The Pittsburgh Penguins were indeed inquiring about the services of Kevin Shattenkirk. However, Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford elected not to meet the price the Blues were looking for

Sounds like it never got close between Penguins and Blues regarding a Shattenkirk deal. High price kept Pittsburgh out of it.

— Craig Custance (@CraigCustance) February 28, 2017

I like that they inquired about Shattenkirk. You just never know what a player is going to be traded for unless you ask.

Shattenkirk did ultimately get traded and it was to the Penguins biggest rivals.

Shattenkirk trade has other details but main parts I believe: 1st RD pick in 2017, 2nd RD pick in 2018 and Zach Ranford going to St. Louis

— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) February 28, 2017

Conditional 2018 I believe is if Caps acquire one it goes to STL since they currently don't have one. Otherwise it's two 2019 picks https://t.co/ISPjimXTmD

— Pat Greissing (@pgreissing) February 28, 2017

Some might say the Penguins "drove the price up" on Shattenkirk for the Washington Capitals. Others might look at this and say that it is in the same ballpark as the Martin Hanzal trade despite Shattenkirk being more of an impact player. I haven't heard too many great things about this year's draft so a late first round pick isn't really as big of a deal. Washington also got by without offering up one of their top prospects.

I like the deal a lot for Washington. Unlike Pittsburgh the Capitals window is more short term than long term. They have an older roster and have to navigate some tough roster decisions this upcoming offseason. TJ Oshie, Justin Williams, and Karl Alzner are all UFA's. Evgeny Kuznetsov is due a healthy raise as an RFA. This is where the Brooks Orpik contract becomes problematic.

Pittsburgh's long term window is more vibrant and while the Penguins could have met a similar price they were wise not to fall back into old habits that doomed the latter portions of Ray Shero's tenure. You can't make a regular habit of trading futures for rental players.

Washington should go all in. This is a great opportunity for them. This is probably Alexander Ovechkin's best look at a Stanley Cup. Kevin Shattenkirk is a very good player and he is coming into a fantastic situation. The Capitals will always have at least one of John Carlson, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Matt Niskanen on the ice at the same time. They will be coming at their opponents in waves. Their forwards are great and so is their goaltender.

The Capitals are now (if they weren't already) the clear favorite in the Eastern Conference.

It will take some self control, but Pittsburgh should continue to keep the big picture in mind. Getting in an arms race with a team in it for the short term will only negatively impact their future. Pittsburgh is still decent and while they would be an underdog against Washington they certainly have enough talent to win.

We'll see how the rest of the deadline plays out.

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