Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Patric Hornqvist extension a risk worth taking

By Chris Mueller
February 27, 2018
Goaltender Roberto Luongo #1 of the Florida Panthers defends the net against Patric Hornqvist #72 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the BB&T Center on February 24, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

Jim Rutherford didn’t make a trade that drew much attention on deadline day, but the Penguins’ general manager still managed to make a splash. Rutherford was not shy, during a post-deadline meeting with the media, when speaking about contract negotiations with Patric Hornqvist.
Rutherford indicated that the sides were close to a long-term extension, and Tuesday it was finalized, with Hornqvist getting five years at $5.3 million per year. Though no one outright criticized the deal, the most common refrain seemed to be, “smart move by the Penguins, even if the price is high and the term is too long.”
Given Hornqvist’s rugged style and what his job description as a net-front presence requires of him, injuries seem like they will be a constant companion. The contract will take him into his mid-30s, and it isn’t crazy to suggest that he might miss significant chunks of time during multiple years.
That said, it doesn’t matter if he does. It’s almost preferable that he does, as long as he is healthy for the playoffs.
What the extension for Hornqvist shows is that Rutherford is acutely aware of what his roster is capable of this year, and for the next several seasons, at least. He knows what he’s doing, and he’s trying to maximize the team’s championship window by retaining the most important pieces. Hornqvist is the blood and guts of the Penguins roster. If Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are the team’s soul, Hornqvist is its heart.
If Phil Kessel is a sniper on the ice, Hornqvist is a plumber, willing to get dirty and do ugly work in service of getting the job done. He is an integral part of their power play and has given them the kind of net-front presence they were lacking in past playoff runs, never more so than during their humiliating Eastern Conference Finals sweep at the hands of the Bruins in 2013.
Is the contract maybe a little too rich, a little too long? Sure, if taken in a vacuum. Nothing the Penguins do right now should be viewed that way, though.
Everything Rutherford does is aimed at winning Stanley Cups. Those two years at the end of the deal might not look great on paper, and in practice might not be that pleasant, but if the Pens contend for and perhaps win another Cup or two in the next three seasons, and Hornqvist plays a significant role, it will have been well worth it.
No other team in hockey has been as fortunate in the draft as the Penguins have for the last 35 years. They’ve come up with multiple generational talents, starting with Mario Lemieux, continuing with Jaromir Jagr, and rounding out with Malkin and Crosby. The presence of that kind of talent makes championship contention an annual imperative, not something to be pursued when everything breaks correctly.
Rutherford has been aggressive about bolstering his roster even when outward appearances suggest he won’t be able to. He makes smart trades and has been in constant pursuit of titles. He knows the value that Hornqvist provides, and he was rightly willing to overpay and overcommit to it because Hornqvist’s talents are rare in the NHL and vital to the Penguins’ chances.
Sure, he might taper off significantly late in the life of this contract. He might get hurt and actually miss playoff time. The deal might look like an albatross when all is said and done. But if Patric Hornqvist performs for the first three years the way he has so far with the Penguins, and the team is a serious contender for the Cup, it won’t just be a good deal for the team, it will be a great one.
Chris Mueller is the co-host of the ‘Starkey & Mueller Show’ from 2-6 p.m. weekdays on 93.7 The Fan.
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Don't plan Penguins parade just yet

