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Brett Kulak

#27 · Defence · Colorado Avalanche

Born Jan 6, 1994 in Edmonton, Alberta, CAN (age 32) · 6'1", 192 lb · Shoots left · Drafted 105th overall in 2012 by CGY (round 4)

Compare with a similar player

The defencemen closest to him in points in 2026-27. Pick one to see the two side by side, or choose someone else.

Brent Burns COL · 3 P in 4 GP Josh Manson COL · 3 P in 4 GP Josh Morrissey WPG · 3 P in 4 GP Kris Letang PIT · 3 P in 4 GP Matthew Schaefer NYI · 3 P in 4 GP

Career

Regular season games only. Pick a season to see its game log below. Cap hit is what he counted against the salary cap that season, where it is known.

05101520252014-15: 0 points014-152015-16: 0 points015-162016-17: 3 points316-172017-18: 8 points817-182018-19: 17 points1718-192019-20: 7 points719-202020-21: 8 points820-212021-22: 21 points2121-222022-23: 20 points2022-232023-24: 16 points1623-242024-25: 25 points2524-252025-26: 12 points1225-262026-27: 3 points326-27

Points by season. The darker bar is the season shown below.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Cap hit
2014-15 CGY 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0.00 $657K
2015-16 CGY 8 0 0 0 -2 0 9 2 0.00 $657K
2016-17 CGY 21 0 3 3 -3 12 19 14 0.14 $657K
2017-18 CGY 71 2 6 8 -3 27 73 45 0.11 $650K
2018-19 MTL 57 6 11 17 12 31 102 107 0.30 $900K
2019-20 MTL 56 0 7 7 -1 12 101 59 0.13 $1.85M
2020-21 MTL 46 2 6 8 3 20 57 28 0.17 $1.85M
2021-22 MTL 56 3 10 13 -10 33 63 64 0.23 $1.85M
2021-22 EDM 18 2 6 8 6 12 29 39 0.44
2022-23 EDM 82 3 17 20 11 41 114 105 0.24 $2.75M
2023-24 EDM 82 3 13 16 0 30 94 77 0.20 $2.75M
2024-25 EDM 82 7 18 25 -7 18 135 28 0.30 $2.75M
2025-26 EDM 31 0 2 2 -7 10 33 4 0.06 $2.75M
2025-26 PIT 25 1 6 7 2 18 29 5 0.28
2025-26 COL 27 0 3 3 1 10 33 10 0.11
2026-27 COL 4 0 3 3 1 0 2 1 0.75 $4.5M
13 seasons Career 667 29 111 140 3 276 893 588 0.21

Playoffs

Playoff games only. Pick a season to see that year's bracket.

Season Team GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP
2019-20 MTL 10 0 3 3 2 0 19 12 0.30
2020-21 MTL 13 0 1 1 -4 4 11 12 0.08
2021-22 EDM 16 0 5 5 7 12 18 31 0.31
2022-23 EDM 12 1 1 2 3 9 19 12 0.17
2023-24 EDM 25 1 7 8 -3 14 21 23 0.32
2024-25 EDM 22 1 4 5 9 8 25 17 0.23
2025-26 COL 13 1 4 5 1 6 12 5 0.38
7 seasons Playoffs 111 4 25 29 15 53 125 112 0.26

2026-27 season totals

GP G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits P/GP Shooting % Avg TOI
4 0 3 3 1 0 2 1 0.75 0.0 18:06

Contract

$4.5MCap hitends in 2031, then UFA
$1.5MCap dollars per point3 points in 4 games
-$3.2MWorth at the going ratewhat teams paid for a season like his
-$7.7MValueworth minus cap hit; below zero is overpaid

His cap hit for the whole season, set against what he did in the regular season. Lower is better value. In a season still being played the cost per point starts high and falls as the games add up. The season is still being played, so each rating is projected over the whole season: the games played so far, plus the games left at the rate of the last three seasons and this one. He rated at or below a spare-part player, so there is no cost per goal to show. Value is coloured by where it ranks among the 648 ranked skaters whose contract is known. How value is worked out.

The contract

Signed by the Colorado Avalanche on Jun 26, 2026, as an extension of the contract he was on: 5 years and $22.5M, beginning in 2026-27. It runs through 2030-31, with 4 seasons left after this one, and he is then an unrestricted free agent.

Season Cap hit
2026-27 $4.5M
2027-28 $4.5M
2028-29 $4.5M
2029-30 $4.5M
2030-31 $4.5M

Each season left on the contract. Only its cap hit and its end are known: how the pay is split by season, and any signing bonus, are not.

