Penguins/NHL
The Pittsburgh Penguins were in on rental winger Michael Grabner but Pittsburgh’s pursuit of Grabner was nowhere near the level of Senators center Derick Brassard.
Grabner was traded last night to the New Jersey Devils for a second round pick and prospect Yegor Rykov. The initial reaction from many pundits was ‘who’ when it came to Rykov.
However, despite being a 5th round pick, Rykov is seen as a good return for the Rangers, a d-man scouts feel has No. 2 pairing ability and his style of play suits today’s game.
No significant prospect was in play from the Penguins end. Daniel Sprong for example is in play at the deadline but wasn’t for Grabner.
When it comes to Derick Brassard, a lot continues to be on the table from the Penguins.
The Penguins and Senators initially talked Brassard in December and the last 2-3 weeks the Penguins have zeroed in on Brassard as mentioned multiple times here over the last month.
And talks in the past 24 hours have reached a crucial point. The Senators over the last day have bundled up as an organization and are sifting through To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Industry chatter is the Senators have signaled a willingness to get a Brassard deal done by the start of the weekend and then turn all of their focus on trying to finalize a seismic deal surrounding Erik Karlsson, which will be difficult with the strings attached being Bobby Ryan.
A lot of talk in the past 48 hours the Senators have wanted to do a deal with the Jets for Brassard, but the Jets were one of the 8 teams initially on Brassard no trade list, though, it’s possible he still could decide to waive there, a reason the Senators have stayed engaged in trade discussions with the Jets.
The market has been very strong for Brassard with Aaron Portzline of the Athletic reporting as many as seven teams in the mix, mentioning the usual suspects, Pittsburgh, Columbus, St. Louis and Winnipeg.
Another team in the conversation for Brassard has been Vegas, per a source.
With the Penguins weighing options to open up cap space by moving a roster player for draft picks, Pittsburgh’s heavy pursuit of Brassard has also led to inquiries on Riley To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
League sources say the TTo read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