By Rob Rossi
http://triblive.com/sports/
February 27, 2018
Image result for penguins 2017 parade
Keith Srakocic/Associated Press
Did you have the Flyers being seeded second in the Eastern Conference the morning after the NHL trade deadline's expiration?
No, you probably didn't.
Nor did you likely awake Tuesday to the fact the Flyers are a serious threat to the Penguins' pursuit of parading the Stanley Cup around Pittsburgh for a third straight summer.
Not saying you should.
However, let's just say it shouldn't shock too many fans if the Cup returns to our commonwealth in June — only on the other (wrong) end. And that says more about the state of the NHL than the Flyers' three-month metamorphosis from dining with bottom feeders to feasting among top eaters in the Metropolitan Division.
As Cup chases go, the upcoming one should be unlike many the NHL has offered in this salary-cap era.
There exist, by any reasonable assessment, as many as seven hockey clubs built to win four consecutive best-of-seven series. There are also at least five other clubs that might have the goods to go all the way, but at the very least do have the stuff to win a couple of rounds.
Do the math.
After the trade deadline, fans of 12 franchises could conceivably consider a deep postseason run by their beloved boys of winter.
This from a league with a two-time defending champion that is one of three franchises to win multiple titles over the past dozen seasons.
Well, before games contested Tuesday, this was the current state of those franchises:
• The Penguins are going to the playoffs
• The Blackhawks are going golfing
• The Kings are one of eight teams going after five seemingly up-for-grab slots in the Western Conference
Translation: this postseason is going to be different.
Or is it?
After all, the Penguins are still, well, the Penguins. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Phil Kessel, Kris Letang ... you know the drill.
They won the Cup last season without Letang, and he is only their best defenseman. They just landed reliable postseason performer Derick Brassard to turn a concern at third-line center into a tactical advantage.
Heck, life was so sweet for the Penguins on Tuesday that the latest setback for twice-silver goalie Matt Murray (a concussion) was nearly lost in the news that Brassard had arrived, irreplaceable winger Patric Hornqvist had been inked for the next five seasons, and the New Jersey Devils were at PPG Paints Arena for a meaningful regular-season game.
Live it up, everybody; these truly are great days for hockey in Pittsburgh. From management to the equipment managers, CEO David Morehouse has presided over a turnaround that has rendered foolish his critics.
I was one.
I was wrong.
I was about to pick the Penguins to win the Cup again, too. It's just that I can't shake the nagging feeling that this won't be their season.
Not again.
But not because another club is built better to survive the four-round playoff grind. And not because of any moves that made better the hockey clubs representing Tampa, Las Vegas, Nashville and Winnipeg.
Not because of the three-peat challenge, either.
It's a flimsy argument that these Penguins won't three-peat because no NHL club has managed such magnificence since the Islanders opened the 1980s with four in a row.
Still, are we to ignore that the four back-to-back championship clubs since those Islanders combined to win all of 16 playoff games in their three-peat bids? Should we pay no attention that the men captaining those clubs were Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman.
Gretzky and Lemieux are inarguably hockey's two greatest players. Messier and Yzerman are indisputably two of hockey's greatest leaders.
If their great hockey clubs couldn't three-peat, can any?
I think we all know by now that betting against Crosby is to invite disappointment. He is better at this hockey thing than anybody who did anything at the Winter Olympics.
However, I think we all need to consider, too, that the present is much more likely than the past to trip up these Penguins on their path toward a historic future.
They might be alone amongst playoff clubs that are deep, skilled, fast, experienced and resilient.
But the Lightning, Bruins and Jets are also really deep. The Predators, Maple Leafs and Wild are also very skilled. The Golden Knights and Devils are also super fast. The Sharks and Capitals are also quite experienced. The Flyers are also unbelievably resilient.
The Flyers are the NHL's best team over the past couple of months.
Doesn't mean they are better than the Penguins. They're not.
The Penguins are still the NHL's only great squad.
They'll need to be greater in the upcoming playoffs than the past couple. A lot more very good hockey clubs will be chasing them this time around.
Rob Rossi is a contributing columnist. Follow him on Twitter @Real_RobRossi.
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Tuesday, February 27, 2018

Penguins keep Conor Sheary, now he must find himself

By Tim Benz
http://triblive.com/sports/
February 26, 2018
 Ian McCoshen #12 of the Florida Panthers skates for possession against Conor Sheary #43 of the Pittsburgh Penguins at the BB&T Center on February 24, 2018 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI via Getty Images)

