Here’s some juicy rumors from Elliotte Friedman about the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Anaheim Ducks
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— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 21, 2018
12. Okay, some other stuff: sounds like Pittsburgh tried to get its hands on Brandon Montour from Anaheim. Don’t think the Ducks are interested. He’s a talented guy. Someone who does fit their profile? Jakob Silfverberg, a pending UFA. Entering Saturday’s game in Ottawa, 41 of the Penguins’ 46 goals from forwards came out of their top six.
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise the Penguins are looking for a right shot defender with Justin Schultz out. It also shouldn’t come as a surprise the Ducks like Montour and would rather keep him.
I like the idea of Jakob Silfverberg as a rental. He’s always been a possessionally sound player until this year. The Ducks are a mess and their coach is Randy Carlyle so his dip in possession is easily explained away. His offensive abilities have fluctuated between second and third line levels over his career. He would of course get the Crosby/Malkin bump or favorable matchups with Derick Brassard.
He’s one of those quietly good depth players in the NHL that gets lost on the West Coast
Why would the Penguins want to acquire another right winger? It would open up the possibility of moving a player like Patric Hornqvist or Bryan Rust to improve other areas of the team. If Jim Rutherford is going to improve the team he is going to have to take on some rental players to limit the damage of trading other pieces from the active roster. There are going to be a lot of moving parts and trades that depend on other trades. That’s the reality of the situation.
Any trade with Anaheim might come with some goaltending support in the form of Ryan Miller. You can’t rule out the Penguins looking at veteran netminders who are playing good and don’t make a lot of money considering how things are going in net right now.
Keep an eye on the Penguins and Ducks.
Thanks for reading!