There is another "top four" defenseman who is supposedly on the market. However, unlike Tyson Barrie and Travis Hamonic this player really doesn't live up to that billing.
Rumblings: Will Blackhawks trade Trevor Daley? https://t.co/5QQ2HxiOJE
— ESPN NHL coverage (@ESPN_NHL) November 19, 2015
Trevor Daley is billed as a top four defenseman but he falls way short in a major category.
Pittsburgh needs more defensemen who can facilitate possession to their forwards. This is a clear weakness of Daley. He also has only 3 points so far this year so the offensive production that has been a strength of his has gone away to this point.
I wrote the following back in July
I thought it was an underwhelming return for Patrick Sharp. I say this knowing that it was going to be tough for them to get high caliber assets back when the whole league knew he was going to be traded. However, by trading for Trevor Daley and Ryan Garbutt they don't really save a ton of cap space in this deal (only 3M). As mentioned in an earlier answer Trevor Daley was Dallas' least effective defender. His dCorsi impact of -286.35 was literally the worst in the entire NHL.
Daley has a cap hit of 3.3M and that extends into the 2016-17 season which is another negative.
The Blackhawks are reportedly looking for another top four defenseman, yet shopping Daley. That says all you need to know.
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Pittsburgh beat Colorado 4-3 last night and it was a mixed bag.
Evgeni Malkin continues to be really awesome (boosting his trade value, am I right?)
Malkin go-ahead goal, 2-1 Pens pic.twitter.com/u6MoH1H5jt
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 20, 2015
When was the last time Evgeni Malkin scored power play goals in back to back games? When was the last time he did it via one-timer blasts? That should be the power play's number one option.
The top two possession players for the Penguins last night were Ian Cole and Adam Clendening. They weren't tasked with shutting down MacKinnon/Duchene but they generated a ton of shot attempts in the role they were given
Chris Kunitz scored. Wasn't pretty but a Kunitz goal isn't a common thing anymore. Kunitz has adjusted to his third line role nicely. He has a Score-Adjusted Fenwick of 53.05% on the year. His scoring touch may not be what it used to but he is far from a liability on the ice.
Sidney Crosby scored his first even-strength goal of the year on a nice feed from Pascal Dupuis.
Like I said it was a mixed bag
Just noticed the Pens have given up a PP goal in 6 straight games
— Meesh (@HockeyMeesh) November 20, 2015
We talk about how the Penguins need to shoot more to jump start their ailing power play. The other teams are utilizing that exact strategy against the Penguins. Pittsburgh ranks 28th in the NHL with a CA/60 in 4v5 situations at 106.2. They allow an incredibly high amount of shot attempts on the penalty kill and over time that is going to be unsuccessful as we are starting to see now. Pittsburgh is still on the low end of things from the shot suppression standpoint at 5v5 hockey. You could make the argument that Pittsburgh is one of the worst overall defensive teams in the league despite a focus on being successful at just that.
Letang, who has led Pens in ice time in every GP this season, played 9:04 in third -- including 4:36 of final 5:54. #6 in NHL at 26:21/game.
— Bob Grove (@bobgrove91) November 20, 2015
Pascal Dupuis can't play with Sidney Crosby anymore unless things dramatically change.
Sidney Crosby was a 34% possession player at even-strength against the Colorado Avalanche. That shouldn't be something that is possible even if he is up against Nathan MacKinnon.
It made sense to try Dupuis in that spot when he came back from injury because Pittsburgh didn't have much going on at the time with their left wingers. So far the experiment hasn't been that successful. In fact Dupuis has the worst possession on the team despite his three most common linemates being Crosby, Hornqvist, and Letang.
One gets scratched and one gets to keep chugging along on the top line despite similar production and results.
Options Pittsburgh has to replace Dupuis on the top line are Kunitz, Bennett, or Sprong.
HCMJ liked Letang-Scuderi pairing: "I think Tanger even felt there was a good safety valve there all the time. That's what Scuds provides."
— Jenn Menendez (@JennMenendez) November 20, 2015
Paul Martin returns to Pittsburgh as a member of the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night. He has three points in four games. That is what a real "safety valve" looks like.
Thanks for reading!