The NHL trade deadline is coming next month, but we got a noteworthy deal on Tuesday between the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins, who swapped defensemen and draft picks, with Samuel Girard and Brett Kulak swapping zip codes.
It’s an interesting move for both sides, and one that might be regretted if one team doesn’t win the Stanley Cup this year (is this worthy of a spoiler alert? Probably). But let’s get started right away. As usual, we’ll publish the trade levels for both parties, as well as a breakdown of the downside trades:
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Avalanche and Penguins trade details
Avalanche gets: DBrett Kulak
Penguin gets: D Samuel Girard and 2028 second-round pick
Avalanche Trade Grade
This… I’m not sure I quite understand. Perhaps the feeling is that the 27-year-old Girard isn’t the most consistent player on the blue line and that Kulak will be the defensive presence a Cup contender needs. So from this perspective, I can understand it. Kulak played a lot of minutes in the playoffs.
But the price! For a veteran whose contract is expiring, that’s a lot to give up. If the Avalanche win a championship with Kulak contributing in big moments, I’ll revise this. at present? Um. Grade: C+
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Penguin trade grade
Did you hear the cheers and high-fives from the Pens front desk? I do! They gave up an expiring contract in a season where the rebuild continues and got back a relatively young defenseman who had 30 points in three seasons and was a second-round pick.
If you do this kind of transaction a thousand times, you will get it a thousand times. here you go. Grade: A
This article was originally published in To Win: Samuel Girard’s trade results for Avalanche and Penguins