Move over, Connor McDavid. Make room for … Brett Kulak?
OK, so the lunch-pail carrying Edmonton Oilers defenceman may never find himself in danger of stealing any limelight from his superstar captain. Certainly not this week, anyway.
Kulak would be extremely fortunate to play in 1,000 NHL games, let alone dream of ever scoring 1,000 points, like his teammate is on the verge of doing faster than all but three others in league history.
And while it would be unfair to compare any current player to a generational talent the likes of McDavid, nothing can diminish Kulak’s contributions on an Oilers squad that has been struggling early on to find its footing in an effort to climb the standings this year.
To say the team has taken a step backward in the defensive department from last season’s Stanley Cup Finals run would be as accurate as it is self-imposed, after having overhauled nearly half the unit through the departures of Philip Broberg, Vinny Desharnais and Cody Ceci.
But one month into the season, with the Oilers above .500 and looking to win three consecutive games for the first time when they face the Nashville Predators at Rogers Place on Thursday (7 p.m., Sportsnet West), and things are finally starting to feel a little more familiar along the blue line.
“You come in and you’ve got a few new faces and it’s hard,” said Kulak. “It’s hard joining a new team for those guys, and for us, we’re trying to bring them in and help everyone find their way a little bit.
“So, it does take time, but I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job.”
Kulak, 30, is playing in his 10th NHL season and fourth with his hometown Oilers.
And never has he had the start to a season that he’s experiencing now.
Besides filling in as necessary to help smooth the transition in the defensive zone — on both different sides, no less — Kulak has also posted four goals in the first 16 games. One of them even saw him do his best McDavid impression when he found himself in the slot to tip home a goal.
And that part of the ice is a long way from home for someone who’s built his career as a third-pairing, stay-at-home defenceman, but one who all of a sudden finds himself just two goals shy of a career high on the way to a personal-best 17 points in 2018-19.
“You’ve got to take advantage of your opportunity and adapt a little bit as you go,” he said. “As for me, more is expected of me. More ice time, there’s minutes to fill there, for sure.”
He is averaging a career-high 18:35 this season, up more than three minutes from a year ago, and more than two above his career average.
“It’s getting extra (penalty-kill) time, that’s a big area of our game right now we want to clean up and it will contribute to some wins,” Kulak added of an Oilers penalty kill that went from first (94.3 per cent) in last year’s playoffs, to worst (61.0 per cent) — highlighted against the Predators’ league-leading 90.9 per cent kill. “So, I think a few things like that. But I think everyone, we’re taking steps in the right direction.”
Of course, Kulak’s newfound offensive identity could have its bubble burst. No one is expecting him to maintain the pace to finish with 30 points. But every little bit helps a struggling squad in its aim to return to the Stanley Cup Finals. And that’s where the focus remains.
“I don’t know if he’s a different player, I know his usage is different,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Last year, we had a lot of penalty-killing defenceman and he did not do very much until the playoffs. With ice time, missing guys and how things are working, we’re using him a lot more.
“He played extremely well from what I saw through the regular season and especially the playoffs. We used him more in the playoffs, but I heard that about him previously, he really stepped up in the playoffs and when you need him, he’ll step up. We’re needing him, using him more and he’s been playing well.”
The offence is just added icing.
“Yes, he’s looking more like Bobby Orr, scoring four goals in 16 games,” Knoblauch said with a grin. “We’ll see how long that lasts, but we’re not expecting him to score 20 or 25 this year. But we do expect him to play a good all-around game.”
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On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge