Not the news everyone is waiting on, but beggars can't be choosers in August. Not only did we get a trade today. We got two traded. Both trades seem to be operating along the same lines of logic, collect draft picks.
The fist trade involved the St. Louis Blues it was a flip of 2nd round picks which is notable because the Blues recruited their original 2nd round pick they gave to Pittsburgh in the Kevin Hayes trade. For their trouble Pittsburgh will receive an additional third round pick.
The Penguins have acquired a 2026 second-round draft pick and a 2025 third-round draft pick.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) August 13, 2024
Details: https://t.co/kQWQcUu0pE pic.twitter.com/jayjF6tKk3
Ultimately, St. Louis needed the pick back because they wanted to *gasp* send an offer sheet to an RFA. You need your own draft pick to do so. So the Penguins squeezed the third out of them to make it happen. Good piece of business by Dubas.
The second trade of the day has the Penguins taking on Cody Glass.
The Penguins have acquired forward Cody Glass, a 2025 third-round draft pick and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick from the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Jordan Frasca.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) August 13, 2024
Details: https://t.co/NnBZvt6DP1 pic.twitter.com/zjgSmxbW4O
Like the first trade this is about the draft picks. Cody Glass is a player unlikely to help then in any significant way.
Cody Glass, acquired by PIT, is a shot-first depth centre coming off an extremely difficult season with the Predators. #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/5Yrvjrum4R
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 13, 2024
This has been Dubas’ strategy to acquire draft picks and they are pragmatic moves. Nothing flashy about it, he's taking on less desirable players to build up draft capital.
I understand the logic of both trades. Neither will help the on-ice roster this year. For anybody paying attention to this off-season the 2024-25 season hasn't been a priority. It is about reshaping the future. The first step is collecting draft picks. The harder part will be succeeding with the actual selections.
Thanks for reading!