Look who's still here! It's Conor Sheary! Sheary has been ticketed for a trade for so long, I kind of thought he was already off the roster.
Here's the thing though: He never left.
His offense has been gone for a while. But he's always been here.
Now the Penguins need to find a spot for him.
And Sheary needs to find himself.
Over the last two years the 25-year-old became the ultimate try-guy, “little engine that could” storyline. The undersized, undrafted afterthought morphed into a two-time Stanley Cup winger logging heavy minutes with living legend Sidney Crosby.
From his debut in December 2015 through the end of last year's playoffs, Sheary totaled 80 points in 150 games.
Many of those points were tallied in five-on-five action. In fact, last regular season Steven Stamkos (3.29) was the only player with a better point rate per 60 minutes of five-on-five ice time than Sheary (3.09).
But this year has been a struggle. Sheary has just 22 points in 60 games. He had 53 in 60 games last season. He's a minus-3, his ice time is down a bit and his shooting percentage is a career low 11 percent.
Sheary also is in the midst of an 11-game goal drought. That slump dates to the start of 2018. He has scored just twice this calendar year.
As a result, it's no wonder why so many Penguins fans expected him to be traded.
“Dear rest-of-the-NHL, Please take this $3 million black hole off our roster.
Thanks, Penguins fan & media Twitter accounts everywhere.”
But the rest of the league is likely seeing what hockey types here are looking at: A guy who isn't big enough, physical enough or defensively oriented enough to impact a game positively when he isn't scoring.
A guy who may not be worth much unless he is playing with Crosby.
After Monday's trade deadline expired, general manager Jim Rutherford refused to comment about whether or not he tried to trade Sheary, opting instead for a public pep talk.
“He's a good player,” Rutherford said. “He's contributed to two Stanley Cups here. He'll contribute to another one. We have full confidence in him.”
If Rutherford did offer Sheary to other teams, they either said “no” or responded with insultingly low return.
At the least, moving Sheary's cap hit would have allowed room to add depth.
Such a deal never materialized though, and Sheary is still a Penguin.
It's not like Sheary wanted to leave, or begged to get out of town.
Yet he didn't feel comfortable pleading with Rutherford or Mike Sullivan to keep him here either.
“I don't think you can approach them about things like that,” Sheary said before the team's recent road trip. “That's the business side of things. It's out of your control.”
So, for better or worse, Sheary is still in town.
That being said, where should he play? Should he play at all?
Goal one should be what's best for the two star centers. Evgeni Malkin has been great with Carl Hagelin on his left side. Both Bryan Rust and Patric Hornqvist have been good on his right side when placed there this year.
Between now and the regular season's end, Sullivan must figure out who will begin the playoffs on Malkin's right side and who will be on Crosby's.
It's believed Phil Kessel will be paired with newly acquired center Derick Brassard once he arrives. Assuming fourth-line center Riley Sheahan will have either Carter Rowney or Tom Kuhnhackl on his right wing for penalty-killing purposes, that leaves three left wing spots for Sheary, Zach Aston-Reese and Jake Guentzel.
I think Guentzel provides more high-end potential with Crosby. Play him there.
That means Sheary needs to find a fit with Brassard and Kessel. If that doesn't work out, then Aston-Reese plays on the third line and Sheary plays limited minutes on a non-traditional fourth line that may rely on skill as much as grit and grind.
Or, there are plenty of spots in the press box. Maybe Sheary will be there and Dominik Simon will be on the ice.
“It's how you are playing on the ice and what specifically a team needs,” said Sheary.
What this Penguins team needs is for Sheary to be what Pascal Dupuis became in 2010 — a useful five-on-five forward who regained his form after taking a step back in 2009, which included a 16-game pointless postseason en route to the Stanley Cup.
What this Penguins needs is for young Sheary to be the Sheary of old.
Even if that's in a reduced role.
Tim Benz hosts the Steelers pregame show on WDVE and ESPN Pittsburgh. He is a regular host/contributor on KDKA-TV and 105.9 FM.
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Monday, February 26, 2018

