Meh I think it just kind of sucks to give up on Kulak. We've been developing him for five years and he's getting better. Waiving him and going through arb is going to affect his confidence.

Andersson, Valimaki and Kylington are great, but I was hoping to see Kulak get a bit more opportunity. Seems doubtful at this point. Value or not, I hope Tre finds a place for him somewhere in the league. Montreal or Buffalo would work.

Meh I think it just kind of sucks to give up on Kulak. We've been developing him for five years and he's getting better. Waiving him and going through arb is going to affect his confidence.

Andersson, Valimaki and Kylington are great, but I was hoping to see Kulak get a bit more opportunity. Seems doubtful at this point. Value or not, I hope Tre finds a place for him somewhere in the league. Montreal or Buffalo would work.
- fry

I think Tre was pissed at the end of training camp last year. He was always talking about how the opportunities were there but no one grabbed them off the bat(gully might have had a say in that). I always thought he was focusing on Anderson and Jankowski when he was saying it. It felt like ,for me anyway, that Kulak was a stop gap until Anderson finally broke through, therefore expendable in his mind. I like Kulak as a puck moving defenceman in the nhl. He’ll do well on another team.

Please can we get someone in Calgary to write these blogs?. Or at least a fan of the team. It's embarrassing to have Todd give his thoughts...stat, stat, Brouwer sucks, blah blah.
I guess it's Hockeybuzz so who cares but it would be nice to have someone who actually knew something.
- dhill.ne

You need to chill tf out. Todd is one of the better writers on this site and actually uses advanced stats to backup opinions rather than just post opinions without backing.

Like I said before, Tre likes depth. He didn't sign Stone to a 3-yr deal just to trade him a year later. He's going to be given the spot unless any of the upcoming D-men play exceptionally well.

While I feel like Kulak has upside and frankly deserves his asking price, but Tre's made it pretty clear that he's expecting at least one of Vali or Andersson to make it this year.

I'm guessing ~800K on a 2-way deal for 1-2 years will be the end result.

Like I said before, Tre likes depth. He didn't sign Stone to a 3-yr deal just to trade him a year later. He's going to be given the spot unless any of the upcoming D-men play exceptionally well.

While I feel like Kulak has upside and frankly deserves his asking price, but Tre's made it pretty clear that he's expecting at least one of Vali or Andersson to make it this year.

I'm guessing ~800K on a 2-way deal for 1-2 years will be the end result.
- LittleBroDougie

Thing is though, and I've said this before, banking on prospects to make it can be dangerous. I definitely think Kulak is worth what he's asking for, and keeping him around is fine. If he gets outplayed, he gets outplayed and we can go from there. It shouldn't be too hard finding a taker for him should it come to that. Lots of teams need defense.

Kulak is going to have an NHL job next season, with us or otherwise. Might as well let him at least try to stay with us.

Thing is though, and I've said this before, banking on prospects to make it can be dangerous. I definitely think Kulak is worth what he's asking for, and keeping him around is fine. If he gets outplayed, he gets outplayed and we can go from there. It shouldn't be too hard finding a taker for him should it come to that. Lots of teams need defense.

Kulak is going to have an NHL job next season, with us or otherwise. Might as well let him at least try to stay with us.
- Helios

While I mostly agree, we aren't talking about any regular prospects in Andersson and Vali. One has looked great at the AHL level and the other has put up comparables to blooming stars in Provorov and Werenski. As long as Kulak hovers around 1M for max 2 years I'll be fine.

Let the best man/men win out of training camp this fall.

Thing is though, and I've said this before, banking on prospects to make it can be dangerous. I definitely think Kulak is worth what he's asking for, and keeping him around is fine. If he gets outplayed, he gets outplayed and we can go from there. It shouldn't be too hard finding a taker for him should it come to that. Lots of teams need defense.

Kulak is going to have an NHL job next season, with us or otherwise. Might as well let him at least try to stay with us.
- Helios

We will see. Maybe Tre likes having some size in the bottom pairing. But best case scenario is that Kulak showes he is a capable puck moving Dman and can get us a pick.

Lord knows we gotta start stocking the system again.

If he gets outplayed, he gets outplayed and we can go from there. It shouldn't be too hard finding a taker for him should it come to that. Lots of teams need defense.
- Helios

Any team could have had him for free and didn't want him. You really think a team is going to trade for him after he gets outplayed?

Any team could have had him for free and didn't want him. You really think a team is going to trade for him after he gets outplayed?
- Hunkulese

Toronto traded for Pickard after he was waived when they could have already had him for free. It's really not that uncommon. Besides, like I said before, it's entirely possible that no other team wanted to risk arbitration with a player they knew nothing about. Tre waived Kulak when he did for a reason. If he really didn't want to keep him he wouldn't have qualified him in the first place. Besides, things change. Just because someone might not have wanted him now doesn't mean they won't later.

There are tons of teams who could use blueline depth. I'm not saying we're going to get back a top prospect or a 1st rounder or anything, but a mid-round pick should be easily doable.

Any team could have had him for free and didn't want him. You really think a team is going to trade for him after he gets outplayed?
- Hunkulese

Yes

He is an nhl D man ...everyone knows you don’t claim a guy on waivers before arb ....come training camp a team will lose a couple D men and Kulak might look appealing then ...and if Valimaki and Andersson outplay him cuz they play really good does that devalue him ?

I could care less if he is waived again and picked up tho

We will see. Maybe Tre likes having some size in the bottom pairing. But best case scenario is that Kulak showes he is a capable puck moving Dman and can get us a pick.

Lord knows we gotta start stocking the system again.
- DuranDuran

Aint that the truth