The Montreal Canadiens have announced that they have re-signed defenceman Brett Kulak to a 3 year $5.5 million contract. This carries a $1.85 million AAV. The contract carries him through the 2021-22 season.
Canadiens agree to terms on a three-year contract with defenseman Brett Kulak.
DETAILS ➡ https://t.co/5vKPxFUQve#GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) May 25, 2019
Montreal Canadiens Re-sign Brett Kulak
Kulak was acquired by the Canadiens prior to the beginning of the 2018-19 season. In exchange for Kulak, the Canadiens sent defencemen Rinat Valiev and Matt Taormina to the Calgary Flames.
In 57 games with the Canadiens this season, Kulak registered six goals and added 11 assists for 17 points. Kulak also finished with a 55.1 Corsi-For percentage.
Over his career between Montreal and Calgary, Kulak has scored eight goals and added 20 assists for 28 points in 158 games.
Kulak was originally drafted by the Flames in the fourth round, 105th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
What This Means for the Future
Originally, the Kulak deal looked like more of a minor deal for the Canadiens. Kulak was expected to spend most of the season in Laval with the chance of being recalled for a very minor role with the Canadiens. However, it was anything but a minor deal. Kulak spent 19 games with the Laval Rocket where he scored three goals and added 11 assists. On November 22nd 2018, Kulak was recalled by the Canadiens and never looked back.
Kulak spent time on the top pairing with Shea Weber but eventually settled in next to Jeff Petry and stayed there to close out the season. He proved to be very reliable on the back end rarely making a mistake and playing a very simple game. Kulak’s 17:51 minutes of ice time per game was almost five minutes more than he averaged with Calgary the season before. He proved he was able to handle a much heavier workload and was very valuable to the Canadiens down the stretch.
The Kulak signing is a very underrated and important signing for Bergevin and the Canadiens. It’s much needed for the depth of the Canadiens weakest position. He earned the trust of his general manager and coaches as well as his new contract. He should prove to be an important part of the Canadiens back end moving forward.
Main photo:
Embed from Getty Images