Penguins' Sidney Crosby, hockey's best 3rd-line center


By Mark Madden
http://triblive.com/sports/
February 25, 2018
A puck deflects away from the net as Cam Ward #30 of the Carolina Hurricanes denies a scoring attempt from Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins during an NHL game on February 23 2018 at PNC Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Karl DeBlaker/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Penguins have the best third-line center in hockey.
It's not newly acquired Derick Brassard. It's Sidney Crosby.
In his effort to balance the Penguins' offense by dividing Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel among three lines, coach Mike Sullivan has, in effect, made Crosby the team's third-line center.
Crosby has spent way too much time skating with Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon lately.
Sheary has four goals in his last 40 games and none in his last 11. Simon has zero goals in his last 12 games.
If you compare the talent of the wings on each line, Crosby is centering the third line. Who would you least prefer to skate with: Sheary and Simon, Carl Hagelin and Patric Hornqvist, or Jake Guentzel and Phil Kessel?
Crosby also has skated with Bryan Rust lately. Rust has six goals in 14 games since returning from injury in late January and is a preferred Crosby linemate because of his speed.
Guentzel is another preferred Crosby linemate. The two have played well together in the past.
Guentzel has 20 goals on the season and five goals and four assists in his last nine games. But Guentzel has another gear, and Crosby could help him find it.
Crosby should skate between Guentzel and Rust. Malkin should stay with Hagelin and Hornqvist. Brassard should center Kessel and either Sheary or Zach Aston-Reese. Simon should be scratched or returned to the minors.
The Penguins need to take a good, hard look at Sheary and whether he merits a spot in the lineup. When Sheary doesn't score, he doesn't help. At 5-foot-8, 175 pounds, he's not equipped to be a bottom six.
Crosby is the best player in the world and can be counted on to elevate linemates. But that burden only can be so heavy, and Crosby can be asked to carry it only so long.
Crosby's production hasn't fallen apart: He's got three goals and nine assists in 12 games this month. Not explosive, but not terrible. Eight of Crosby's 12 points have come at even strength.
But Crosby needs better to work with. Sullivan's vision of balance can be realized just fine with Brassard, Kessel and whoever on the third line. It's silly to give Brassard weaponry that's superior to what Crosby gets.
If Crosby is unhappy about his linemates, I haven't heard about it. Oh, wait, maybe I have.
Crosby long has gotten the short end of this particular stick. He only has had one linemate of comparable skill: Marian Hossa for 32 games in 2008.
Part of that is Crosby's fault. He constantly lobbied to skate with third-line talent Pascal Dupuis because of Dupuis' speed.
Talent isn't everything. Chris Kunitz didn't have pedigree. But Kunitz was a perfect fit for Crosby, as Kunitz's production confirmed.
Odd things have happened. Then-GM Ray Shero traded for Jarome Iginla in 2013, the intent being to play him on Crosby's line. That didn't happen. Current GM Jim Rutherford traded for Phil Kessel in 2015, the intent being to play him on Crosby's line. That didn't happen, either.
All of that is OK. Crosby doesn't need all-star linemates to excel.
But he needs better than Sheary and Simon.
Crosby also deserves the respect that goes with not having to settle for leftovers after the other centers get theirs.
Mark Madden hosts a sports talk show 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WXDX-FM (105.9).

