Brett Kulak might have just changed the Edmonton Oilers deadline strategy
The Edmonton Oilers are taking on the New York Islanders tonight, and all eyes will be on defenceman Brett Kulak to see if his upward trend continues.
It's no secret by now that general manager Stan Bowman is on the hunt for a right-hand shot top-4 defenceman to help bolster the teams back end.
With that in mind, head coach Kris Knoblauch has recently promoted Brett Kulak to the Oilers second defensive pairing with Darnell Nurse, a gamble that has seemed to pay dividends.
According to Liam McCormick of Oilers Daily, Kulak is being heralded as a player stepping up when the Oilers need it the most. If it keeps up, Oilers analyst Alan Mitchell believes the team could instead target a left shot defenceman for the third pair in a trade.
According to Mitchell, the pairing of Nurse and Kulak has produced the best results with the Oilers $9M defenceman since he was paired with Adam Larsson. The Oilers have been trying for years to find another partner for Nurse, and instead of mixing it up again with a trade, maybe that's a role for Brett Kulak.
- Alan Mitchell, the Athletic
Mitchel suggests than rather acquiring a pricey RHS top-4 defender, Stan Bowman should make every attempt to find a LHS defender capable of playing on the third paring with Ty Emberson instead.
As it stands, the market is currently depleted of defencemen, with no real standout options regarding top-4 improvement. Bolstering the teams third pairing with a cheaper acquisition makes the most sense, and also prevents Bowman from trading promising prospects away.
| POLL | ||
Do you think Brett Kulak is the teams most improved player? | ||
| Yes | 104 | 93.7 % |
| No | 7 | 6.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
