Vitals
Player: Brett Kulak
Born: Jan. 6, 1994 (32 years old)
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 192 pounds
Hometown: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Shoots: Left
Draft: 2012 NHL Draft, fourth round, 14th pick (105th overall) by Calgary Flames
2025-26 Statistics (with Pittsburgh): 25 games played; one goal; six assists; seven points
Contract Status: Entering unrestricted free agency on July 1 after completion of a four-year, $11,000,000 contract
Monthly Splits
Kulak’s best month undoubtedly was January, with all of these games
coming in a Pittsburgh sweater. He had his highest amount of shots on goal, and he was rewarded with his lone goal on the season and four additional assists.
Perhaps Kulak’s best game came when he scored that one goal in a 6-3 win over the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 19. He also took home a plus-3 rating during that game.
Story of the Season
When Pittsburgh acquired defenseman Brett Kulak as part of the Tristan Jarry trade with the Edmonton Oilers in December, the team was looking for a reliable veteran who could eat minutes. The Penguins also had to take on Kulak and Stuart Skinner’s contracts to help get the deal over the line with the cap-strapped Oilers.
Kulak ultimately provided that veteran presence in his short tenure with the Penguins.
The 32-year-old defenseman was never expected to be an offensive driver, and his numbers reflected that. Across his 2025-26 campaign, Kulak recorded one goal and 11 assists in 83 games overall.
But his value was always going to be measured more by how he helped stabilize a rather inconsistent Pittsburgh defensive corps.
A little more than two months after he was acquired by Pittsburgh, general manager Kyle Dubas flipped Kulak to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for fellow defenseman Samuel Girard and a second-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft.
Regular season 5v5 advanced stats
Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 11 defensemen on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.
Corsi For%: 48.29 (9th)
Goals For%: 50.00 (8th)
xGF%: 50.17 (8th)
Scoring Chance %: 48.06 (10th)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 48.02 (11th)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 9.84 (9th)
On-ice save%: 90.10 (6th)
Goals/60: 0.13
Assist/60: 0.67
Points/60: 0.8
Kulak’s underlying numbers suggest he largely provided unspectacular results in a Penguins uniform, ranking near the bottom among qualified Penguins defensemen in several possession and chance-generation metrics.
His expected goals share was slightly above break-even at 50.17%, indicating the Penguins generated a nearly even share of quality chances with him on the ice at five-on-five.
Offensively, Kulak contributed modestly with 0.8 points per 60 minutes, but he only appeared in 25 games with the team before being traded again.
Defensively, his on-ice save percentage ranked sixth on the team, helping offset some of the weaker chance metrics.
Charts n’at
Via Advanced Hockey Stats and NHL Edge
Playing on three different teams in a single season is a unique challenge, and Kulak had some struggles with maintaining his impacts from prior seasons. Overall, as a bottom-pair defenseman, he can add to a PK and provide a decent DV defensive performance, but his offense isn’t going to add much to a team.
Hockeystats.com has a scouting report on Kulak that includes, “A terrific rush defender who uses his feet and stick to force turnovers and dump-ins at the blueline,” but the data didn’t back that up this year, besides preventing entry chances. Then again, as mentioned, it couldn’t be easy to produce consistent results while having so many different teams, coaches, teammates, and strategies thrown at him this year.
Kulak is going to stay home at the left point more often than not in the offensive zone. He is typically an active skater, using his wheels and covering a lot of ground going up and down the ice.
Skating is still a pretty good base for Kulak, even now into his 30’s. He’s no burner but is efficient and somewhat quick without having high-end speed. It’s more than good enough for his game as a positional defenseman to try and keep the play in front of him and turn on the jets when they need to be there to cover a different part of the ice.
Highlights
Thanks for being part of the deal that allowed the Penguins to jettison the Tristan Jarry contract! We salute you.
Questions to ponder
Simply put: where will Kulak end up for the 2026-27 season after his contract expires? I could see a scenario where the Colorado Avalanche re-up with Kulak to give them more of the same on the back end.
Ideal 2026-27
Wherever Kulak ends up for the 2026-27 season, it more than likely will not be with Pittsburgh. But Kulak can continue to eat bottom-pair minutes, kill penalties, and perhaps be a valuable elder statesman who can mentor younger defensemen.
Bottom line
Kulak’s cup of coffee with the Penguins was what everyone should have expected: He was a professional and dependable veteran.
He was not a game-changer, but he was steady, adaptable, and capable of handling meaningful minutes.
The trade to the Avalanche served as a cap-clearing move for Colorado while adding defensive depth to their roster for their inevitable playoff run. Pittsburgh added yet another draft pick to its ever-growing stockpile of potential future assets.
And while Sam Girard’s short tenure in the black and gold has been a bit of a roller coaster thus far, it was another tidy piece of business for Kyle Dubas and company.
Final Grade: C+
Considering the circumstances, the acquisition of Kulak was a smart move. The Penguins wanted out of Jarry’s contract and needed help on defense, and Kulak provided it without demanding a major role or forcing the team into a long-term commitment.
