Penguins/NHL
Latest Penguins Trade Deadline Buzz
Matt Murray’s implosion Saturday night is getting all the headlines after the Penguins 4-3 loss in the Stadium Series as Murray’s inconsistences linger.
Just imagine if the Penguins miss the playoffs by one point and how many will look back to that game.
The real story out of this game, though, is Kris Letang’s long-term health for this season and how it has the Penguins scrambling over the last 24 hours before the deadline to cover their bases.
Olli Maatta’s timetable is still up in the air, but internally his injury has been looked at as a 4-6 week injury (placed on IR Feb 12). The Penguins know they’re likely getting Maatta back this season, they just don’t know exactly when yet.
Pittsburgh has some clarity on Brian Dumoulin with an official diagnosis (concussion) but there is uncertainty with Letang who is being evaluated for a stinger in his To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Industry buzz is Pittsburgh has been attacking the d-man market in trade talks much harder since the Flyers game than they were at any point. Pittsburgh has been connected to Buffalo’s Na[hide]than Beaulieu in trade talks over the weekend, league sources say. The Penguins are high on Beaulieu as a change of scenery target. They’re just not fond of the cap hit.
Rumblings are in the past day Pittsburgh has even talked to Detroit about a Trevor Daley return, who has earned high marks from Pittsburgh scouts of late. Daley’s remaining year on his contract would be problematic, though.
Ducks defenseman Micheal Del Zotto who the Penguins liked in free agency (2017) could be a discussion internally and acquired for next to nothing.
Overall, Impact options remain severely limited.
Claiming Dennis Seidenberg, 37 years old who has yet to play a game this season, does nothing but with an organization so high on Jack Johnson, I wouldn’t rule out anything.
Ottawa’s Cody Ceci is another one the Penguins should be staying away from based on cap hit, cost to acquire but who knows.
As of a few days ago, the Penguins were not a team at the forefront for Adam McQuaid but circumstances can always change with the latest injuries. Pittsburgh’s coaching staff has been in favor of adding a McQuaid/Ben Lovejoy (traded to Dallas) type to solidify the third pair, but prior to the Dumoulin/Letang injuries, management had favored adding a puck mover if they did anything at all on the backend.
Lack of Assets see Penguins strike out on top rental winger targets
No second-rounder in the next two drafts, no third rounder in the 2019 draft combined with no cap space has proved difficult for the Penguins get any traction in trade talks for rentals they had high on their wishlist.
The lack of assets saw Pittsburgh never be in the conversation for the big fish like Matt Duchene.
Pittsburgh coveted Mats Zuccarello for months, tried to make a package a young forward for Zuccarello but the Rangers from the start sought a second rounder + a top prospect or multiple picks that saw Pittsburgh just never line up with New York, especially when New York was going to have to retain salary.
For Pittsburgh to have landed Zuccarello who broke his arm Sunday, it was always going to come down putting their first-round pick in play. Same thing for Wayne Simmonds which is the ask + some from Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher.
Gustav Nyquist who was traded Sunday night to the San Jose Sharks was another situation where the lack of a second-round pick had Pittsburgh on the outside. Pittsburgh looked into Nyquist but things never got serious and they were not a finalist for him.
The Penguins are in a situation at the forward ranks, where unless you add a legitimate top-6/or top-9 winger, there’s no reason to bring another winger on board. Just go with what you got. The team, though, has scenarios on their board that have been considered deadline day targets where names such as Edmonton’s Alex Chiasson and Zack Kassian have been looked at as big bodied depth targets.
— A recent healthy scratch, the Penguins are getting calls on winger Dominik Simon, league sources say. Arizona among the teams high on him. Some of the trade interest has been intriguing to the Penguins that Simon has a chance to move today I’m told.
— Would be a desperate move based on the asking price, but one executive says don’t be shocked to hear rumblings the Penguins are or did make a surprise run at Kevin Hayes when his market heats up this morning.
That would be a situation where Pittsburgh’s first-rounder would have to be in play to even be in the conversation.[/hide]
