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Royal three-way proposition

January 15, 2019, 4:39 PM ET [157 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Pittsburgh Penguins put together a December to remember when they went 11-3-1 and it is a good thing they did. Apparently no team in the NHL has a tougher strength of schedule to close out the year than the Penguins




This isn’t to say the Penguins are in danger of missing the playoffs. I do think it is reasonable to think that points will be tougher to come by and they might not climb up the standings like they did last month. Unless of course they start making trades and do I have one for you today.

Pittsburgh orchestrated a three-way deal last year with Ottawa and Vegas. Why not make it two years in a row with a three-way trade?

Here it is:

To Pittsburgh

Jeff Carter
Jake Muzzin

To Los Angeles

Jesse Puljujarvi
Olli Maatta
Derick Brassard
Tobias Reider

To Edmonton

Jamie Oleksiak
Tristan Jarry


For Pittsburgh they get an Olli Maatta replacement (read that as upgrade) who is older on shorter term. The Kings get a younger player with more term in Maatta. Most importantly Pittsburgh moves on from Derick Brassard in order to try and upgrade the third line center position. There seem to be concerns about Carter’s health, but when you look up his games played since the lockout shortened 2012-13 season he has gone: 48, 72, 82, 77, 82, 27, and this year he is at 45 out of LA’s 46 games. Will Carter be good at the end of his contract? Does it matter? Pittsburgh doesn’t seem to really care about four years from now. Carter has 22 points in 45 games this year. He would probably see a bump like Tanner Pearson did by leaving Los Angeles

Los Angeles also gets Jesse Puljujarvi who the Oilers seem content on moving. The Oilers don’t have as many parts in this trade which is why their return is lower. They are giving up Puljujarvi and Tobias Rieder. In exchange they get Jamie Oleksiak and Tristan Jarry. Rieder moving frees up the space for Oleksiak.

Tristan Jarry hasn’t been very good in the AHL. Why would the Oilers be interested in him? He led all WHL goaltenders with a .936 save percentage and was named Team Cherry’s player of the game in the 2013 CHL Top Prospects Game. He did this while playing for the EDMONTON Oil Kings. Don’t put it past Edmonton decision makers to overrate CHL success from the same city.

Jamie Oleksiak has an imposing frame and a big shot. The Oilers can’t seem to have enough bottom pairing defenseman.

We are dealing with three of the top five payrolls in the NHL. However, the money should work for each team.

Here's what the Penguins lineup could look like

Guentzel-Crosby-Rust
Simon-Malkin-Kessel
Pearson-Carter-Hornqvist
Sheahan-Grant-ZAR
Cullen

Dumoulin-Letang
Muzzin-Schultz
Pettersson-Johnson
Ruhwedel

Flip Hornqvist and Kessel if you want.

Will this happen? No.

Thanks for reading!
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