Aarif Deen
The Colorado Avalanche are keeping Brett Kulak around for the long haul. The team announced on Friday that Kulak signed a five-year extension through the 2030-31 season. His contract is worth $4.5 million per season.
Kulak, 32, was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in February in a deal that sent Samuel Girard and a second-round draft pick the other way. He became a key piece of the Avalanche’s top four when all was said and done, playing mostly with Sam Malinski, while also getting some shifts with Cale Makar on the top pair.
In 27 regular-season games with the Avs, Kulak recorded seven assists while averaging 19:08 of ice time per game. He added a goal and four assists in 13 playoff games, averaging 20:38.
Kulak’s lone goal was the game winner in Game 5 of the second-round series against the Minnesota Wild that sent the Avalanche to the Western Conference Final.
Since 2021, Kulak has seen a lot of playoff success, but hasn’t quite gotten to the finish line to win the Stanley Cup. That year, he made it to the Stanley Cup Final with the Montreal Canadiens with teammate Artturi Lehkonen. He was traded to the Edmonton Oilers, where, over four years, he went as far as the Western Conference Final, the second round, and two straight Stanley Cup Final appearances.
The 6-foot-1, 192-pound defenseman is riding a 370-game “Iron Man” streak, the ninth longest in the NHL. He was originally drafted by the Calgary Flames in the fourth round (105th overall) in the 2012 NHL Draft.