Surprising candidate emerges as Edmonton Oilers top defender

PUBLICATION

Finnegan Frost
November 10, 2024 (1:45 PM)

SHARE THIS STORY

The Edmonton Oilers are coming off a strong 7-3 performance against the Vancouver Canucks, but a surprising member of the team has potentially earned himself a promotion.

Brett Kulak has clearly come into the the 2024-25 season with a different mindset. Last night against the Vancouver Canucks, Brett Kulak notched his fourth goal of the year, surprising the team in every statistical category.

Kulak is producing at a 0.4-points-per-game pace. That would have him finish the year with 33 points. His current career high is 21.

Last night, he played 20:03, Which was the sixth time he had played at least 20 minutes in the previous eight games. He averages 18:26 of ice time per game, the highest of his career. That's also three minutes more per game than he played last season.

According to PuckIQ, Kulak has the second-best DFF% on the team, with 60.9%. Mattias Ekholm holds the top spot with 62.4, with Evan Bouchard behind Kulak at 60.2. But it doesn't end there. Kulak has only played 29.6 % of his ice time against elites. With these results and the offensive production as a bonus, something tells me that his time-on-ice boost will continue growing in the coming weeks and months.
-The Hockey Writers

The Oilers defence has been taking a lot of heat during the past weeks, but Brett Kulak remains a silver-lining to the teams defensive corps.

Kulak is typically the type of player who goes relatively un-noticed during games (which is a good thing as a D-man) but you would be remise not to acknowledge his stellar play as of late.

Kulak is looking like a top-4 defender out there, and he may force head coach Kris Knoblauch's hand into a promotion.