And just in case the Oilers forgot, Kulak was right back in their face again Monday night, helping his new team to a 2-1 shootout win, and his old one to a big ol\u2019 heaping helping of humble pie.<\/p>\n
\u201cKuley has quietly come in and he\u2019s just, defensively, he\u2019s kind of the human eraser out there,\u201d said Avalanche assistant coach and Drayton Valley product Dave Hakstol. \u201cHe just goes out and takes care of plays and the pucks finds its way out of the zone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s so efficient in the way he defends and moves you out of the zone that he\u2019s been really valuable. Great person, great human being in the dressing room, he\u2019s fit in really well and very much a well-liked teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n
To be fair, the Oilers didn\u2019t trade Kulak to the Avalanche. They\u2019ve been the league\u2019s frontrunners all season long, and hardly needed any of Edmonton\u2019s help keeping a hold of that position all the way to the finish line of the regular season.<\/p>\n
But they got it, in a sense.<\/p>\n
After the team Edmonton traded Kulak to, the Pittsburgh Penguins, served up the defenceman on the trade block in February, the Avs, seeing a solid roster addition fresh off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Finals, wasted no time plucking him up, thank you very much.<\/p>\n
They gave Pittsburgh a 2028 second-round draft pick and defenceman Samuel Girard, for their troubles, while the Penguins had already gained goaltender Stuart Skinner and a 2029 second-round draft pick from Edmonton. Removing Kulak from either side of the equation to simplify the math, all the Penguins had to give up in the trades was goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Sam Poulin.<\/p>\n
![\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/fa32e69770e76a0714e652cb5739ddf0.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Former Edmonton Oilers defenceman Brett Kulak waves to the crowd after a brief tribute video at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026. Kulak was traded from the Oilers earlier this season in the goalie swap with Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
Edmonton, meanwhile, ended up with a goaltender who has put up worse numbers here than Skinner did this season, and a hole in their defensive corps they would go on to fill at the trade deadline with Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Connor Murphy \u2014 an addition that cost them another second-round draft pick, this time from 2028.<\/p>\n
Two second-round draft picks just to swap second-pairing defencemen (that\u2019s where Murphy\u2019s currently playing in Edmonton and Kulak\u2019s playing in Colorado), and downgrade a starting goaltender (in Skinner) to a backup (in Jarry)? It\u2019s no wonder the Oilers are about the furthest things from heavy favourites to claim the Western Conference this year and return for another run at the Stanley Cup Finals.<\/p>\n
The Avalanche, with their 115 points already more than enough to secure the President\u2019s Trophy heading into this, the final week of the regular season, are on the other hand, heavily favoured indeed.<\/p>\n
\u201cA hundred per cent. We say it\u2019s an ideal situation when you move,\u201d Kulak said from the visitors\u2019 dressing room of Rogers Place following Monday\u2019s morning skate. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t ask for a better situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had to move twice to get there, of course. And in the span of three months, no less, since initially being traded out of his hometown of Edmonton.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been big moments the last couple years and a lot of (playoff) experience,\u201d Kulak said. \u201cThis is a team where the expectation is to win the Cup. I feel like I can bring a lot of experience, especially with the last couple years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fresh for me and I know the style of play it requires to win the game in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n
That doesn\u2019t mean it was easy to pick up and move away in the first place, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an emotional day for the family,\u201d Kulak said. \u201cObviously, my wife and kids, for sure, got pretty attached to the Oilers. And even growing up just outside the city, it affects a lot of different people. It was a weird day for us and it still feels a little weird.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had kind of come out of the blue, for sure. I didn\u2019t expect it, that\u2019s for sure. It\u2019s tough to kind of get blindsided like that, but it is what it is and I am happy to be where I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
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