Pens said to be “open minded” about trade scenarios for their group of defensemen

Some more insight to the Penguins being very active in trade talks about their group of defensemen that has 9 defensemen eligible for waivers next season

as GM Ray Shero went a bit indepth about the Penguins situation while appearing on NHL live:

*Shero explained the situation the Penguins are in is that they have 9 defensemen eligible for waivers next season and while he made a funny joke saying “he wished” he could have played all 9 at the same time against the Flyers, you can’t play all 9 and GM’s know that.

“Teams are looking for defenseman, so I’m getting quite a few calls and we have some good ones ” Shero said. Who might be on the move? “I’m not exactly sure on who that might be, ” Shero said on who might get traded, while indicating “we’ll see what happens in the next few days.”

The Penguins are said to be very open minded about possible trade scenarios as the team has received on a number of inquiries on players, including Paul Martin. Shero also appears open minded about possibly waiting until later this summer, although a trade being made by the weekend is considered likely.

Shero hinted he could hold out to make a move until after “Ryan Suter” signs, saying “defensemen are a commodity” and once Suter signs the trade market could develop even more for teams seeking NHL caliber defensemen.

“A lot of teams are looking for D-men, so I’m getting quite a few calls on our defensemen. It might be a situation where we’re moving a D or two and I’m not exactly sure who that could be at this point.” — GM Ray Shero

Meanwhile, Shero confirmed what we first reported last week that the team made Matt Niskanen a qualifying offer to retain his rights and are hopeful to workout a deal.

“He had a good year for us last year, ” Shero said of Matt Niskanen. “We made qualifying offer to retain his rights. Will continue negotiations with him over next while and hope to have him back, ” Shero said.