Contracts he has signed

Signed Signed by Kind Seasons Years In all Cap hit
Jun 26, 2026 Colorado Avalanche Extension 2026-27 to 2030-31 5 $22.5M $4.5M
Jul 13, 2022 Edmonton Oilers New contract 2022-23 to 2025-26 4 $11M $2.75M
May 25, 2019 Montreal Canadiens Extension 2019-20 to 2021-22 3 $5.55M $1.85M
Jul 25, 2018 Calgary Flames New contract 2018-19 to 2018-19 1 $900K $900K
Aug 28, 2017 Calgary Flames New contract 2017-18 to 2017-18 1 $650K $650K
Mar 18, 2014 Calgary Flames Entry-level 2014-15 to 2016-17 3 $2.45M $657K

Every contract on record for him, newest first, with the team that signed him to it and the day it was signed. The one covering 2026-27 is marked. An extension is signed while the contract before it is still running, often a year ahead. A row with no team or date is a contract known only by its cap hit, most often one signed since October 2024.

2026-27 analytics

Rating, projected over the full season

2026-27 is still being played, so these are a projection of his whole season, not a count so far: what he has done in 4 games (-0.3 goals above replacement), plus the 80 more he is taken to play, going by how much of his team's games he has played before, at a rate set by his last three seasons and this one. The more he plays, the more this season counts, and by the last game it is simply his season.

-4.2Goals above replacement645th of 648 skaters, 222nd of 225 defencemen
-0.7Wins above replacementgoals above replacement divided by six
-9.4Goals above averagethe five parts below added up

Each number is coloured by where it ranks among the 225 ranked defencemen: green is in the top fifth and red the bottom fifth, with paler shades in between and amber for the middle. Hover over a tile for its percentile.

Even-strength offence-6.6 1st percentileEven-strength defence-1.5 21st percentilePower play-0.2 30th percentilePenalty kill+0.4 87th percentilePenalties-1.5 17th percentile

The goals he added to his team's goal difference, compared with a spare-part player given the same ice time. Each part is measured against the league, so zero is an average skater, and the rank beside it is among defencemen. A full season is about two-thirds the player and one-third chance.

-10-505102014-152016-172018-192020-212022-232024-252026-27Goals above replacementGoals above replacement, by season

On the ice

What happened at five-on-five while he was on the ice. What these numbers mean

47.6Corsi for %68 attempts for, 75 against
-8.0CF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
48.2Expected goals for %3.2 expected for, 3.4 against
-13.0xGF% relative to teamagainst the team without him
45.3Fenwick for %unblocked attempts
50.0Goals for %4 for, 4 against
103.2PDO14.3% shooting + 88.9% saves
8Attempts takenhis own shot attempts

These are left plain: he has not been on the ice enough to be ranked. That takes at least 200 shot attempts with him out there, about six or seven games, and a quarter of what the busiest skater has. Over a game or two these numbers are mostly chance.

Who he played with

Defence pairGPTimeCF%xGF%Goals
Brett Kulak · Sam Malinski324:5056.661.31-1
Brett Kulak · Noah Juulsen323:0345.737.11-0
Brent Burns · Brett Kulak46:3238.521.60-1
Brett Kulak · Cale Makar45:3021.744.12-1

The pairs he spent the most time in at five-on-five, with the team's share of the shot attempts and expected goals, and the goals for and against, while they were out. The two shares are coloured as above, against the league's pairs that played a fair amount together. Hover over one for its percentile.

Chances and finishing

Expected goals adds up how likely each of his shots was to go in, judged by where it came from, what kind of shot it was and whether it was a rebound. All situations, leaving out shots at an empty net.

0Goalsnot counting empty-netters
0.1Expected goalsfrom 4 unblocked attempts
-0.1Goals above expectedgoals minus expected goals
Chances created 0.06 expected goals per 60 minutes1st
Shot quality 2.0% chance per attempt1st
Finishing -0.1 goals above expected1stOne season of finishing is mostly luck.

Each bar shows the share of defencemen he is ahead of, among the 0 who played 300 minutes or more this season.

00.20.40.60.81Expected 0.1Goals 0

His goals and his expected goals as the season went on. When the goals line pulls away above, he is scoring more than his chances were worth; below, less.

Where he shot from

Every attempt he took this season, in all situations, attacking the net on the right. There is a dot for each attempt, bigger for a better chance. "Show as heat map" shades the ice by where the attempts came from. Click a goal for its details.

Game log

Date Opponent Result G A P +/- PIM Shots Hits TOI
Oct 8, 2026 @ CGY W 7-3 0 2 2 2 0 0 0 18:42
Oct 7, 2026 @ WPG L 2-3 0 1 1 -2 0 2 0 17:09
Oct 3, 2026 vs STL W 6-1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16:48
Sep 30, 2026 vs LAK W 8-4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 19:44