We are now just over a week away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It has been an eventful year for the Penguins, to put it lightly. They’ve been hit hard by injuries, have had inconsistent goaltending at times, and had to deal with a sudden GM resignation as well when Jim Rutherford abruptly left. In spite of all of that, they are comfortably in a top-three spot in the East Division and are within striking distance of the number one seed. GM Ron Hextall will undoubtedly be looking to buy but he doesn’t appear to have the trade chips to be overly active.
Record
24-12-2, 3rd in East Division
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$833K in full-season space ($1.12MM at the trade deadline), 1/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used per CapFriendly.
Pittsburgh also currently has some LTIR spending room with Evgeni Malkin on there at the moment. However, he is expected to return before the end of the season so that space can’t be used to trade for an impact replacement and thus is not factored into the above numbers.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2021: PIT 2nd, PIT 5th, ANA 7th, PIT 7th, WSH 7th
2022: PIT 1st, PIT 2nd, PIT 3rd, PIT 4th, PIT 5th, PIT 6th, PIT 7th
Trade Chips
When you don’t have a surplus of picks or prospects to deal from nor the cap space to take on a pricey contract, it’s tricky to find possible fits to intrigue other teams. One possible option is defenseman Juuso Riikola. He has been limited to just two games this season but has been a sixth or seventh option for a couple of years now. Their long list of injuries on defense (which included him for roughly six weeks) forced them to bring some other players in and as a result, the 27-year-old hasn’t played since being activated off LTIR nearly a month ago. With another year left on his deal at $1.15MM, Riikola’s salary is one that could be thrown into a move to try to match money for cap purposes.
Prospect winger Radim Zohorna has impressed in the minors and even chipped in with a goal in two games with Pittsburgh. At 6’6, his size will be intriguing to quite a few teams and if the Pens don’t want to part with a draft pick and instead want to move a prospect under contract instead, the 24-year-old pending restricted free agent will be asked about fairly quickly.
If Hextall wants to shake things up more drastically, Jason Zucker stands out as a longshot candidate to move. They paid a fairly high price to get him and with how he has performed, they’d be hard-pressed to recoup that now. However, with a $5.5MM price tag for two more years after this, moving him would allow them to potentially free up some wiggle room to make an impact addition now and depending on the term of the contract, possibly give them some extra space over the next two years when they’ll still be tight to the cap. Zucker may make more sense as an offseason trade candidate if they could find the right fit (there is a 10-team no-trade clause to contend with) but without many viable options to move now, he’s worth a mention here.
Others to Watch For: F Sam Miletic ($700K, RFA), F Valtteri Puustinen (prospect whose rights expire June 1st), Colton Sceviour ($1.2MM, UFA)
Team Needs
1) Center Depth – The long-term injuries to Malkin and Jared McCann (even Teddy Blueger has missed time) has emphasized how thin they are up the middle. Sam Lafferty and now Frederick Gaudreau have held their own but someone that’s an upgrade on those two that can serve a purpose on the fourth line but move up to anchor the third line if injuries strike would be nice. They were able to add some defensive depth when the injuries hit but that didn’t happen with their middlemen.
2) Goaltending Insurance – Casey DeSmith is having a fine season but only has 65 career games under his belt. Tristan Jarry has been up and down but has been okay overall. He too hasn’t played in 100 career NHL contests, sitting at 87. Their taxi squad option is Maxime Lagace who has a GAA near 4.00 in his limited NHL action. A more proven third option in case the injury bug bites yet again or one of the two netminders struggle would be a low-cost acquisition that could wind up being useful later on.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
I’ll keep repeating it until Hextall does it…
Andreas Athanasiou for the second line left wing spot with Geno and Kapanen. Keep the Zucker – McCann – Rodrigues line together.
I’d prefer to not move Zohorna. I’d move a 2022 pick first.
Anthanasiou is not the type of player Burke or Hextall would go for. And no 1st round picks for long shots. Hextall does not part with high picks.
On no planet would AA cost a first. 2022 third and this year’s sixth or seventh. Or Calle Clang, maybe.
Then you will spend the rest of the season repeating the same thing. Athanasiou is not the player the Penguins should or would remotely consider. If they make any move it will be for a physical forward to play on the fourth line to discourage opponents from taking liberties. If they decide to roll the dice this year, they may target Mantha and he would add a scoring and physical presence on the second or third line. But that move would be costly.
Move a first round pick instead of Zohorna? Are you serious? Zohorna is an eighth round talent in a seven round draft.
AA has Kapanen speed and better hands. He’s exactly what they need. But I guess he’s “just a third liner” too, eh?
Also, I typed ” I’d move a 2022 pick first” so why do you guys keep reading “I’d move a 2022 first round pick” instead? Those are not the same sentences.
Also, the idea that Brian Burke is here so Mario will just let him goon up the team is just intellectually lazy. Sully still exists.
Adding a couple of gritty players is not gooning up the team — the team that was eliminated from the playoofs that past few were your type of pansy teams –with players that permitted Crosby Geno Guentzel and Zucker to get raped robbed pillaged and manhandled. Can’t let that happen. Wilson is a goon — Matthew Tkachuk — Foligno is not a goon.
Anthony Mantha
What are you giving up for Mantha?
We don’t have the assets.
I would not be surprised if no major trade is made and just some depth defenseman moved for some mid to lower draft choices and nothing more. Not a lot of tradable pieces that would bring back a lot and I would put Zucker on the 3rd line with Blueger. I believe that would provide a lot of scoring from 3 lines and you can mx and match for the 4th line depending on the opponent and the player heath.
Anyone suggesting the Penguins trade for a winger or defensive player where the player doesn’t offer toughness grit and a physical presence is blowing smoke. “I don;t believe in bringing a knife to a gunfight.” Brian Burke. Also Ron Hextall will not be trading any 1-3 round draft picks if he trades any draft picks at all.
lets get hall and goalies now
Hall is not strong on the puck — He’s Conor Sheary Light. I would’ve loved Goalie Depth. Anton Khudobin Jake Allen or Halak.