Player Discussion Brett Kulak: Top pairing candidate #6

[Habs Halifax]

Brett Kulak is playing the mentor role in Alexander Romanov’s breakout
This article made me appreciate Kulak even more

Too many Habs fans were writing Kulak off where he has not even played a full season yet. There are tons of NHL D men that figure things out in the 25-30 range. Kulak does not have to be a top 4D for us. He's a great piece to have cause he's big and skates well. He was just inconsistent

 

[26Mats]

Too many Habs fans were writing Kulak off where he has not even played a full season yet. There are tons of NHL D men that figure things out in the 25-30 range. Kulak does not have to be a top 4D for us. He's a great piece to have cause he's big and skates well. He was just inconsistent

Yeah, if he can be consistent and stay in this salary range, he's a good bottom pair guy to have, perhaps even long term - plus he can step up to the 2nd pair with Petry when there are injuries.

If many of our young D prospects flourish, one would think they'd overtake Kulak. However, it may be best to try to trade some of the D prospects for equally good forward prospects, since Timmins seems to be able to churn out good D prospects, but seems to have trouble drafting offensively gifted forwards.

 

[Vachon23]

Too many Habs fans were writing Kulak off where he has not even played a full season yet. There are tons of NHL D men that figure things out in the 25-30 range. Kulak does not have to be a top 4D for us. He's a great piece to have cause he's big and skates well. He was just inconsistent

If he had a caphit under 1m, I would't mind about but 1,8m for a guy who is playing under 15 minutes a game is step when we are trying to have more cap space and we could replace him easily by a 700K player

 

[Habs Halifax]

If he had a caphit under 1m, I would't mind about but 1,8m for a guy who is playing under 15 minutes a game is step when we are trying to have more cap space and we could replace him easily by a 700K player

That applies to Weal more than it does to Kulak.

 

[Vachon23]

That applies to Weal more than it does to Kulak.

something with Weal

 

[26Mats]

If he had a caphit under 1m, I would't mind about but 1,8m for a guy who is playing under 15 minutes a game is step when we are trying to have more cap space and we could replace him easily by a 700K player

I personally think 1.8M is a good cap hit for the consistent version of Kulak. He is able to step into the top 4 and play well with Petry.

However, if Edmundson and Chiarot flourish and aren't claimed by Seattle, we may need to move Kulak's 1.8M and let a 700k rookie like Fleury replace him.

 

[Vachon23]

I personally think 1.8M is a good cap hit for the consistent version of Kulak. He is able to step into the top 4 and play well with Petry.

However, if Edmundson and Chiarot flourish and aren't claimed by Seattle, we may need to move Kulak's 1.8M and let a 700k rookie like Fleury replace him.

If we don’t need money I’m ok with keeping him but If we want to go after let say PLD and we need capspace replacing him by a player that make 700k would save us 1m on the cap space

 

[26Mats]

If we don’t need money I’m ok with keeping him but If we want to go after let say PLD and we need capspace replacing him by a player that make 700k would save us 1m on the cap space

yeah, we should have somebody in the system like Fleury.

But remember all those shitty number 5/6 dmen we tried until we found Kulak? Nesterov, Schlemko, Joe Morrow, Brandon Davidson, etc... I don't want to go through that again.

 

[Vachon23]

yeah, we should have somebody in the system like Fleury.

But remember all those shitty number 5/6 dmen we tried until we found Kulak? Nesterov, Schlemko, Joe Morrow, Brandon Davidson, etc... I don't want to go through that again.

I do agree but we could acquired a good #6 for a lesser price at the TDL with the tone of pick he wave.

 

[angusyoung]

I do agree but we could acquired a good #6 for a lesser price at the TDL with the tone of pick he wave.

Who would be better than Kulak at less of a price that is/will/might be available?

 

[Vachon23]

Who would be better than Kulak at less of a price that is/will/might be available?

At the TDL ? a ton that are UFA at the end of the year and their team is not in playoff. Kulak is playing under 15 minutes and on any special team. He's easy to replace and we could maybe acquired a RD so Romanov can play LD.

 

[angusyoung]

At the TDL ? a ton that are UFA at the end of the year and their team is not in playoff. Kulak is playing under 15 minutes and on any special team. He's easy to replace and we could maybe acquired a RD so Romanov can play LD.

Looked it up,will keep an eye on Hamonic the next few games. Prefer a rightly as well.

 

[A55P2]

Too many Habs fans were writing Kulak off where he has not even played a full season yet. There are tons of NHL D men that figure things out in the 25-30 range. Kulak does not have to be a top 4D for us. He's a great piece to have cause he's big and skates well. He was just inconsistent

Too many habs fan write off players after a couple of games. It's a sort of cultural trend more than anything else, doesn't mean much. You're as good as your last game... even if that's not really how it works.

