The trade deadline has come and gone. The Penguins are no closer to having a puncher’s chance in the playoffs than before the deadline. It was a buyer’s market and the Penguins weren't buying, at least not with a plan. The Penguins were able to rid themselves of Kasperi Kapanen, Brock McGinn, and Teddy Blueger’s salary only to come away with Mikael Granlund, Nick Bonino, and Dmitri Kulikov. Lateral moves at best.

We saw a lot of very good players on the move for reasonable deals. We saw mid-tier players move for reasonable deals. We saw depth players move for reasonable deals. The Penguins were either unwilling or more likely not deft enough to pull it off. Players like Jakob Chychrun, Jakub Vrana, and Max Domi were acquired for fair prices and for assets the Penguins had. Imagine all three on the Penguins because I don’t think it is all that outlandish to suggest it was feasible. Nino Niederreiter went for the same compensation from the same team the Penguins acquired Granlund from. Jake McCabe would have been a great replacement for Dumoulin. There were players who fit the Penguins timeline like a glove. None were acquired.

I don’t think you can look around at the movement around the league when combined with the Penguins situation and come to any other conclusion other than Ron Hextall did an atrocious job. Sure, he got out of the Kapanen and McGinn contracts. It is objectively good he accomplished those things. They were also his mistakes and he waited until the last minute to do so. Undoubtedly costing him the flexibility needed to swing an impact deal ie: Chychrun. I’m not giving kudos to the GM in taking forever to fix his obvious self-owns.

Hextall’s comments after the deadline don’t inspire confidence in his ability to do the job as if his actions weren't enough proof already.

GM Ron Hextall, Part 1
“Cap constraints are limiting for a lot of teams. Moves now are so much more complex than they were 10 years ago with a third-team broker and keeping salary."

— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) March 3, 2023

GM Ron Hextall, Part 2:
"It’s a complex world out there with LTIR and how long is your guy out for, do you have him for the playoffs — it’s a different world, very complex, and you try to do the best you can do with the constraints we all have."

— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) March 3, 2023

That’s the gig, Ron. Other teams all around the league seemed to figure out the landscape just fine. Some even thrived.

The Penguins have a very small window to be relevant and Hextall’s deadline decisions just completely shaved off what should have been a functional year.

This deadline will show to be an abject failure. At least he didn’t trade Marcus Pettersson.

Thanks for reading!

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