Kyle Dubas is usually open-ended when he talks about how he wants to craft his roster as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ president of hockey operations.
That’s a nice way of suggesting he is adept of saying a lot without saying much.
But at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season, he offered a pretty measured critique of one quadrant of the roster.
“I think the left side of our defense, it’s been a problem,” Dubas said in Cranberry on April 21. “There’s just no other way (to put it).
“That’s an area I think, externally, that we have to (improve). So, we’ll be on the lookout for that.”
Roughly 10 months later, that search appears to have come to a conclusion.
On Tuesday, the Penguins acquired defenseman Samuel Girard and a second-round draft pick in 2028 from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak.
The Penguins have had their sights on Girard for some time.
“Our personnel department, led by (vice president of player personnel) Wes Clark and (director of player personnel) Andy Saucier on the pro side, have put a lot of time into Sam Girard for the past year,” Dubas wrote in an e-mail with local outlets Tuesday. “And he has been a player that we have targeted as someone who could make great use of increased opportunity here in Pittsburgh.”
Girard, a left-handed shot, had played primarily on Colorado’s third pairing this season. In 40 games this season, he has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) while averaging 17 minutes, 41 seconds of ice time, including 1:02 during short-handed scenarios. His figures might have been more prolific had he not missed 15 games throughout October and November because of an undisclosed injury.
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The Avalanche have the NHL’s best record (37-9-9, 83 points) this season and, as such, Girard has been pushed down the lineup of a deep roster.
Dubas suggested Girard — a nine-year veteran who was a member of the Avalanche’s 2022 Stanley Cup championship squad — can enjoy a more prominent role with the Penguins (29-15-12, 70 points).
“We just feel that we will have more opportunity here for Sam,” Dubas wrote. “In Colorado, he was behind a great group on the back end of a team that sits atop the league table and has the entire year. We feel Sam can play higher in our lineup because of his ability to play both special teams, ability move the puck effectively up the ice, mobility and ability to defend using his feet and intelligence.”
As far as players involved, the transaction was a swap of left-handers but with two very different backgrounds.
Namely, Girard is 27, while Kulak is 32.
Additionally, Girard has one year remaining on a seven-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5 million and is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in the 2027 offseason.
In contrast, Kulak, who commands an average annual value of $2.75 million, is a pending unrestricted free agent after this season.
Girard, ideally, can aid the Penguins in the immediate as well as the long-term, while Kulak could have departed this upcoming offseason.
The two blue-liners deploy different styles as well. Girard (5-foot-10, 170 pounds) is more of a fleet waterbug of an offensive driver. As for Kulak (6-foot-1, 192 pounds), he is typically rooted in defensive situations.
The Penguins acquired Kulak in a trade Dec. 12, along with goaltender Stuart Skinner and a second-round draft pick in 2029 in exchange for goaltender Tristan Jarry and forward Sam Poulin.
His tenure of nearly 11 weeks with the Penguins was mostly satisfactory. Primarily skating on the left side of the second pairing with right-hander Kris Letang, Kulak appeared in 25 games and scored seven points (one goal, six assists) while averaging 20:20 of ice time per contest, including 1:03 during penalty killing situations.
Letang had gone so far as to suggest Kulak played a similar style to former partner Brian Dumoulin, considered one of the best defensive defenseman in franchise history.
“Brett came in and really played good hockey for us the last two-plus months,” Dubas wrote. “He was able to play in all situations and help our team play very good hockey. We view Sam as someone with similar playoff experience, who was signed for an additional season and that can help to continue to help our team as we push down the stretch here.”
Tuesday’s trade was made as the NHL’s trade deadline looms at 3 p.m. March 6. Following the transaction, the Penguins now have $10,541,455 of projected salary cap space according to Puckpedia.
With the Penguins making an unexpected push for a playoff berth this season, they very well could be active in seeking additional trades similar to Tuesday’s transaction or the deal they swung Dec. 28, acquiring 25-year-old forward Egor Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
In other words, players in their mid-20s with some level of contract control (for the team) might be the route Dubas continues to pursue.
“We are always seeking ways to improve the present and future of the Penguins,” Dubas wrote. “Of course, all trades have a chance to impact certain chemistry within the group, but based on what (we) have learned about Sam and what we already know about our coaching staff, support staff and players is that they have shown the ability to welcome in new additions this season and get them into good form very quickly.”
Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Tuesday.
