Members of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster weren’t terribly familiar with the two players they added to their roster Friday.
Defenseman Brett Kulak and goaltender Stuart Skinner, as well as a second-round draft pick in 2029, were acquired in a trade that sent goaltender Tristan Jarry and rookie forward Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers.
Given nonconference opponents only face each other twice in regular-season play, the incumbent members of the Penguins’ roster were unable to offer detailed scouting reports on their new teammates.
“I think my cousin actually played with Skinner (at the junior level) a little bit,” Penguins forward Justin Brazeau quipped. “I’ll probably reach out today and see what he’s got on Skinner. I don’t know a whole lot.
“The last couple of years, they’ve been a pretty good team. So, they bring that experience in the playoffs.”
In each of the past two seasons, the Oilers reached the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Florida Panthers in both series. Kulak and Skinner were prominent components of that success.
As for the current campaign, the Oilers have struggled to stay in secure playoff contention and entered Friday with a 14-11-6 record, a mark that stationed them in the first wild-card position of the Western Conference.
Skinner’s struggles have largely correlated with the Oilers’ underwhelming results. The 27-year-old, who catches with his left hand, has appeared in 23 games this season and has an 11-8-4 record along with a 2.83 goals-against average, an .891 save percentage and two shutouts.
In 197 career games, Skinner, a native of Edmonton, has a 109-62-18 record, a 2.74 GAA, a 904 save percentage and nine shutouts over six seasons.
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A pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason, Skinner is expected to compete with incumbent goaltender Arturs Silovs for playing time with the NHL club while promising prospects Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov continue to develop with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
“Skinner has had a very good run in Edmonton,” Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas said Friday in Cranberry. “I know the year this year didn’t start off the way that he or the team would have wanted it to, but I think, especially of late, he’s been back playing his game to the level that he’s expected.
“We’ll give him the best opportunity we can to be at his best. And it’s an important year for him as well (as a pending free agent).”
As for Blomqvist and Murashov, it doesn’t appear the trade will impact their development arcs with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“Both those guys are pushing each other,” Dubas said. “It’s a little easier when you have the two guys down there that are putting up those sorts of performances night in and night out. And our hope is that, you know, they continue to push above.
Kulak, 31, joins the Penguins as a pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming summer. A defensive depth defenseman by trade, the left-handed Kulak has appeared in 30 games this season and has two assists while averaging 17 minutes, 42 seconds of ice time, including 1:27 in short-handed situations.
A veteran of 12 NHL seasons, Kulak has the NHL’s ninth-longest active consecutive games played streak at 295.
He’ll be joining a blue line bloated with fellow left-handers, including Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, Parker Wotherspoon and Caleb Jones (currently on injured reserve because of a suspected right foot ailment).
“(Kulak has) been incredibly steady, and he’s done it in the hardest environments in the playoffs and down the stretch,” Dubas said. “He’s able to play both left and right. He’s played with all types of different partners there. He can kill penalties. He had a good year last year offensively, all at even strength.
“We just expect him to be steady, use his experience, come back, move the puck, be a complement to any of the guys on the right side that he’s playing with.”
One player who won’t be part of the team’s immediate plans moving forward is right-handed defenseman Matt Dumba. To make room on the roster with the trade, Dumba was placed on the non-roster designation and waived. Should he go unclaimed by the NHL’s other 31 clubs by 2 p.m. Saturday, he will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Dumba has appeared in 11 games this season and scored three points (one goal, two assists) while averaging 14:56 of ice time.
Largely deployed on the third pairing, Dumba has been a healthy scratch for 18 games this season.
Dumba, 31, is in the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $3.75 million.
The Penguins acquired Dumba and a second-round draft pick in 2028 in a trade that sent defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok to the Dallas Stars on July 10.
Dubas was uncertain if Kulak and Skinner, each Canadian citizens, would be able to join the club in time for Saturday’s home game against the San Jose Sharks on account of clearing immigration procedures.
There was no immediate word as to a contingency plan, particularly with who would dress as the second goaltender, along with Silovs, should Skinner be unavailable.
Regardless of when they may suit up with their new teammates, there are expectations for Kulak and Skinner to help the Penguins.
“We felt that (there) was a chance to make some improvements to the team on defense, add a draft pick and add a (goaltender) that’s played a ton of hockey, and very good hockey,” Dubas said. “It’s a hometown guy playing for a hometown team and trying to win the Stanley Cup every year. I don’t know that there’s been many goalies in the league that have endured that pressure, and by all accounts, he’s endured it very well and been able to be there at the end in June the last two seasons.”