The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired forward Rickard Rakell (at 35% retention) from the Anaheim Ducks, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. In return, Anaheim receives forwards Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon, along with goalie prospect Calle Clang and a 2022 second-round pick.
Rakell is a 28-year-old winger who’s a decent offensive play-driver. He’s having a very nice rebound season analytically after his 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, where he really struggled to put the puck in the net.
He has 16 goals and 12 assists this year for 28 points in 51 games, and his 11.8 shooting percentage is much closer to his career average of 11.3%. In his past two seasons, where he scored just 15 and 9 goals, he shot a combined 7.3%. His new cap hit in Pittsburgh with retention is now just $2.463MM, and he’s an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
While this is a good add for Pittsburgh, Anaheim and general manager Pat Verbeek got a good return for Rakell, adding to what’s been a great deadline season for them. If they can re-sign Aston-Reese, he’d be a fantastic addition to the organization. The 27-year-old undrafted free agent carved out a great start to his NHL career in Pittsburgh, developing into an elite defensive winger. He’s got 62 points so far through 213 NHL games.
Simon is on a league-minimum deal and is also an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He has just nine points in 55 games with the season, and this could potentially be the end of his career in North America.
good pickup depending on what we gave up
LOVING IT…at least until we find out what we gave up.
Sorry to see Ricky go. He’s a solid forward- works hard and by all accounts a good clubhouse guy. Mentors the younger guys as well. As a Ducks’ fan, I’m gonna miss him, and Lindholm and Manson. Good pick up for Pittsburgh- he’ll fit right in immediately.
Lucky for him 67 is available. The numbers before and after it are not.
EDIT: Isn’t that Zohorna’s number? Guessing he’ll need a new one.
Speaking of Zohorna, depending on cap space, trading away both ZAR and Simon might get Radim into the lineup a little more often. I don’t get to see the team play too often but I’ve liked the little bit of Zohorna I have seen.
Agreed. I like him and O’Connor more than either guy we traded.
The player is Zach Aston-Reese. No loss, he’s been passed on the depth chart.
Don’t know if there is a prospect plus him yet. We literally don’t have a prospect good enough to make this a bad trade.
I think this is the best move today. Love it.
Drama: Bob McKenzie has now deleted the tweet saying it was ZAR?
Drama Update: It has been replaced with an update. It’s ZAR, Simon, a prospect and a pick.
Simon haters (I think he’s a useful guy for cheap) can rejoice.
Him and Simon
I know Rakell has been on the decline for a couple of years but it’s hard to believe he couldn’t return a better package considering the other deals that have been made. Maybe the prospect is pretty good.
I dunno, it’s a rental, so the fact that Anaheim got back 4 pieces for an injury-prone rental seems not-so-bad. BUT… those pieces are mostly forgettable, so I dunno. Maybe Anaheim likes quantity over quality.
It’s a nice move by Pitt, the prospect can’t hurt… they have the worst prospect pool in the NHL, there’s nobody they will miss assuming it wasn’t Poulin.
They could not afford to give up a first considering their farm and the age of their players.
Im pretty sure Aston Reese and Simon are rentals anyways though so I dont even view them as pieces. Just roster fodder for now.
ZAR has had injury issues, Simon does a lot of good things that can lead to a goal, just don’t expect him to be the one scoring it. Not sure who the prospect is yet and of course the unknown draft pick.
@jdgoat—-Looked it up. You are correct. could not remember if either signed a 2 year deal or not. Both were 1 yr so both are UFA after the season.
As a Pens fan I can get on board with this. I’m no prospect guru but I know that goaltending is about the only position that the Pens have any real depth, so they should be fine in trading Clang. Aston-Reese is a nice role player and Simon contributes from time to time, but frankly I’m surprised Anaheim would want either in exchange for Rakell. And Rakell could be exactly the supplementary goal scorer that the Pens have really needed for awhile now.
Basically trading contracts. Pens get a bit more useful player for the run than what they gave up and the Ducks get a young goalie and a draft pick..
First Sprong and now Clang…
We trade all of our Adam West Batman sound effects to the Ducks.
Side note Sprong was move again today too. To the Kracken…..
I think this might be the steal trade of the day especially from Hextall and Burke
I think Rakell can be a stud with those centers
Exactly
I like Aston-Reese myself as a role player, but as a UFA it’s a wash for the future. Rakell for just a 2nd rounder and unsigned prospect is a pretty good return.