Penguins Update: The Girard Trade the Day After

I’ll be the first to admit my reaction to yesterday’s Brett Kulak-to-Colorado-for-Samuel Girard swap was a bit knee-jerk and rushed. Now that I’ve had a chance to digest it, I thought I’d share some follow-up thoughts.

I’m still not a fan of the deal. Kulak was perhaps our most well-rounded defenseman, a glue-guy and balancer who does a bit of everything. Not the least of which was serve as a stabilizer for Kris Letang, who likened the ex-Oiler to his former partner, Brian Dumoulin.

That alone should have been grounds for keeping Kulak and perhaps even extending him for a season or two. Especially when you consider we’ve got two more seasons of Tanger.

In a way, this trade reminds me of when we parted with Ian Cole in the ill-fated Derick Brassard swap of 2018. Cole was a lot like Kulak and vice versa. I likened Ian to the apple in the middle of the supermarket display. It may not be the biggest or shiniest. However, pluck it from its perch and the whole display comes tumbling down.

That’s what I fear will happen to our ‘d’ without Kulak.

In defense of Kyle Dubas and his new acquisition, Girard can skate and move the puck and possesses a fair amount of skill. Smart, too. According to articles on the Trib and Pittsburgh Hockey Now, Dubas and his staff invested a lot of time in the 27-year-old blueliner and believe he has an untapped upside.

It sure is hard to argue with our POHO/GM given his recent track record. Especially in light of the Egor Chinakhov robbery and other surprising success stories.

I’d mentioned in a follow-up comment to yesterday’s article that Girard’s most recent WAR chart, courtesy of JFresh, is glowing.

 

It falls right in line with the impressive WAR percentages for some of Dubas’s other recent additions.

Player	Overall	EV Off	EV Def
Brazeau	50	55	67
Chinakhov	77	41	64
Mantha	84	71	99
Novak	89	86	21
Wotherspoon	93	80	86

 

It’s hard not to give Dubas, who also procured yet another second-round pick in the trade, the benefit of the doubt.

Still, I’m concerned about how well the undersized Girard (5’10” 170) will guard the house. Double, no triple that concern if he’s paired with Letang, which appears to be the plan. (Ryan Shea-Letang and Girard-Connor Clifton may make more sense.)

Our goalies may need to learn French. Specifically the phrase, “fais attention!”

Or “look out!” in English.