The NHL trade deadline is approaching this Friday afternoon, March 6th at 3pm Eastern time. The Penguins find themselves in an interesting spot, tied for third currently in points percentage in the Eastern Conference. They have been the most active team at trading this season, having added Egor Chinakhov, Stuart Skinner and Sam Girard during the season, while acquiring and sending out Brett Kulak.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s good reason to believe that GM Kyle Dubas isn\u2019t done putting the final touches on his team and making more moves to shuttle players and picks around in order to accomplish his stated goals of positioning the team now and in the future.<\/p>\n
What we shouldn\u2019t expect is any bold rental moves aimed solely with short-term ideas. The Pens weren\u2019t involved at all in the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes and they won\u2019t be involved in deals like the ones that included impending free agents like Rasmus Andersson and Kiefer Sherwood.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s left? Let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n
Areas to at least keep an eye on<\/p>\n
Draft pick pile \u2014 no team has more quality draft depth in the next three or four years than Pittsburgh. The Pens have two second round picks in each of 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 and two third round picks in 2026, 2027 and 2028 thanks to previous trades made. That\u2019s even after trading a second and third round pick for Chinakhov. If an opportunity arises to acquire a young-ish NHL player (like perhaps defenseman Zach Whitecloud) it makes a lot of sense that the Pens can use their excess picks to make that trade.<\/p>\n
Connor Clifton \u2014Clifton is an impending free agent that has been in and out of the lineup throughout the season. Lately he\u2019s been a staple on the third pair, bringing his physical game and helping the team. While Clifton shouldn\u2019t necessarily have his bags packed, if the Pens shuffle pieces to bring in a defenseman (like the aforementioned Whitecloud) it might make some sense to make a subsequent trade to send Clifton out to recoup some of that trade price. Hanging onto Clifton for depth\u2019s sake also makes sense, but moving an impending free agent plays into what the team has frequently done.<\/p>\n
Stuart Skinner \u2014We wrote about this in detail last week<\/a>, which all still applies today. Looking at the bigger picture, Arturs Silovs has only given up 16 goals in his last nine games. That has has to be noted if the Pens think Silovs might be turning into the main goalie for the rest of this season, where does that leave Skinner? It\u2019s an intriguing question. Pittsburgh could always opt to stand pat and keep their goalie depth, but standing pat hasn\u2019t been the typical M.O. as of late. You would have to think if a goalie-hungry team like Ottawa or Vegas was interested in Skinner that the Pens would at least hear them out.<\/p>\n Justin Brazeau \u2014 This might be months or even a year early, but if there was a time to sell high on Brazeau it would be now that he\u2019s in a career-year in every major category. Brazeau is under contract for next season, so the onus would be on improving that third line for a player that might fit stylistically better with Anthony Mantha and Ben Kindel. Brazeau has been slowing down from his torrid early-season production, he found the back of the net against Vegas (scoring the fifth goal in a 5-0 win) but only had one goal in the 10 games prior to that. If the Pens think Avery Hayes or a trade addition might surpass Brazeau then dealing him could be a proactive move to make. Usually a player like Brazeau would be out of trade considerations at this time, but the Penguins have been so active at shuffling pieces like this around that it\u2019s at least worth a mention.<\/p>\n Right side defense \u2014 The addition of Girard has seemingly set the left side for now with Parker Wotherspoon and Ryan Shea in tow. The right side is the area that looks prime for improvement. Whether that means a potential big swing like Dougie Hamilton or Justin Faulk remains to be seen, the options could expand to a rental like Connor Murphy or something in between like Whitecloud. If you had to place a shiny nickel on what position the Penguins will add to this week before the deadline, the right side defense would be a very good selection in whatever form that might be.<\/p>\n Center \u2014 There\u2019s no need to overreact managerially to the Sidney Crosby injury since the Pens\u2019 captain should return to the team in a few weeks, yet center could be a place to monitor. Evgeni Malkin has shifted to the wing, leaving the non-center Crosby options of Kindel, Tommy Novak and Rickard Rakell sticking out at the moment. Someone like Vincent Trocheck (32) has been older than what Pittsburgh has been targeting, though the positional flexibility of players like Novak and Rakell could open up possibilities to bring in a center now and figure out the pieces as they go. This could be a longer-term play too, if Malkin isn\u2019t going to be a center on the Pens in 2026-27 then there would be more of a need for a second or third line center next season to join the Crosby-Kindel tandem.<\/p>\n Expect the unexpected – Many of the trades, like Jarry\/Skinner and Chinakhov have come out of the blue without much indication until a deal was finalized. Dubas operates in the shadows, and often counter to the conventional wisdom or reports of the day, going back to the \u2018reach\u2019 of taking Kindel 11th overall in the draft. Dubas\u2019s next move might very well be something that isn\u2019t seen coming, like adding a Bobby McMann<\/a> or an even deeper cut for a different target that isn\u2019t mentioned commonly on the trade rumor mill. Given the team\u2019s draft surplus and significant cap space, their hands are free to operate about as creatively as they dare to dream. Lately there has been no shortage of surprising and unpredictable moves, the next one very well could follow that path as coming out of left field.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL trade deadline is approaching this Friday afternoon, March 6th at 3pm Eastern time. 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