There are a lot of fun names out there on the trade market (Kessel, Sharp, O'Reilly, Lucic, Backes, Oshie etc...) but Pittsburgh is not in a good spot to take advantage of the current market. Pittsburgh does not own enough quality futures for a deal to make sense. They have to look at some of the middle tier options like Radim Vrbata or Alexander Semin types. The other option is to trade for a young unproven forward that does not carry a large pedigree. A player that would be an organizations equivlent to a Scott Harrington or Brian Dumoulin.
Enter the Columbus Blue Jackets. This isn't a new rumor but one that I have failed to touch on from earlier. Columbus is open to trading Kerby Rychel for defensive help. Kerby Rychel is no more proven than Brian Dumoulin or Scott Harrington. None of the three players are guaranteed to have great NHL success. Brian Dumoulin has been playing professional hockey for a few years now and is at the point where he needs to be given an NHL sample. He has done a good job in the AHL. Scott Harrington is more like Rychel in the sense that there is not a large professional sample size to date.
I believe the risk is equal for both teams if they were to swap out prospects. However, Columbus may be looking for a more proven defenseman.
@GunnerStaal the sense I'm getting is preferably a veteran.
— Mark (@THWMark) June 20, 2015
Pittsburgh doesn't have much to offer Columbus as far as veteran defenseman go. Ben Lovejoy is the one piece that they could move but I don't believe his value is good enough. This is exactly the kind of situation where moving Simon Despres for Ben Lovejoy kills the team. Instead of having an asset to take a chance on a young cost controlled top six forward that might pan out you are left with a bottom pairing 31 year old depth defenseman.
So unless the Blue Jackets are willing to take a chance on one of the Penguins B-level prospects this isn't an avenue where Pittsburgh can look to improve.
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In UFA news one of my suggestions for the Pittsburgh Penguins may not be hitting the market
#Stars make contract offer to Patrick Eaves; Shawn Horcoff to hit the free agent market. READ:http://t.co/7HcZQCEiMa pic.twitter.com/kwSVgIKBGc
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) June 19, 2015
The deal has not been accepted yet
We need to hear from their camp. We’d like to have him back,… Nill said. “We made him a contract offer and if he doesn’t accept that he’ll be looking at free agency. We’d like to bring him back, so we’ll see where that goes.…
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New Hockey Hurts podcast has a short recap of the Stanley Cup Final and then shifts towards big name trade talk. You can find that here.
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