Ryleigh Kulak, the oldest daughter of Avalanche defenseman Brett Kulak, will have time to make some friends.
It wasn’t easy for the Kulaks last season. Brett Kulak was traded twice, and the specter of free agency loomed after the Colorado Avalanche were eliminated by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
After the Avs were able to free some salary cap flexibility earlier in the month, Kulak signed a five-year, $22.5 million contract on June 26. He confirmed Monday at the team’s annual charity golf outing that the deal includes a full no-trade clause in the first three years.
“I think in the negotiations … the no-trade clause, my wife and I were pretty happy to hear that because last year was a tough year,” Kulak said. “Just to get some stability and to be able to settle in and eliminate a lot of distractions away from the rink and just focus on hockey is going to be nice.
“I think everyone was disappointed, so there’s a little bit of time there you need to take and just reassess the season and what went wrong and what what was good. After a couple of weeks there, I think my agent spoke with Joe and it seemed like both sides … like we wanted to come back and Joe expressed how much he liked my game and how good of a fit it was. So once things got done and we could avoid free agency, we were pretty happy to do that.”
Kulak, 32, began last season with Edmonton, having just played in the two most recent Stanley Cup Finals with the Oilers. He was traded to Pittsburgh in December and then again to Colorado in late February ahead of the deadline.
It was a fascinating trade — the Avs sent a Stanley Cup champion and beloved member of their group, Samuel Girard, and a 2028 second-round pick to the Penguins for Kulak. He’s nearly four years older than Girard, but the Avs coveted a bigger, more defensively sound player to round out a defense corps that already had Cale Makar and an emerging Sam Malinski.
Kulak fit pretty seamlessly, and his 20:38 per game was third among Colorado’s defensemen in the playoffs. He scored one goal in 40 games, regular season and postseason combined, but it was a big one — the series-winner in overtime of Game 5 in the second round against the Minnesota Wild.
When the Avs signed Kulak and Brent Burns in late June, it meant the top six defensemen from the end of this past season were back. There’s continuity on and off the ice for Kulak.
His oldest daughter started a new school year last week. He and the rest of the veteran-laden Avs defense corps will start training camp later this week, trying to help Colorado lead the league in both goals for and goals against for a second straight season and find eight more postseason wins to reach the ultimate goal.
“I think everyone can just build off from what I saw and what we built when I came here last year,” Kulak said. “You know exactly what to expect. You know your role. I think that’s an advantage.”
