Well it finally happened. Rob Scuderi has played his last game for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ok now that the reality of the situation has sunk in let's go over the details of this trade. Pittsburgh has sent Rob Scuderi to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for Trevor Daley. Pittsburgh will also be retaining 33% of Scuderi's salary which amounts to about 1.1M. Both players are signed through the 2016-17 season. Daley's cap hit with the Penguins will be 4.425M and Scuderi's will be 2.25M with Chicago. There is also this:
Penguins retain 1/3 (1.125 million) in the trade.
If Scuderi is sent down, that would still count against the PIT cap, all relief is CHI's
— WAR On Ice (@war_on_ice) December 15, 2015
So is Trevor Daley better than Rob Scuderi? Yes.
Is he a similar style player to Rob Scuderi? No.
Is he a top four defenseman? No.
Is this a good trade? Probably not, but if we are all being honest Pittsburgh was never going to "win" a Rob Scuderi trade.
Trevor Daley is a terrible possession player. However, unlike Rob Scuderi he can actually handle the puck a little bit and generate tangible offense. In fact Trevor Daley's 16 goals in 2014-15 for the Stars double up Scuderi's career total of 8(!)
Lately, I have been suggesting that the Penguins should try and play more like the Dallas Stars. While I don't think Daley is very good his skill set certainly makes a lot more sense for what the Penguins need than Scuderi's ever did. Passes back the point in the offensive zone won't just be mashed back into the zone half way up the boards for nobody to handle.
Rob Scuderi was terrible at pretty much everything hockey related.
All the great players on Dallas and Chicago and Daley's possession numbers still look like that. ..
I wrote back on November 20th that the Penguins should stay away from Trevor Daley because he was "fools gold" as a top four defenseman. My stance on that has not changed. He is in over his head when given those kind of minutes. However, this year in Chicago when in a bottom pairing he was able to perform appropriately in that role.
Here is Trevor Daley's dCorsi history. You'll notice a lot of negatives and that is because Trevor Daley is not a top four defenseman. He's just been forced into that role throughout his career.
Now the glass half full view is that he was not used as a top four defenseman in Chicago and didn't drown in his role. He even has a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 52.6% on the year which is his highest in a decade. If Pittsburgh can be disciplined enough to keep him away from big minutes he can serve as a functional member of the team. Though there is this:
Rutherford said there are no other deals forth coming. Wants to give Sullivan a chance with current group -SK
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) December 15, 2015
Lately Rutherford has been talking about acquiring a top four defenseman. If this is his solution to that problem it won't work.
Scuderi is gone and that is a great thing for the Penguins, but paying Daley 4.425M and giving him big minutes isn't a step in the right direction either. Although I guess it isn't as bad as this
"The Blackhawks sent Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns to the Dallas Stars in exchange for [Rob Scuderi] and Ryan Garbutt."
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) December 15, 2015
Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley >>> Patrick Sharp for Trevor Daley
Penguins are better than they were before the day began.
Trevor Daley in a bottom pairing sheltered role should be OK just don't give him too much responsibility.
Rob Scuderi has played his last game as a Pittsburgh Penguin
Thanks for reading!