The trade deadline is early March this year. The moves have started. The New York Rangers acquired St. Louis Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko. The Penguins direct competitors are going to try and improve. Despite how things look on the surface the Penguins are capable of making moves to improve the roster both now and for the short-term future. They absolutely should. I’ve brought up a couple of players this year in both Timo Meier and Jake McCabe.

NEW: https://t.co/Cvi2d0FY9h - Ryan Wilson - Big name trade target for Pittsburgh... if they had an active front office https://t.co/f6UwksYi2o pic.twitter.com/AIRBd7tBmM

— Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal) January 20, 2023

NEW: https://t.co/Cvi2d0FY9h - Ryan Wilson - Replacing Brian Dumoulin via trade https://t.co/NOlY81Y0rC pic.twitter.com/tBIhCafZYL

— Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal) January 4, 2023

With the Blues clearly punting on this season after the Tarasenko trade all eyes will shift to their pending free agent center in Ryan O’Reilly. The Penguins biggest issue is third line center and Ryan O’Reilly would be a very good third line center. He’s a rental and some people don’t like the idea of rentals. I wouldn’t have either, a few years ago. Now? I don’t care. If rentals are the cost of juicing up the current roster then so be it. I’m not suggesting to blindly throw your 1st rounders at rentals. I would still like to reserve those for multi-year parts like *ahem* Timo Meier. If you can use a 2nd or a 3rd on a rental I have little reservations assuming the player being acquired makes sense.

Here is what the Tarasenko trade to the Rangers looks like

TRADE‼️

To #NYR
- Vladimir Tarasenko (RW)
- Niko Mikkola (LHD)

🔁

To #STLBlues
- Sammy Blais (LW)
- Hunter Skinner (RHD)
- Conditional 2023 1st Round Pick
- Conditional 2024 4th Round Pick

— Daily Faceoff - Fantasy (@DFOFantasy) February 9, 2023

The keys here are the conditions on the first round pick.

Draft Pick Conditions to STL: later of 2 NYR firsts in 2023. Rangers own Dallas pick, too. If Stars finish with Top 10 pick it shifts to 2024 and will be later of two. 2024 fourth-rounder becomes a third if NYR make playoffs this year

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 9, 2023

All in all not a bad piece of business for the Rangers. The Penguins should have a similar aggression in the market. The Penguins are all-in whether they know it or not. These are the types of deals they have to be making as a result. This is the path they chose.

You have a team who is selling a very specific piece the Penguins could use. I’m not saying the Penguins definitely need to trade for Ryan O’Reilly. I am saying they should be having serious discussions about it.



Maybe O’Reilly is not what he was, a top center on a contending team, but he’s also no Jeff Carter, not even close. He’s still a really solid player. This would be an enormous upgrade for the Penguins in an area they desperately need help in.

Don’t say the Penguins can’t make an impact trade. We just saw the cost of doing business and it is a price the Penguins can pay. They just need an executive willing to do so.

Thanks for reading!

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