The NHL returns to play on Wednesday night. Because the Olympic trade freeze has ended, teams have until Mar. 6 at 3 p.m. ET to make moves in preparation for the longer term. The primary post-freeze NHL trade has been made between the Recent York Islanders and St. Louis Blues.
Now, a more major trade has been made between the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins, in keeping with an announcement from the Avalanche on X, formerly Twitter.
The Avalanche are sending Samuel Girard and a second-round pick within the 2028 NHL Draft to the Penguins in exchange for Brett Kulak.
Girard was the forty seventh overall number of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators. He played with the Preds for five games in 2017-18 before being traded to the Avalanche. The previous Avalanche defenseman has played in 588 games on the NHL level, finding the back of the web 37 times while adding 198 assists. He also won the 2022 Stanley Cup while with Colorado.
Meanwhile, Kulak was the one hundred and fifth pick of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Calgary Flames. He broke into the NHL with the Flames for one game in 2014-15, and have become an NHL regular by 2017-18. The blueliner then hung out with the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers, playing in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals with the Oilers. He was moved to the Penguins as a part of the trade that sent Stuart Skinner to Pittsburgh and Tristan Jarry to Edmonton.
Kulak has played in 25 games with the Pens, scoring once with six assists. He’ll now be playing for his third team this yr. Overall, he has played in 636 games on the NHL level, lighting the lamp 29 times while adding 105 helpers.
Each teams are hoping this blueline swap will help their playoff push. The Avalanche are 37-9-9 on the season, sitting in first within the Central Division. They may return to the ice on Wednesday against the Utah Mammoth.
Meanwhile, the Penguins are 29-15-12 on the yr, good for second place within the Metropolitan Division. They may return to play on Thursday against the Recent Jersey Devils.