Meet Brett Kulak: The local kid who is Oilers’ unsung hero of Stanley Cup run

Jun 24, 2024

Credit: May 8, 2024; Vancouver, British Columbia, CAN; Edmonton Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak (27) skates in warm up prior to game one of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports

SUNRISE, Fla. — An encyclopedia’s worth of words will be spilled when legacies are written for Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl – and let’s face it, every member of the Florida Panthers – with hockey immortality on the line on Monday night.

But it takes all hands to make it to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.

The Edmonton Oilers’ depth was questioned, but their support players have answered. Their penalty kill has the best kill rate (94 percent) in the expansion era history of the Stanley Cup playoffs, since 1967-68. Connor Brown and Mattias ‘The Janitor’ Janmark have scored enormous shorthanded goals. Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway burst onto the scene. And Ken Holland acquisitions Adam Henrique and Corey Perry have accounted for all three game-winning goals in the Stanley Cup Final.

“It’s been everybody,” McDavid said after Friday’s stirring Game 6 win. “It’s been really, quite honestly, everybody. We believe in each other. We believe in this group.”

And almost all of those mentioned, at one point or another during this run, have received their moments in the spotlight. To truly be an unsung hero, you must be just that – and perhaps no one on the Oilers’ roster fits that bill more than understated defenseman Brett Kulak.

It’s not hyperbole to say that the Oilers might not get to the Cup if not for Kulak’s work to steady struggling fellow blueliners Cody Ceci and Darnell Nurse – taking them each on as partners at separate times during this 25-game run, even shifting from the left to the right side to play with Nurse.

Calm, Kul and Collected

Kulak’s Partner	Minutes	GF	GA
Cody Ceci	152:00	5	5
Vinny Desharnais	115:37	3	5
Darnell Nurse	57:43	1	3
Evan Bouchard	33:04	3	1
Philip Broberg	31:40	0	0
Mattias Ekholm	9:43	1	1

(All Situations in 2024 Playoffs) Source: NaturalStatTrick.com

The pride of Stony Plain, Alberta – 30 minutes due west of Ice District – Kulak has earned a reputation as a big-time playoff player.

“Through the regular season, I said to my coaching staff that I liked him, but they told me numerous times that I’ll like him even more in the playoffs,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “He’s elevated his game. The playoffs, it’s a tougher game. There’s more hits, more on the line, more pressure. Some players don’t handle that pressure as well as others. He thrives on it, he likes it.”

Kulak is the only Oiler to appear in all 107 games this season, including Game 7. With one goal and eight points in the playoffs, he’s collected half as many points as he had (16) over all 82 regular season games.

GM Ken Holland recited Kulak’s playoff resume verbatim, right from 2022 when the Oilers acquired him from Montréal at the trade deadline in exchange for a second-round pick.

“Game 6 against L.A. that year,” Holland recalled. “We’re down 3-2 in the series. Darnell Nurse gets suspended [for head-butting]. Kulak steps in. He takes Doc’s minutes [Nurse] and we find a way to win Game 6 on the road, win Game 7, 2-0.”

As valuable as Kulak has been, in an alternate universe, it’s entirely possible that he might have been at home watching Game 7 on Monday night. Holland and the Oilers had difficult decisions to make at the trade deadline. Depending on how big they wanted to swing, Kulak could have been on the move, same with either Ceci or Warren Foegele, purely for cap machination reasons.

Holland and Kulak’s agent, Edmonton-based Gerry Johannson of The Sports Corporation, sat at Joey Bell Tower across from Rogers Place for four consecutive days in 2023 hammering out his four-year, $11 million deal. It was the biggest payday of Kulak’s career, but also potentially what might have been his ticket out of town, if Holland wanted to go big-game hunting.

Kulak admitted he saw his name on Daily Faceoff’s Trade Targets board this season and tried to block it out.

“It does get tense when you hear your name start to pop around, but I wanted to stick around here as long as possible,” Kulak said. “I love the guys, we’ve got a great group of guys. We’re treated great by coaches, management, everyone. My family is happy, my family is all close by. This isn’t a place you want to leave.”

And Holland never really had the desire to move Kulak, his role as a proven playoff performer never far from mind. Holland had a deadline that many viewed as underwhelming, but sometimes less is more when it comes to jostling with the roster, as evidenced by keeping Kulak.

“When you need someone to step up, he does that,” Holland said. “He can skate, he’s competitive, and he’s low maintenance. He just comes and plays, he plays left, he plays right, whatever you need him to do. He plays good come playoff time.”

Oilers assistant coach Glen Gulutzan had Kulak in Calgary, where he was left unprotected by the Flames in the 2017 Expansion Draft, and vouched for Kulak as a player and person. Edmonton’s scouting staff also pounded the table for Holland to get him three years ago.

So far these playoffs, Kulak is eighth on the Oilers in minutes played and has only had two games on the negative side of the ledger. He’s somehow managed to play at level ground in goals for and against while partnered with Ceci, who has sat out as a healthy scratch.

“Most teams would be thrilled to have a third pair with a guy like Brett,” Knoblauch said, embodying the same reserved personality as Kulak. Neither coach nor defenseman is loud or boastful. They just work.

So, why is Kulak is able to raise his game in the postseason? Aside from taking pride in that reputation as a reliable playoff guy, Kulak has a theory.

“A strength of mine is my feet and my movement,” Kulak said. “The game picks up speed in the playoffs, so I think I’m able to get to that gear a little bit easier. I want to be a guy who can handle and excel in the playoffs and be a big part of it and make a big difference for the team.”

He has made such a big difference, it’s hard to imagine Kulak sitting in Stony Plain watching the Oilers play on in Game 7 tonight without him. Who knows, if the Oilers can drag Lord Stanley back to ‘Berta, maybe one day there will be a sign entering town: “Home of Stanley Cup champions Glenn Hall and Brett Kulak.”

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Calm, Kul and Collected

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