The Edmonton Oilers bowed out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs early, but their fingerprints on both Conference Final matchups. Former Oilers Brett Kulak and Taylor Hall are key pieces for their teams as they continue their quests for the Cup.

Kulak was shipped to Pittsburgh in the Tristan Jarry trade earlier this season, but Kyle Dubas flipped him to Colorado two months later. The Avalanche steamrolled their way through the first two rounds, sending Kulak to his fourth Western Conference Final in five seasons on the backs of his series-winning goal against the Minnesota Wild in overtime of Game 5.

The Carolina Hurricanes have been more dominant, going 8-0 In the playoffs, thanks in part to Hall’s superb play. He leads all Canes scorers with 12 points thus far.

Oiler fans will never forget the infamous “The trade is one for one” tweet by Bob McKenzie when he announced the deal that sent Hall to the New Jersey Devils for Adam Larsson. His career took a winding path from there, but it has led to a perfect situation in Raleigh, North Carolina.

When the Oilers traded Kulak back in mid-December, he was struggling to find his game. He anchored Edmonton’s third defence pair for years, killed penalties, and moved up the lineup when called upon. But this season, he fell into a funk that he couldn’t seem to shake.

Two months into the season, he was a minus-ten at five-on-five, which was second worst on the team behind Andrew Mangiapane. Perhaps management had become concerned about his trajectory at 32. So, the Edmonton native got a fresh start in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins got better results from Kulak, who broke even at five-on-five, and upped his offensive production from two points in 31 games with the Oilers to seven in 25 games with Pittsburgh. Still, his on-ice metrics ranked in the bottom half of the team.

When the Olympic break ended, they flipped him to the Avalanche for Samuel Girard and a second-round pick. Colorado, the fastest team in the NHL, was a stylistic fit for a mobile defenceman like Kulak.

On his third team of the campaign, he produced modest results, once again breaking even at five-on-five with a 47.9 per cent expected goal share in 27 games.

Overall, it was an underwhelming regular season for Kulak at even strength, but he contributed on the penalty kill everywhere he went. His history of elevating in the playoffs also gave the Avalanche reason to believe he had plenty more to give.

Sure enough, Kulak built on his impressive playoff resume once again, playing his best hockey of the season over the past few weeks. Against the Minnesota Wild, he averaged the second-most time on ice, logging 18:48 per game. With Cale Makar banged up and Sam Malinski out of the lineup due to injury, Kulak has thrived filling into a top-four role.

If all of this sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Last season, when Mattias Ekholm missed most of the first three rounds with a groin injury, Kulak dominated on the Oilers’ top pair alongside Evan Bouchard en route to a Campbell Conference championship. When the pressure increases, he rises to the occasion.

Kulak is primarily known for his defensive game, but he’s mixed in some offence lately. He already matched his point total from last season’s Stanley Cup run with five. The biggest one came in his last game, when he scored the overtime winner to punch Colorado’s ticket to the Western Conference Final.

“You always like to dream about it,” said Kulak when asked about scoring a series-clinching goal, “I’m not the guy everyone’s looking down the bench at like ‘alright get out there and go win it for us.’”

It may be true that he was an unlikely overtime goal scorer, but no one should be surprised by how well he’s played for the Avalanche during this run. He played a critical role for the Oilers in each of their last two runs to the Cup Final. It’s no coincidence that his teams are consistently playing deep into the spring.

If there’s one thing we know about first overall picks, it’s that they tend to spend most of their career with the team that drafted them. Of the last 16 players who went first overall, only two have defied that trend by leaving their original teams. One of those players is Taylor Hall.

After six seasons in the organization, the Oilers traded Hall to the Devils in the 2016 offseason, kick-starting one of the strangest career arcs in recent memory for a top draft pick. He had 53 points in his first season with the Devils, then followed it up with a shocking Hart Trophy-winning campaign in 2017-18.

Since then, Hall has topped 60 points just once and bounced between five different teams. In 2025, the Hurricanes struck a deal to acquire Hall in a massive three-team trade that also landed them Mikko Rantanen.

After playing in New Jersey, Arizona, Boston, and Chicago, the former Oiler might’ve finally found the ideal landing spot. At 34, he still possesses the skating ability to thrive in Carolina’s system. Under Rod Brind’Amour, the Hurricanes built their identity around speed, chaos, and pressure.

They play a man-on-man structure in the defensive zone, favouring quick, agile skaters who can keep up with their checks. The Hurricanes forecheck hard, but over the last couple of years, they’ve incorporated more of a transition element to their attack. That’s Hall’s bread and butter.

His line with Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake torched their first two opponents in the postseason. So far, they’ve outscored the opposition 9-1 together and outshot them 59-29. It’s rare to see a line without a top superstar dominating to this degree in the playoffs, especially a trio that’s technically considered the second line.

Hall, Blake, and Stankoven are a perfect fit for the system they play in. Their well-rounded games provide synergy and versatility to thrive whether they’re pressuring on the forecheck, attacking off the rush, or defending in man-on-man coverage. They’re relentless.

General manager Eric Tulsky faced criticism at the trade deadline this season for standing pat and making no trades of significance to upgrade his contending roster. But sometimes the smartest deal is the one you don’t make. Instead of adding to the top six, he stuck with his group, and they’re rewarding him.

Hall might not have been the consistent superstar the Oilers hoped he would be when they drafted him back in 2010. In fact, nothing about his career has been consistent. Not his health, his team, and certainly not his production. Still, he’s flashed a high ceiling, whether it was his big 2018 season or the current playoff run he’s on. He has a legitimate chance to add a Conn Smythe to his trophy case this June.

Hall has bigger goals on his mind, though.

“This is probably my best chance at the Stanley Cup, and it’s just so fun to chase a dream like that,” Hall said in an interview earlier this week. “It’s really cool to be in the middle of it.”

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