Penguins getting trade calls on Schultz?
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The Pittsburgh Penguins have received trade inquiries into defenseman Justin Schultz from a “few” teams, a league source says. One team in particular said to have gauged Pittsburgh’s interest in potentially moving Schultz is the Carolina Hurricanes, sources say. Carolina is aggressively seeking a top-2 pairing right handed defenseman, preferably a rental.
Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is always of the mindset to listen to almost anything if it doesn’t involve Sidney Crosby and listening on Schultz will be no different in the coming weeks, but it would have to be a hockey deal.
Despite being bumped to a third pairing role with John Marino’s emergence, Pittsburgh values Schultz highly for what the Penguins believe can be a deep playoff run this spring. Schultz has never recaptured his offensive prowess from the 2016-2017 season but moving Schultz would come with risk as he’s a nice insurance policy (if he can stay healthy) were Marino’s game start to take a nose-dive deeper into the season and if you’re the Penguins you have to always take in account Kris Letang’s injury history.
No information it’s connected to Carolina’s believed interest in Justin Schultz, but interesting enough, Carolina’s Erik Haula is a player on Pittsburgh’s trade board heading into the deadline, sources say.
C Erik Haula
Age: 28 | Cap Hit: $2.75MM | UFA 2020
19-20 Season: 33 GP-11 Goals-8 Assists-19 Pts
The ultimate goal for the Penguins is try to replace Jake Guentzel but easier said than done. Adding a versatile third line center is also high on Pittsburgh’s wishlist where Pittsburgh could keep Jared McCann at wing for the rest of the season and keep Nick Bjustad at wing if he stays on the roster past the deadline and is healthy. [/hide]
