Eye test slowly starting to match computer models? Are the stars potentially aligning for the Penguins to more than a soft buyer at the trade deadline? This Penguins management team is a group that at the end the day will make decisions more off what a computer tells them to do than being swayed by the eye test. Despite the Penguins hovering around a .480 winning percentage a month ago, the Penguins internal models at the time were still projecting this to be around a .600 winning percentage team by the All-Star break and will they prove, correct? Boasting one of the best records in the NHL since mid-December, the Penguins are slowly creeping in that direction with a .564 winning percentage through 39 games…………

More than a soft buyer? The buzz in NHL circles among executives and agents for months now is anything would be on the table from a buyer to even a bold seller to accelerate a retool for the Penguins organization come early/mid February. The most likely outcome has always been a soft buyer, while some have believed at the end of the day Dubas who is creative as it gets with complicated trades could still get suckered into the core allure [hide] and be an aggressive buyer. Dubas in a presser in December to quiet any coaching change talk, is certainly now operating with the expectation the team is tracking to give him an easy decision come deadline time as the eye test is also starting to match the internal models……….[/hide]

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