Penguins This ‘n’ That

I’ll be the first to admit, I was not a fan of the February 24 trade with the Avalanche that brought defenseman Samuel Girard to the Penguins (along with a second-round pick) for steady blueliner Brett Kulak.

To my eye, the former Oiler had performed admirably, providing solid all-around defense while appearing to stabilize Kris Letang, who’d endured a difficult season prior to the 32-year-old’s arrival in a December trade.

The fact that Tanger likened Brett to his long-time partner Brian Dumoulin? Endorsement enough for me.  To say nothing of our 15-7-3 record with Kulak in the lineup.

Then Kyle Dubas did the unthinkable.

I’ll be honest. I thought the trade was a colossal overreach on his part. A classic case of fixing what wasn’t broke, with a sprinkling for being too smart for one’s own good sprinkled in.

Girard’s first handful of games did nothing to sway my opinion. He and Letang blended about as well as oil and water. In their first five games as a pair, Girard was a minus-3 and Letang a minus-5.

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