Pens continue offseason retooling
The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to change the team that finally brought them to glory. Shipping out one of the top players during the playoff run as well as a GM favorite in a gamble. The deal sees the Pens and division rival Jackets hook up in a big trade.
To Pittsburgh:
Zach Bogosian
Anton Slepyshev
Ryan Murray
Malcolm Subban
32nd pick
To New Jersey:
Andrei Markov
Boone Jenner
Jake Virtanen
The big mission in Pittsburgh this summer is to have fun, take some risks and build a team that I like. That’s what this deal does. We drafted Murray and the kid has had a real tough go, he is pretty well one more injury riddled season from being written off. We like Bogo, had him a few times before, time will tell if he sticks. Subban was a fun piece to add, although we think he is 3-4 years away from having a decent sim rating bringing the Subban brothers together was something I wanted to do regardless of the fact he is a Bruin. Of the pieces we gave up Jenner was the toughest. He was top line in Columbus when healthy and is expected to play with Johansen and Foligno again next season. He was a personal favorite and a guy I may come knocking for down the road. Markov was a beast for us in the playoffs, he had 14 points and was +10. Our season took a huge upswing when I added him and Parise to the mix.
The team in Pittsburgh will start the season pretty young. If I fall out of the playoff race then moves will be made to bolster the lineup with depth but for now I will ice a considerably younger and different team than the won that won the cup. Thanks to Chris for the talks, the Devils are turning into a very scary looking team.
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