Personally, I thought Kulak at his best looked very good for the past two year. He was just a bit inconsistent, but he clearly had the upside to become an NHL regular. I was even rooting for him to keep playing with Petry this season, but Edmundson does well there too so it's not a problem anyway.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Too many habs fan write off players after a couple of games. It's a sort of cultural trend more than anything else, doesn't mean much. You're as good as your last game... even if that's not really how it works.

Personally, I thought Kulak at his best looked very good for the past two year. He was just a bit inconsistent, but he clearly had the upside to become an NHL regular. I was even rooting for him to keep playing with Petry this season, but Edmundson does well there too so it's not a problem anyway.

Our fan base is emotionally violent and the overall trend is we tend to ride small roller coaster up/down movements. Not many look at the bigger picture and there is still some Bergevin haters in the shadows out there. They are still great fans but they are just staying quiet towards Bergevin right now. Some hate the "Bergevin hater" narrative but I don't care. I'm not directing it at any one particular poster. They would not think twice to come out and throw him under the bus on the next negative thing that happens.

Kulak has shown flashes of very good play and then moments where he frustrates you. I just don't understand how some are too quick to judge when he has not played a full NHL season yet.

 

[A55P2]

Our fan base is emotionally violent and the overall trend is we tend to ride small roller coaster up/down movements. Not many look at the bigger picture and there is still some Bergevin haters in the shadows out there. They are still great fans but they are just staying quiet towards Bergevin right now. Some hate the "Bergevin hater" narrative but I don't care. I'm not directing it at any one particular poster. They would not think twice to come out and throw him under the bus on the next negative thing that happens.

Kulak has shown flashes of very good play and then moments where he frustrates you. I just don't understand how some are too quick to judge when he has not played a full NHL season yet.

As with most things there are legitimate grievances and frustration, but also aspects that should make us glad. I find it funny to think how just last year Bergevin was the worst GM ever when in fact he had already won many trades and did some good signing (Tatar, Suzuki, Weber, Danault, Byron, Armia, Chiarot). The obvious Bergevin's plan was that we were going to build a team with strong depth, but without superstar fire power. Personally, I was OK with that. It made sense. Some teams built around a couple of superstars are failing and having a tough time capwise already.

So it seems to work just fine for us, without even sacrificing the future. Haters are silent because they're starting to see the plan unfold and they realize it makes sense to go that route now. As you said, everyone's still a fan and everybody matters. But there are opinions that might be more reasonable than others I think and it's not always those that trends the most because it's either black or white for a lot of folks.

 

[Favster]

Gotta give this guy credit, he's been great to start the year. His issue has always been consistency, let's hope he can keep up his current play.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

If he had a caphit under 1m, I would't mind about but 1,8m for a guy who is playing under 15 minutes a game is step when we are trying to have more cap space and we could replace him easily by a 700K player

There is nothing wrong with paying your bottom pairing dmen 1.8 if they are legitimate, quality players. It is your 4th line forwards who typically are the least important players who should be making closer to minimum salary. Kulak could play for any team as a regular at this point in his career and he will bring a decent return in a trade when one of Guhle/Norlinder/Harris/ Struble push him out.

 

[Archijerej]

If he had a caphit under 1m, I would't mind about but 1,8m for a guy who is playing under 15 minutes a game is step when we are trying to have more cap space and we could replace him easily by a 700K player

I agree in principle, but I wouldn't move him right now. There's no way of knowing how our blueline is going to look like after the expansion draft and he may be relied upon to play an increased role next season. His current chemistry with Romanov is also valuable, so I wouldn't disrupt it.

The cap should not be an issue next year, as there's no way we can resign all of our highest paid forwards.

Anyways, Kulak has proven to be a really nice asset. A reliable bottom of the lineup defenceman who, provided he has a right partner, can play as a #4 should be quite valuable. He's also entering the best age for a defenceman.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

As with most things there are legitimate grievances and frustration, but also aspects that should make us glad. I find it funny to think how just last year Bergevin was the worst GM ever when in fact he had already won many trades and did some good signing (Tatar, Suzuki, Weber, Danault, Byron, Armia, Chiarot). The obvious Bergevin's plan was that we were going to build a team with strong depth, but without superstar fire power. Personally, I was OK with that. It made sense. Some teams built around a couple of superstars are failing and having a tough time capwise already.

So it seems to work just fine for us, without even sacrificing the future. Haters are silent because they're starting to see the plan unfold and they realize it makes sense to go that route now. As you said, everyone's still a fan and everybody matters. But there are opinions that might be more reasonable than others I think and it's not always those that trends the most because it's either black or white for a lot of folks.

