Report: Holland to meet with Kulak's agent this week

It appears Ken Holland is looking into how to keep defenceman Brett Kulak from hitting the free agent market on July 13.

According to Kurt Leavins of the Edmonton Journal, the Oilers general manager is expected to meet with Kulak’s agent, Gerry Johannson, this week.

Kulak, a pending unrestricted free agent, was acquired by the Oilers from the Montreal Canadiens at the trade deadline in exchange for a second-round pick, a seventh-round pick and defenceman William Lagesson. The Canadiens retained half of his expiring $1.85 million cap hit in the trade.

The 28-year-old had two goals and eight points in 18 regular-season games with the Oilers and added five assists in 16 playoff games as Edmonton reached the Western Conference final. In total, Kulak had five goals and 21 points in 74 games with the Canadiens and Oilers this season.

According to CapFriendly, the Oilers project to have just over $7 million in cap space this off-season, with Ryan McLeod, Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto scheduled to hit restricted free agency and Evander Kane and Mikko Koskinen among the team's other pending unrestricted free agents.