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Sunday, February 25, 2018

Pirates take big swing with Corey Dickerson deal

By Kevin Gorman
http://triblive.com/sports/
February 23, 2018
Image result for corey dickerson pirates
BRADENTON, Fla.
Turns out, the Andrew McCutchen trade was less of a one-sided swap and more of a three-way deal to replace his power at the plate and starting spot in the Pirates outfield.
If the return from the San Francisco Giants for Cutch was less than expected, consider the arrival of reliever Kyle Crick allowed the Pirates to send setup man Daniel Hudson, a minor-leaguer and $1 million to the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday for Corey Dickerson.
If you wondered how the Pirates would replace McCutchen's power (.279 batting average, 28 home runs, 88 RBIs), consider that Dickerson's numbers are almost identical (.282, 27, 70) — at $8.8 million less.
The Pirates certainly appear somewhat smarter today than they did Jan. 15, at least in terms of payroll and production. But there is a price to pay for trading away the face of your franchise and ripping out the heart and soul of your team.
Trading for Dickerson was a positive sign, the kind of aggressive move players wanted the Pirates to make last July when in NL Central contention.
Dickerson not only is signed for $5.95 million this season but has another year of arbitration eligibility. That makes him both affordable and controllable, which makes him a perfect fit for the Pirates.
The very players who criticized the club and questioned its commitment to winning, David Freese and Josh Harrison, applauded the front office for dealing for Dickerson despite losing a buddy in Huddy.
Harrison, who publicly requested a trade after the McCutchen trade, called adding Dickerson a “nice, solid pickup” and one that “definitely makes our lineup that much deeper.”
“I'm definitely familiar with him from his time with the Rockies, seeing the BP display that he put on at Coors Field,” Harrison said. “You see what he can bring to the table, a left-handed bat and an All-Star last year so I think that speaks for itself.”
Not only does Dickerson have the potential to send bombs over the short-right field porch at PNC Park, but also the pedigree. Dickerson has hit 24 or more homers in three of his five MLB seasons.
“When I saw it, I was excited,” Freese said. “Having Corey here — he was an All-Star last year and he's got some thump — is great for this lineup. He's a proven big-leaguer, so it's a nice pickup. You look at the lineup and looking at the potential roster, it's coming together.”
That's not to suggest Freese and Harrison are changing their dissonance about disconnect in the organization, a top-to-bottom problem that isn't going to be repaired with one trade.
Pirates owner Bob Nutting tried to build a bridge by being visible and vocal at Pirate City this week. Nutting even called their criticism “correct and fair,” only to add that the players need to build a championship clubhouse and “any great culture primarily is coming from the bottom up.”
And you wonder why we call him Bottom-Line Bob.
Both Freese and Harrison made their points and are done airing their grievances. They want to win and know adding Dickerson helps their cause, even if he struggled in the second half last season and was DFA'd by the Rays.
“I think (general manager ) Neal (Huntington) is trying to do the best he can to put a product on the field that can give us a chance,” Freese said. “You're going to go get some guys who could potentially have rebound years. I think that's something they look for in this organization. If guys pan out, the club looks better.”
Maybe not better than the Pirates were with McCutchen but certainly better than they were when starting spring training without him.
Manager Clint Hurdle certainly believes Dickerson makes the Pirates better, in terms of building a stronger starting outfield and a better bench.
“He's an aggressive hitter with some barrel,” Hurdle said. “I've talked with some people in the past about him. He's that old backyard player, just grip it and rip it and go.”
It's good to see the Pirates playing backyard baseball by making an aggressive move and swinging for the fences, even if they're aiming for the short porch.
Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.
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Saturday, February 24, 2018

Senators deal Derick Brassard to the Penguins

By Bruce Garrioch
February 23, 2018
Ottawa Senators v Pittsburgh Penguins - Game One
Derick Brassard #19 of the Ottawa Senators tangles with Sidney Crosby #87 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the PPG PAINTS Arena on May 13, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Senators defeated the Penguins 2-1 in overtime. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America) 

