Penguins Team Report
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been nothing short of horrible this season. A number of trades to shake things up including the acquisition and then trading of Sidney Crosby, the departure of fan favourite Patrick Kane. Every position from was tweaked, the Pens brought in Devan Dubnyk to sure up the net. That move failed. The Pens brought in Josi on D. That move didn’t produce results. The funny thing is almost every deal we made did nothing to improve our team and helped the other team.
So here we are. 53 games in. 13 points out of the playoffs. So the season is over for the Pens. So this is where the dilemma comes from. I have never been one to hesitate to pull the trigger when I felt a deal could help my team or if I had a chance to improve the team. So when it comes to trading the Pens are in a strange place. We have the cap space to retain all our key RFA and UFAs.
So this brings the debate. Should I move a guy when I am just going to look to replace him in the summer? The Pens have been in active trade talks involving Blake Wheeler, Devan Dubnyk and Matt Murray. Wheeler appears the mostly likely to move, but the internal debate and crazy work schedule have delayed things. There are 5-6 teams in the mix here and that deal could be made before the deadline. We will be patient until we feel like we want to jump on a deal. Could be today, he may be on the team to start next season.
There are 52 days until the trade deadline and things change daily. But here is how I view the roster now:
Readily available for trade:
Depth (Prefer to include these guys in bigger deals)
Bellemare
Callahan
Bourque
Poulliot
Benning
Top Players available in trade
Dubnyk
Wheeler
How we see the team next year:
Keller-Mcdavid-Rakell
Galchenyuk-Domi-Gallagher
Lehkonen-Hischier-UFA
De La Rose-Shaw- Armia
Subban-Josi
Skjei-Provorov
Oesterle-Mete
Murray
??
So the internal debate rages on in Pittsburgh. Do we keep Wheeler and slide everyone down the depth chart and run a 1-2 tandem with Murray and Dubnyk. Or do we deal them and try and add assets now?
We will always be open for business on any player so things can change quickly if I decide I want a player or someone goes into the dog house here. So do not hesitate to drop me a line especially if an offer has 1st and 2nd round picks coming back or a Hab.
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