The NHL trade deadline is coming next month, but we’ve got ourselves a noteworthy deal on Tuesday between the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins, who swapped defensemen and a draft pick with Samuel Girard and Brett Kulak switching zip codes.
It’s an intriguing move for both sides and maybe one that one team could come to regret if it doesn’t win a Stanley Cup this year (does that deserve a spoiler alert? Probably). But let’s get to that right away. As usual, we’re handing out trade grades for both sides of this one, plus a breakdown of the trade that went down:
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Avalanche and Penguins trade details
AVALANCHE GET: D Brett Kulak
PENGUINS GET: D Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick
Avalanche trade grade
This one… I’m not sure I totally get it. Maybe the feeling was that the 27-year-old Girard isn’t the steadiest of blueliners, that Kulak would be the kind of presence on defense that a Cup contender needs. So from that perspective, I could understand it. Kulak has played a ton of playoff minutes.
But the cost! That’s A LOT to give up for a veteran D-man with an expiring contract. If the Avalanche win a title with Kulak contributing in big minutes, I’ll revise this one. For now? Meh. GRADE: C+
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Penguins trade grade
Do you hear the cheering and high fives from the Pens’ front office? I do! They gave up an expiring contract in a season in which their rebuild continues and got back a relatively young defenseman with three 30-point seasons under his belt AND a second-rounder.
You make this deal 1,000 times out of 1,000. Well done. GRADE: A
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Samuel Girard trade grades for Avalanche and Penguins deal
