We are officially into February which means it is trade deadline month. Let’s roll with some rumors and speculation in the following weeks. Pittsburgh obviously is not content with Derick Brassard as their third line center. They are also not getting any offers that are enticing enough to move him. Jim Rutherford is going to have to get creative. This is especially true when discussing today’s trade target.

I really like the idea of a contending team making a move for Brayden Schenn come trade deadline. https://t.co/T6FUjUQYme

— Travis Yost (@travisyost) January 31, 2019

The Blues probably dug themselves too much of a hole to dig out of to make the playoffs this year. If they pack it in and call it a day like they did last year with Paul Stastny (in a year they were in contention until game 82) you could see Brayden Schenn getting moved.

Regardless of how the next month shakes out, it seems plausible the Blues are evaluating moving Schenn. He is having a down year (more on that in a minute) with one season left on his current $5.125 million AAV contract.

The reason Travis believes Schenn is a great buy low candidate is because it is a classic case of a player doing good things and not being rewarded.





General managers still struggle with regression concepts and this is where you can buy low. Let’s take a look at Schenn’s work the past three years compared to their current third line center



Schenn has a way better chance of giving the Penguins what they thought they were getting with Brassard. I think Schenn is a great target for a win now team. Unfortunately, for the Penguins I don’t see how this gets accomplished. They dug themselves a hole with some of their previous trades. They don’t have legit futures to give teams and they don’t have the cap space they need.

Since it is Groundhog Day tomorrow why don’t we review the Jack Johnson signing, yet again.



The Vancouver Canucks are getting the same from Derrick Pouliot for a third of the cost of Johnson. Derrick Pouliot did not amount to the player I thought he could be in the NHL. It doesn’t change my opinion that his deployment made no sense in Pittsburgh. It doesn’t change the fact that for the cost he is fine in a bottom pairing role, or at the very least not being paid a premium. Instead the Penguins have Jack Johnson at three times the cost and four times the term. They paid more to downgrade from Derrick Pouliot!

When you see all the interesting trade speculation in the coming weeks remember the Penguins will need cap space and that rotting stench is coming from the useless 3.25M cap hit spent on Johnson. If the Penguins want to get serious with a trade acquisition they are going to have to move a player like Bryan Rust or Olli Maatta. Derick Brassard is closer to a cap dump than a useful asset right now. The first round pick is a late first round pick and teams aren’t as excited about those anymore. The Johnson signing that everybody is tired of hearing about is incredibly topical this time of year. The Penguins do not have the flexibility they should because they shot themselves in the foot. They paid a lot to get worse and limit their options.

Schenn is an offensively minded center with good passing



Somebody is going to buy low on Brayden Schenn. It probably won’t be the Penguins.

Thanks for reading!

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