{"id":370690,"date":"2025-12-26T06:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T06:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/370690\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T06:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T06:16:11","slug":"penguins-insider-pulls-no-punches-in-brutal-assessment-of-11000000-ex-oilers-d-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/370690\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins Insider Pulls No Punches in Brutal Assessment of $11,000,000 Ex-Oilers D-Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the NHL<\/a> schedule slows around Christmas, roster changes tend to stand out more sharply. For teams in transition, the break often becomes a moment of reflection rather than rest.<\/p>\n

That has been the case for Pittsburgh, where recent performances and new additions have drawn pointed evaluation, leading to more direct conversations behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

Penguins Insider Delivers a Blunt Assessment of the $11 Million Former Oilers Defenseman<\/p>\n

The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the holiday break searching for stability, but recent performances only amplified concerns along the blue line. Brett Kulak\u2019s early games with the Penguins have come under scrutiny following a 6-3 loss\u00a0to the Toronto Maple Leafs that exposed repeated defensive mistakes.<\/p>\n

Penguins insider Josh Yohe of The Athletic<\/a> captured the frustration bluntly, writing that the team \u201cwould be wise to request an even longer break from the league\u201d as errors continued to pile up.<\/p>\n

Yohe\u2019s column singled out Kulak while assessing a rough afternoon defensively. He wrote that Kulak \u201chas struggled badly since being acquired by the Penguins 10 days ago,\u201d pointing to lost one-on-one battles and his role in the game-winning goal. The criticism came within a broader breakdown of team-wide issues, but Kulak\u2019s name stood out, given his experience and expected reliability.<\/p>\n

\u201cKulak\u2019s first few games with the Penguins have been a major disappointment,\u201d Yohe wrote. \u201cA proven veteran performer, he wasn\u2019t having a great season with the Oilers when he was traded. That has certainly continued in Pittsburgh.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kulak is in the last year of his four-year, $11 million contract, carrying a $2.75 million cap hit through the 2025\u201326 season. Through 36 games this season, the 31-year-old defenseman has recorded two assists and a minus-seven rating while averaging close to 18 minutes per night. His role has leaned heavily toward defensive assignments rather than offensive support, placing added focus on positioning and puck management.<\/p>\n

The timing of the criticism also ties back to the December 12 trade that reshaped both teams. Edmonton moved Kulak to Pittsburgh as part of a larger deal to acquire goaltender Tristan Jarry, sending out Stuart Skinner and a future second-round pick while also receiving forward Sam Poulin.<\/p>\n

For the Penguins, Kulak was viewed as a steady depth option. Instead, his early stretch has coincided with continued breakdowns in key moments.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Former Oilers Goalie Gets Brutally Honest on Edmonton\u2019s Tristan Jarry Trade<\/a><\/p>\n

From Edmonton\u2019s perspective, the move was never about performance alone. Oilers general manager Stan Bowman addressed that<\/a> directly, saying, \u201cWe certainly weren\u2019t trying to trade Brett Kulak. He\u2019s a great person and a great player on our team. We\u2019re going to miss him. But in order to make the transaction work and the money going back and forth, that had to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As 2026 arrives, Kulak and the Penguins now face a reset opportunity. Whether the break allows him to settle into a clearer role remains to be seen, but the early evaluation has been direct, showing how quickly expectations follow a veteran defenseman once the games resume.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the NHL schedule slows around Christmas, roster changes tend to stand out more sharply. For teams in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-370690","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}