Bergevin has been operating at an elite level for the past two seasons, unfortunately the majority of his critics are irrational and refuse to acknowledge that he is not the same GM that he was when he was hired. People can learn from their mistakes and get better at their chosen vocation. Those who continue to dump on him should reevaluate the way in which they process information and perhaps reflect on why they cling to their biases despite knowing at some level that they are being petty and vexatious. The world could really use more rational people who are able to identify and prioritize facts instead of pandering to their ego and forcing their biases not only on other people but more concerning.......on themselves.

Every good/great GM has made bad trades and bad signings. The key is obviously to outweigh these with good decisions and to have a vision of exactly how they want their team to be constructed. MB focused on Dmen and centers and we have went from being bottom of the league in both positions to being deep and strong in both areas. Drafing KK, trading for Suzuki and Danault and trading for Domi who we flipped for Anderson has had an enormous impact on this team. Not to mention clearly winning the Weber/Subban trade, using cap space wisely to acquire Armia for free and not being dumb enough to tie up cap space with bad signings when we had the money to spend. He learned from the Alzner mistake and has adjusted accordingly. The Dcorps that is the envy of most GM's in the league is almost solely his handiwork as he traded for/signed Weber, Petry, Chiarot, Edmundson and Kulak and mandated the prioritization of drafting dmen which likely played a large role in Romanov being picked before most suspected he would go.

This team looks very good right now and looks to be insulated with an outstanding prospect pool that will provide the assets required to remain a power for the coming years. Before I have to hear anyone bawl that we have too many d prospects and we need more wingers, just please try and comprehend the idea of "assets" and try and understand that it is easy to trade for top young wingers with good young dprospects as bait. The NHL is the highest level of hockey and MB is competing with the top hockey minds in the world while being at a disadvantage of running a team that many players do not want to play for due to circumstances that are out of his control. He has built a team that looks to have a potential path to a Stanley Cup......the same thing that all of the other GM's are attempting to do and he is doing a better job than most over the last two seasons. That is all that matters, he has learned and improved and should not have people still whining about past mistakes.

 

[Walrus26]

Disclaimer: I have a season ticket aboard the Kulak hype train.

Great work by him to set up Suzuki and get the ball rolling for us last night. There are clearly several teams (especially in the North Division) who would be very glad to have him on their 3rd pairing at least.

He brings substantially more to the team than the stereotypical minimum salary plug / AHL vet callup type that some people think we should have there instead, just to save $1.1m on the cap.

 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Who would be better than Kulak at less of a price that is/will/might be available?

Nobody would be my guess.

 

[Scintillating10]

As with most things there are legitimate grievances and frustration, but also aspects that should make us glad. I find it funny to think how just last year Bergevin was the worst GM ever when in fact he had already won many trades and did some good signing (Tatar, Suzuki, Weber, Danault, Byron, Armia, Chiarot). The obvious Bergevin's plan was that we were going to build a team with strong depth, but without superstar fire power. Personally, I was OK with that. It made sense. Some teams built around a couple of superstars are failing and having a tough time capwise already.

So it seems to work just fine for us, without even sacrificing the future. Haters are silent because they're starting to see the plan unfold and they realize it makes sense to go that route now. As you said, everyone's still a fan and everybody matters. But there are opinions that might be more reasonable than others I think and it's not always those that trends the most because it's either black or white for a lot of folks.

Bergevin done good job rebuilding Habs. I think some average fans get a bit impatient and ripped him. But hardcore fans could tell the difference

 

[Vachon23]

There is nothing wrong with paying your bottom pairing dmen 1.8 if they are legitimate, quality players. It is your 4th line forwards who typically are the least important players who should be making closer to minimum salary. Kulak could play for any team as a regular at this point in his career and he will bring a decent return in a trade when one of Guhle/Norlinder/Harris/ Struble push him out.

If you don’t need money yeah keep. It was in the optic that if we would trade for PLD by exemple. Kulak is doing the job but he’s vanilla and easily replaceable. Can’t play on special teams and he plays under 15 minutes. There is a lot of Defenseman in the league who can make his job at a cheaper price. This being said we don’t need money right now so there is no reason trade your right

 

[McGuires Corndog]

There is nothing wrong with paying your bottom pairing dmen 1.8 if they are legitimate, quality players. It is your 4th line forwards who typically are the least important players who should be making closer to minimum salary. Kulak could play for any team as a regular at this point in his career and he will bring a decent return in a trade when one of Guhle/Norlinder/Harris/ Struble push him out.

Couldn’t agree more EP, well said!

Kulak is pretty under appreciated by people right now for whatever reason, but he’s a great bottom pairing guy that is fairly paid.

 

[ClasslessGuy]

Like the player, but he should be taking a night off here and there.