Penguins GM Kyle Dubas continues to fix one of his early mistakes

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas continued to re-tool his roster on Tuesday by trading defenseman Brett Kulak to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenseman Sam Girard and a 2028 second-round draft pick.

From a hockey and asset perspective, it is a big win for the Penguins. Girard is a much-needed left-handed defenseman who is signed through next season, while also bringing some strong mobility and puck-movement to the Penguins defense. At 27, he is also at an age that fits in with the current roster. Getting another second-round draft pick is significant because even though the Penguins are in the playoff race this season, they are still keeping an eye on the future. They now have 20 picks in the first three rounds of the next four draft classes. That is a net-gain of eight picks from where they started.

The motivation for Colorado in all of this was to shed Girard's remaining salary to create more salary-cap space for a potential big move this season before the March 6 NHL trade deadline.

While it is a strong short- and long-term move for the Penguins, it is also a strong move for Dubas as he continues to correct one of the biggest mistakes from his first year on the job in Pittsburgh.

Kyle Dubas continues to fix his Tristan Jarry mistake

Dubas has been on quite run for the Penguins in terms of roster moves over the past season-and-a-half, and it is a big reason they are looking like a playoff team this season and are well-positioned for long-term success beyond this season. But his first year on the job in Pittsburgh was not quite as successful as he had a couple of major moves that simply did not work out.

Signing veteran defenseman Ryan Graves to a long-term contract was a swing-and-a-miss.

The trade for Reilly Smith did not pan out as expected. 

His commitment to goalie Tristan Jarry also did not pan out. Jarry's five-year contract turned into such an immediate whiff that the goalie even found himself on the waiver wire — where he went unclaimed — and in the American Hockey League during the 2024-25 season.

It seemed as if the Penguins were going to be stuck with that contract through the end of the 2027-28 season with little hope of getting a better return on it. 

Then the first part of the 2025-26 season happened.

When Jarry started to show signs of bouncing back with a strong start this season, Dubas wasted little time in dealing Jarry to the Edmonton Oilers in December for goalie Stuart Skinner, Kulak and a 2029 second-round draft pick. 

Skinner has outperformed Jarry since the trade, while the 2029 pick is another future asset that Dubas can either use as a trade chip or as draft capital to add another prospect into the system.

By trading Kulak to Colorado on Tuesday, he has now extended the return on the Jarry trade to include Skinner, Girard and two future second-round picks. There is also a chance they could potentially flip Skinner over the next two weeks for even more. 

When you consider how bad Jarry's contract looked, the fact Girard's contract actually expires before his and the that they were able to improve the team in the short-term, it is an extremely shrewd series of moves by Dubas. He made a mistake with Jarry's contract. He has more than fixed it over the past couple of years.