The Penguins could have closed their day with the Cole/Bortuzzo swap but they decided to make one last deal before the trade deadline
Simon Despres is a Penguin no more. He will be moving on to Anaheim.
The Penguins get Ben Lovejoy in return.
I'm not a fan of the deal, at all.
Simon Despres makes 900k through next season and is still an RFA after that.
Simon Despres is 23 years old, Ben Lovejoy is 31.
Simon Despres fooled a lot of people into believing that Rob Scuderi is still a serviceable NHL defenseman. That is no easy task.
Despres was a solid skater, had solid puck skills, and had a blend of size and skill that you like to have in a defender.
Here is Despres HERO chart:
Pretty good all things considered.
Now I don't like the trade but I am also not going to take that out on Ben Lovejoy. He is certainly an NHL defenseman who can play well on the bottom pairing. But that's the thing, his ceiling is a third pairing defenseman. His numbers in Anaheim have been OK:
Like I said, not bad, but I just don't know why the Penguins felt the need to move Despres for him.
I agree with Mr. Metzer
Here is what the Penguins have on defense now:
Martin-Letang
Ehrhoff-Pouliot
Cole-Lovejoy-Scuderi
It is still a solid group, especially with Pouliot showing he belongs but losing Despres is tough considering Martin and Ehrhoff will be gone next year and he could step into a top 4 role making only 900k.
All that said this is still a tough trade to comprehend.
Poor asset management in my book.
The Ducks are building up a nice blue line as they also traded for James Wisniewski at the closing bell. Friday's game just got a little bit tougher.
I suppose the good news is the Penguins didn't sell low on Beau Bennett.
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