Last night’s victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs was on brand for the Penguins. During warmups Evgeni Malkin left the ice surface and headed down the tunnel. Moments later he was ruled out with an illness. His replacement, Anthony Angello, went on to score his first career NHL goal in the game. It has been a revolving door of players this year and regardless of who goes in and out the victories seem to keep coming. The Penguins have now outscored Toronto 11-3 in their two contests this year. The third and probably final one comes tomorrow in Toronto.
I could talk about how Jack Johnson almost had his best sequence as a Penguin dusting Mitch Marner and almost tipping in a puck on an end to end masterpiece. I could talk about how Jason Zucker scored another goal. I could talk about how Sidney Crosby had a four point night and is among the league leaders in points since his return from injury. Instead, I want to focus on the evolving trade market as we head towards the deadline.
Yesterday, a number of defensemen were traded. Some of which may have been a fit for the Penguins depending on Brian Dumoulin. Brenden Dillon went to the rival Washington Capitals, Marco Scandella went to the Blues, and Alec Martinez is reportedly going to the Vegas Golden Knights. Dillon and Scandella had a 2020 second round pick involved which the Penguins do not have. Tyler Toffoli also had a second round pick involved in his deal. Not having the pick certainly limited the Penguins ability to shop for these players, but they still might be able to make some deals with what they have. It appears Brian Dumoulin is back on the ice
It is a step in the right direction. I’m sure we will find out more in the following days on how close he is to being game ready whether it is a week or weeks.
I want to talk about another defenseman who has had injury issues the past few years and is a pending UFA. The player is Justin Schultz. I am open to trading him. I am not trading him for the sake of trading him. I would not trade him for futures whether they are prospects or draft picks. I would trade him in a hockey trade to help the current roster. A long time ago I wrote about
how the Penguins should trade Brooks Orpik when he was a pending UFA because his on-ice product was woefully lower in value than his trade value. I said there was no discernible difference between him and Robert Bortuzzo. I think the assessment held up well. I think we might have a similar situation with Schultz this year. We know the Johnson-Schultz pairing is really bad. When Marino comes back to play with Pettersson and Dumoulin comes back to play with Letang what are we left with? A really bad and pricey third pairing. I’m fine throwing Ruhwedel out there. In a perfect world you could throw Riikola-Ruhwedel out there and be fine, but that would involve benching Johnson and it is apparently against the rules.
The way I see a potential Schultz trade would be a rental for a rental. I would float Schultz’s name out to the other general managers and if somebody wanted to overreach for his services I would entertain it. If the proposals that come your way aren’t good enough you keep the player. There is no harm in gauging the market. Dale Tallon is looking for defense help and is apparently shopping Vincent Trochek. No, I am not suggesting Schultz would get Trochek. Just pointing out they have an area of need and are willing to deal. Mike Hoffman? He is a pending UFA and perhaps Schultz could be the centerpiece of a deal.
Mikael Granlund? He is a versatile forward who would give the Penguins a lot better depth options. The Predators still don’t have Ryan Ellis back after a dirty hit by Corey Perry in the Winter Classic. Granlund wouldn’t have to drive a line on his own. He would be in a depth role and occasionally jump up if needed. I would trust him over the likes of Sam Lafferty, Anthony Angello, and Andrew Agozzino.
Kyle Palmieri? While the thought of him receiving passes from Crosby or Malkin is incredibly appealing this doesn’t work because the Devils are sellers and aren’t looking to make a playoff push. They want futures not rentals.
Are there a ton of options for a hockey trade involving Schultz? Probably not, but I’d want to know about the few there are and if they are possible. There’s no point in investing 5.5M to play on a doomed bottom pair.
Thanks for reading!
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»