The trade
Avalanche get: Defenseman Brett Kulak
Penguins get: Defenseman Samuel Girard, second-round pick in 2028
Harman Dayal: On the surface, it makes sense why the Avalanche would trade Girard.
Sam Malinski, who recently signed a four-year, $4.75 million AAV extension that will kick in next season, has been a revelation on the backend. Malinski has emerged as one of the more underrated defensemen in the league and stylistically, his slick skating, puck-moving, and secondary offense made Girard somewhat redundant, especially since both players are undersized. It didn’t make sense for Colorado to go into next year with a combined $9.75 million committed between Girard and Malinski — we would have almost certainly been talking about Girard and his $5 million AAV as a cap dump candidate in the summer.
With that in mind, swapping Girard out for Kulak, who’s bigger, cheaper, and closer in ability and on-ice impact to Girard than many would think, makes sense. However, it’s surprising that the Avalanche had to surrender a second-round pick on top of that, given that Girard is the younger, higher-pedigree player.
Don’t get me wrong, Kulak is an excellent No. 4/5 defenseman. He’s best suited to being an elite third-pair driver, but he can effectively handle top-four usage too — he was thriving as Kris Letang’s partner recently. And he excelled for the Oilers during their Stanley Cup Final run last year, averaging a monster 23:25 per game because of Mattias Ekholm’s injury. Kulak is mobile, can exit the zone well, and at 6-foot-1, he’s significantly bigger and won’t be outmuscled defensively against bigger, heavier teams in the playoffs, the way perhaps Girard would have been. Historically, Kulak has played his best hockey in the playoffs and I can understand why Colorado’s coaching staff would even prefer him over Girard for a deep postseason run because of the size upgrade. Kulak isn’t a flashy, household name, but he’s long been an underrated player.
Still, it’s a bit underwhelming to see Girard’s trade value sink so low that the Avs had to give up a premium draft pick.
This deal opens up a critical $2.25 million in cap room for Colorado, so you’d have to think this is a precursor for a bigger swing ahead of the deadline. It’s almost impossible to fully judge this trade from the Avs’ perspective until we see what Colorado does with that new cap space — we’ll be talking about this trade much differently if it allows them to reacquire Nazem Kadri, for example — but for right now, this cap dump feels pricey, even though it was logical.
For the Penguins, this is a home run. At 27, Girard is five years younger than Kulak. Girard obviously isn’t a perfect player and he hasn’t quite lived up to his early career when he flashed top-pair potential, but he’s still a solid second-pair contributor. GM Kyle Dubas essentially got the younger player in this deal and received a valuable draft pick, which is pretty incredible work.
It makes the overall Tristan Jarry trade, which is where the Penguins originally acquired Kulak, look like an even bigger steal. Pittsburgh has basically turned Jarry into Stuart Skinner’s expiring contract, Girard and two second-round picks.
Avalanche: C+ (grade will improve if they leverage cap savings into a big move before the deadline)
Penguins: A+
James Mirtle: It feels like a copout writing these sometimes and declaring it a win for both sides. But this trade certainly appears to fit that description more than most.
For the Penguins, this deal feels like a direct knock-on from the Jarry trade, when they accepted Kulak as a salary dump from cap-strapped Edmonton. Now, after absorbing his $2.75 million cap hit for just 25 games, they get a decent pick and Girard, a 27-year-old defenseman with one more year on his contract who they can play higher in their lineup than the Avs ever did.
Girard had been passed in Colorado by not only UFA signing Brent Burns but also up-and-comer Malinski, which is why his minutes fell into third-pair territory (17:41 a game) this year. After Malinski signed a big new extension, the writing was on the wall a bit for Girard in Colorado, a team with designs on contention that can use Kulak’s size and defensive ability down the lineup as blue line insurance.
Total value wise, Girard and Kulak are probably similar, but their playstyles are completely different and Kulak likely makes the perfect partner for Malinski. The fact Girard has one year remaining on his contract, even at $5 million, gives him extra value, too, as the Penguins can build up his worth and flip him a year from now even if the fit doesn’t work out.
Plus, with Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, 38 and 35 years old, respectively, the Penguins need to start building a succession plan on D as part of what’s become a very interesting retool on the fly. Girard could plausibly become a part of that, as he’s been a big-minute player in the past on some good Colorado teams.
The Avs do give up the extra asset here with the second-round pick, but what will be interesting is what they do with the $2.25 million in cap space gained. They’re likely to be players for at least one difference maker up front, and this allows GM Chris MacFarland to get more aggressive on some of the biggest pieces available.
If they pull that off, gaining the extra cap room (this season and next) while adding a solid defensive defenseman in this deal will be worth the pick.
Penguins: AAvalanche: B+
