Stauffer speculated that Kulak would “have a decision to make” when it comes to his future with the team. In the same Oilers Now episode, Stauffer predicted that Jake Walman and Mattias Ekholm would have contract extensions before the beginning of the season.

If that comes to fruition, the Oilers will have Ekholm, Walman, and Darnell Nurse all as their left-handed defenders. Kulak is also a left-handed player, which brings to focus the question of whether he wants to stay with the team or go somewhere with more opportunity.

If he does, he certainly will be stapled to whoever occupies the third pairing on the right side. Is that how he wants to continue his career? We will wait and see.

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