The next shoe dropped for the Ottawa Senators on Friday.
After starting their makeover by dealing Dion Phaneuf to the Los Angeles Kings last week, the Senators sent No. 2 centre Derick Brassard to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday in a deal so complicated that the two teams had to go back to the National Hockey League twice to try to get it approved.
It took until 9 p.m. ET for the deal to be official even though the basics had been completed in early afternoon. The problem was believed to be at the Penguins’ end because they didn’t have the salary-cap space to handle what remained of Brassard’s $5-million annual cap hit.
The deal sent Brassard to the Penguins with minor-league forward Vincent Dunn and a third-round pick in 2018 for a first-round draft pick in 2018, a third-round pick in 2019, goalie prospect Filip Gustavsson and defenceman Ian Cole, who can become an unrestricted free agent after this season. 
The Vegas Golden Knights had to be brought into the deal as well. They received winger Ryan Reaves and a fourth-round pick from Pittsburgh for prospect Tobias Lindberg, who had originally been drafted by Ottawa in 2013, but they also retained 40 per cent of Brassard’s salary.
The Senators will try to flip Cole to another team before Monday’s deadline. He could bring back a draft pick, but, if that doesn’t happen, he would finish the season with Ottawa.
The decision to move Brassard wasn’t surprising because he has been a hot commodity on the trade market since the Senators decided they would start listening to offers on all players in mid-December. The Winnipeg Jets also made a good pitch for Brassard and several other teams were involved, too.
If the Senators were in a playoff position, Brassard likely would have finished out his deal here, with one more season remaining before he can be an unrestricted free agent. He was productive for Ottawa last season and played a big role in the playoffs. That’s why the Penguins want him in a third-line role.
The Senators want to get back assets that will help them down the road and this trade will help general manager Pierre Dorion achieve that goal.
Part of the reason, the Senators liked this deal so much was Gustavsson. He was drafted 55th overall by the Penguins in 2016.
Gustavsson was voted top goalie at the most recent world junior championship in Buffalo, and the Senators have been watching him closely. He has also been playing in the Swedish Elite League as a 19-year-old and has an 8-9-0 record with a 2.16 goals against average and a .918-save percentage.
“We feel that Gustavsson is one of the game’s top goaltending prospects,” Dorion said in a statement. “Ian Cole is a hard-nosed veteran defenceman who has a long pedigree of success, which includes two Stanley Cups.”
The decision to trade Brassard means centre Jean-Gabriel Pageau is likely staying with the Senators. A lot of other teams have called about him, including the Penguins and Jets, but his role will likely expand for the rest of the season and into next year.
With the NHL trade deadline set for Monday at 3 p.m., not only are the Senators talking to teams about captain Erik Karlsson, but the future of forwards Mike Hoffman and Zack Smith and defenceman Johnny Oduya is also uncertain.
You’d have to think Dorion isn’t going to stop here.
There has been a lot of interest in Hoffman or Smith, so one of those two players could be on the move. League insiders believe Smith will be an attractive option because he plays with grit and has playoff experience.
The Senators, 29th in the overall standings and headed for a top-10 draft pick, have decided they need to go in a different direction. Trading Brassard is a big move, but it could end up being just one of many by Monday.
Twitter.com/sungarrioch
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Penguins made right move in getting Derick Brassard

By Tim Benz
http://triblive.com/sports/
February 23, 2018
Ottawa Senators v Pittsburgh Penguins - Game One
Derick Brassard #19 of the Ottawa Senators skates against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2017 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the PPG PAINTS Arena on May 13, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Senators defeated the Penguins 2-1 in overtime. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images North America) 

