The Penguins have acquired once-promising defense prospect Jack Rathbone from the Canucks and minor-league forward Karel Plasek, per a team release. In return, the Canucks receive a pair of players designated for AHL Abbotsford in defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Ty Glover.
Rathbone and Friedman will report to their new teams’ respective AHL affiliates, while Plasek and Glover will report to their new teams’ respective ECHL affiliates.
While a fourth-round pick in 2017, Rathbone’s stock as a prospect rose wildly in the 2019-20 season after recording 31 points in 28 games during his sophomore campaign at Harvard. He then turned pro with Ivy League schools shutting down in 2020 due to COVID, but he didn’t play much – just eight games with Vancouver and eight with AHL Utica, instead spending most of the season on the taxi squad.
2021-22 saw him put together an incredible rookie season in the minors, again notching over a point per game with Abbotsford – although he was held without a point in a nine-game NHL call-up. That led to optimism he would become a full-time fixture on the Canucks’ blueline in 2022-23, but it wasn’t to be. He played just 11 NHL games, recording two points, and his production took a significant step back in the minors – just five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 37 contests. He has a goal through two games with Abbotsford this season.
He’ll now try and get back on track with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he joins another young defenseman looking to reclaim his game – 2018 first-round pick Ty Smith, who’s just a year removed from posting back-to-back 20-point years with the New Jersey Devils. The 24-year-old Rathbone is a pending restricted free agent who’s owed a rather pricey qualifying offer of $997.5K this summer.
Pittsburgh also receives the 23-year-old Plasek, a Canucks sixth-round selection in 2019. He only has one season in North America under his belt – an injury-plagued 2021-22 campaign that saw him play eight games for AHL Abbotsford, failing to record a point. On loan with HC Olomouc in the Czech Extraliga last season, Plasek recorded six goals and nine assists for 15 points in 31 contests.
Vancouver’s return is not puny – Friedman is a two-way defender who excels defensively at the minor-league level and can provide reliable bottom-pairing minutes in a pinch. The 27-year-old pending UFA is signed to a one-way contract this season but cleared waivers pre-season with the Penguins. He appeared in 23 games for the Penguins in 2022-23, recording a goal and two assists while averaging 14:27 per game. He has the most career NHL games of anyone involved in this trade, with 65.
Glover, 23, was an undrafted free agent signing by Pittsburgh in 2022 after a pair of campaigns with Western Michigan University. He spent all of 2022-23 at the AHL level with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, recording seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 49 contests. However, he failed to crack the AHL squad out of camp this season and was assigned to ECHL Wheeling before the trade, although he’ll now likely join Vancouver’s affiliate at that level, the Kalamazoo Wings.
Moves to make room for bear
Stop allergic to acquiring draft picks so Canuckian
Is this just taking a flier on a guy who is waiver exempt for a guy who is not?
Either way, it worked out well the last time we traded basically nothing for a Harvard D man. Until, Hextall turned him into Ty Smith, at least.
A couple reasons for this trade:
1. The Penguins had too many AHL/NHL contracts (49 of the allowed 50), this trade dropped them down to 48 and allowed them to sign Libor Hajek to an AHL contract and still have one spot leftover. My guess is they liked Hajek during camp enough to sign him, but didn’t want to use up their last roster spot. They have probably been shopping Friedman for a couple of weeks trying to free up a roster spot and playing time for Hajek in the AHL.
2. Per AHL rules:
“Of the eighteen (18) skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a game, at least thirteen (13) must be qualified as “development players.” Of those 13, twelve (12) must have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games. All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.”
The Penguins had too many AHL and NHL veterans on their AHL roster and had to healthy scratch three of their better players each game in order to have an eligible roster. Through two games they have scratched Nylander, Koppanen, Oullet, and Fedun for one game each and Johnnson has been scratched both games. Not ideal.
This trade will help free-up one more spot where they can play a veteran player each night. Hajek still counts as a developmental player and has fewer than 260 professional games played (same with Rathbone), so neither count towards the maximum 6 veteran players allowed (goalies don’t count towards the rule).
It’s basically a bonus that Rathbone is actually talented and has upside. Probably not the main reason for the trade, though.
I thought this kid was going to be a future powerplay stud top 4 d man for the Canucks. Seems like they wrecked his development trying to get him to focus more on defence. I fear the same is gonna happen to Zelwegger out in Anaheim