The wait is over. Pittsburgh has made their much anticipated trade to try and bolster their center depth. The player acquired was Riley Sheahan. It was a case of where there was smoke there was fire. His name had come up quite a bit in the last few weeks.

I don’t have any strong thoughts about the trade. I think what the team gave up versus what they are getting is OK. Scott Wilson found himself playing behind Tom Kuhnhackl lately. A Detroit fifth round pick and a Pittsburgh 3rd round pick are in reality only a round apart because of where the teams are projected to finish.

Riley Sheahan had a miserable 2016-17 season and it would be hard for him to follow that up with another year like that. The early returns so far haven’t been great in 2017-18. Through Detroit’s first eight games Sheahan is Detroit’s third worst possession player at 48.2% and no points.

Sheahan is another example of the Penguins betting on a change of scenery to help a player return to form. One of Sheahan’s strengths is his foot speed which makes him an ideal candidate for the fast Penguins. Also helping Sheahan is the fact he will be going from playing with guys like Luke Glendenning and David Booth to potentially having Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist on his wings. That certainly won’t hurt.

Greg McKegg has done a nice job for the team so far this year in his elevated role as third line center. Sheahan’s acquisition will allow McKegg to bump down to the fourth line and that should really help the team out in the short term.

If we are looking at the long term scope for this team I would still expect Jim Rutherford to keep searching for a high end third line center. I think the Sheahan deal buys him some more time on that front. If Sheahan eventually finds himself as the Penguins fourth line center because of a trade for another center that would bode really well for their center depth.

Pittsburgh is going to need Sheahan’s speed right away. The next game for the Penguins is at home against Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers.

Thanks for reading!

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