The trade itself may have been complicated. But don't overthink this.
It took a little longer than expected. It was more difficult to execute than Jim Rutherford thought it would be. But this is the move the Penguins needed to make all along.
It's one I've been campaigning for ever since Derick Brassard's name surfaced as a potential trade target.
The Penguins needed another center. Now they've got one. As Pittsburgh fans have witnessed firsthand while he has worn the jersey of opponents in Columbus, New York and Ottawa, Brassard is a good scorer, talented defensively, pesky to play against and can perform in the playoffs.
His 55 points in 78 postseason games — 15 in nine against Pittsburgh — illustrate that.
He's durable, playing in 80 or more games each of the previous four seasons. He tallied between 39 and 60 points in each of them, as well.
There will be some who say Riley Sheahan was playing well enough to be the third-line center.
He was.
So now they should feel even better about him as the fourth-line center.
Pittsburgh has gone from thin at center to start the year, to perhaps the deepest team in hockey at that position.
Others will say they should have used some of these assets to acquire Michael Grabner instead because he would've been a great fit with the Pens' speed-oriented attack and penalty kill.
He would've been.
But he's a wing. The Penguins already have depth at wing. In fact, figuring out how to deploy eight wings per night may be a challenge for Mike Sullivan.
Are you concerned that the Penguins gave up a lot to get Brassard?
They did.
Given some of the speculation that existed over what the return to Ottawa would need to be, however, the Penguins made out better than I expected.
Of course it would've been nice if they didn't have to part with a first-round pick. But I prefer that to dealing wing-prospect Daniel Sprong as many were predicting.
Yes, it would've been nice to see if Filip Gustavsson would've developed into an NHL goalie capable of backing up Matt Murray. The team already has one of those in Tristan Jarry, though.
Jarry right now versus the hope of Gustavsson down the line? Give me Jarry!
The lone complaint about this deal that I have is Ian Cole is going out the door. The exact nature of his slide down the depth chart obviously went beyond performance. It's long been speculated there has been some sort of rub between him and Sullivan.
Cole has been good since returning to the lineup of late. That's a move that now can be viewed as a successful attempt to showcase Cole.
Since Pittsburgh needed to move salary to make this swap complicit under the salary cap, dealing Matt Hunwick or Conor Sheary would've made more sense for the Penguins.
Although, if it made more sense for Pittsburgh, it made less sense for Ottawa. Which is why that probably didn't happen.
Hunwick is healthy again. So that helps. But the Penguins defense has been stretched to at least eight deep in each of the last two playoff runs. Chad Ruhwedel is the only reserve option with much NHL experience at this point.
“When (Ruhwedel) has come into the lineup for us he has done a great job,” said Pens' blueliner Brian Dumoulin Thursday. “He's a guy that can play. He played a lot for us last year.”
Maybe another move for a defenseman — Ron Hainsey 2.0 if you will — is on the way to bolster the blue line even more. But if not, the Penguins' players seem confident.
“Anyone can step in the lineup and play a role,” said Jamie Oleksiak before the deal. “We've got so many defensemen that can put so much variety and give so many different things to the team.”
Furthermore, once the smoke cleared on the three-way component of the trade with Vegas, the Golden Knights ended up retaining 40 percent of Brassard's salary.
That favor is what ultimately cost Cole being bumped over the border — likely, temporarily — in exchange.
One thing to consider — despite what you or I may value in Cole, given the willingness with which Sullivan seemed to bench him, maybe Cole would've wound up a healthy scratch more often that not in favor of Hunwick anyway.
Ryan Reaves winding up in Vegas? Unfortunate. But he wouldn't have played much in the postseason. Hence, no big loss.
Eventually you'll hear or read people spouting off about disrupting chemistry like in 2013 after the trades to get Jarome Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Douglas Murray.
That's revisionist history. The Penguins won eight of 10 games to close out the season and won two playoff rounds before that ill-fated Eastern Conference sweep by Boston.
“Disrupted chemistry” was only part of a litany of problems in that series after a run of success following the trades.
Don't concern yourself with what the Penguins gave up. Don't concern yourself with who they could've gotten instead. Derick Brassard was Jim Rutherford's target for all the right reasons.
And GMJR got his man.
Again.
Eventually.
Tim Benz hosts the Steelers pregame show on WDVE and ESPN Pittsburgh. He is a regular host/contributor on KDKA-TV and 105.9 FM.
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