Even without Pascal Dupuis' sudden retirement the Pittsburgh Penguins were going to be looking for another top four defenseman. This has been stated by Jim Rutherford previously.

Yesterday Bob McKenzie reiterated the Penguins desire to make a deal for another defenseman

Will it be the #Pens that break open the NHL trade market? McKenzie says they're "looking hard" at trade options. https://t.co/rTL8XRh3Vu

— Chris Nichols (@NicholsOnHockey) December 8, 2015

"But you’re right, they’ve got to get more goal scoring. I think they’re looking hard at trying to make some trades. They’re trying to find a puck-moving, top-4 defenseman. They’re still continuing to look for an elite level, skill guy that could play alongside Sidney Crosby, because now that Kessel hasn’t had the chemistry with Crosby.

"But those are hard deals to make for a team that have cap issues, that have used up a lot of their currency with first round picks, and other draft picks, and younger players from their system. So it’s not an easy challenge to bolster your lineup via trade when you have the cap issues and have spent the kind of currency that you’ve spent if you’re Pittsburgh."

I agree with The Bobfather that these deals aren't always easy to come by. I started looking around the league at teams that have a potential surplus of defensemen and a candidate that they would perhaps move. This is a process I am going to have to go through each day in order to try and find the right fit.

The first option that I looked into was Cam Fowler of the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks recently re-signed for Penguin Simon Despres to money that is similar to Cam Fowler and have both Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm due for a healthy raises after this season.

The Ducks obviously have Corey Perry as a top line right winger and also have the underrated Jakub Silfverberg at the right wing position as well. After that they have the always underwhelming Chris Stewart and Andrew Cogliano playing out of position.

Anaheim is a team that seems to favor rough and tumble players and Pittsburgh has a right winger that fits that bill perfectly. That player is Patric Hornqvist.

Both Hornqvist and Fowler have two years left on their deal after this season concludes and their cap hits are very similar (4.25 vs 4.00).

Cam Fowler has the perception of being a solid top four defenseman. Is it reality?



To be honest these numbers are underwhelming when you think about the common perception of Cam Fowler. He is comfortably a top four defenseman when it comes to offense but when you look at possession he falls short of being a top four defenseman. You would think his skating and puck skills would translate better in the possession department, but it has not.

He has underperformed in his role as one of Anaheim's top four defensemen



Fowler and Hornqvist having similar contracts led me to research this idea further. After doing so I am left underwhelmed with Cam Fowler's resume.

I still believe the Penguins best trading chip is Patric Hornqvist, but this is probably not the right deal.

Thanks for reading!

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