2) Trade Brett Kulak - next best play
At the end of the 2022-23 season, Kulak's contract was up, and he did such a great job that he was re-upped to both longer term and higher cash than his previous team-friendly deal. This was to compensate him for the expectation that he would play a bigger role for the team and play on the second pairing. (Remember this was still at a time when Nurse-Ceci were the top pairing for the Oilers). After some bumps in the road he adapted and although he was no world beater, he performed admirably in the role.
Then the Oilers went out and traded for Ekholm, subtracting Tyson Barrie from the roster and promoting Bouchard up to the top four of the defence corps on the other side. Naturally you're not going to trade a haul for one of the best and most defensively underrated blueliners in the league and play him on the bottom pairing. And with Ekholm and Bouchard instantly clicking together as a pairing, that bumped Kulak back down to the bottom pairing, albeit with a short stint at right D on the second pairing to make up for Ceci's demotion prior to Broberg's promotion.
With a full season together, Ekholm-Bouchard have played so well they are now the Oilers' top pairing, handling all the tough competition in the process. That leaves Kulak in the same position he was in last season after the trade - playing below his capabilities as a very good bottom pairing defender, but capable of playing in the top four, a chance it's unlikely he will get from the Oilers. From a depth perspective you have to applaud Kris Knoblauch and Ken Holland for their depth management here. However, it still leaves the team with a guy making $2.75 million playing on the bottom pairing, not a good use of cap space and and an easy way to subtract from the roster.
Or is it? Unlike with Ceci, Kulak's replacement is not already on the roster, meaning you'd have to hope and pray someone from the farm team makes it - a reckless strategy. Or you'd have to trade Kulak for a cheaper outside hire, which likely results in a downgrade talent-wise, despite the fact it would save the team in cap space. Kulak is not as easy to replace internally, and he played better than Ceci did last season. Not to mention he wouldn't garner as much in trade, since he's a LD and not a RD like Ceci is.
Personally, that's not a prospect I relish. Despite the fact the circumstances are not ideal, I think it's best to keep Kulak, at least for next season, and kick the decision on him down at least one more season. Kulak is signed for two more seasons including next season so that might up his trade value slightly, but not enough to compel the team to move him. If the Oilers are still hurting for cap space after next season, then Kulak may be first on the trading block. However, for this coming season my feeling is the Oilers will focus more on Ceci, as he's the more immediate and higher priority trade target.