The Penguins are looking to add at least a top-six winger at the trade deadline. With Jake Guentzel on long term IR, the Pens won't need to shed salary in order to do that.
I don’t want the Penguins to trade Nick Bjugstad.
I still salivate at the possibility of the Pens lines looking like this:
Kreider (or whoever)/Crosby/Simon
Kahun/Malkin/Rust
McCann/Bjugstad/Horny
ZAR/Blueger/Tanev.
There's speed on every line. The third line would be a great puck possession line, and I think that McCann can add scoring punch.
The Blueger line has been wonderful. I want to keep this roster in tact as much as possible.
If Bjugstad gets traded, then that moves McCann to third line center and the whole thing gets thrown into flux.
I don’t want the Penguins to trade Justin Schultz, either.
I think you’ve got a solid six-man rotation with Letang and Dumo, Pettersson and Marino, and Johnson and Schultz.
Schultz is a valuable power play piece. He’s also a solid offensive defenseman, and if he’s on your third pair, I think you've got a really good defensive unit.
Sure, he costs 5.5 million dollars, and Pirates fans would probably say, “you have to get something for him!”
Eff that. What you get from him is one more playoff run. He’s also Letang insurance if he gets hurt.
Riikola and Ruhwedel are fine 7th and 8th defenseman, but you don’t want them to have to be in the lineup every night.
People always say that if you hold on to an expiring contract, you don’t get anything in return unless you trade that player.
I think it’s important for THIS team to keep Schultz for another run then after the season they gain cap space. It’s not a player-for-player deal, but it’s not that different.
The only players I’d feel okay about trading off of the current roster are Galchenyuck and Johnson. There’s not a place for Galchenyuck on this roster right now if the Pens make a trade and get healthy.
I'm not sure which teams would be interested, if any, but it's worth shopping him around.
Where is he going to play on this team? He doesn’t play the way that they want to play right now. Too much east and west and not enough straight line. The talent is evident, as is the shot. He’s just not a fit with this team.