Trade deadline shows Pens want to win now
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sport
Feb 10, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) makes a glove save against the New York Rangers during the first period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports ORG XMIT: USATSI-229430 ORIG FILE ID: 20160210_tdc_al8_065.JPG
March 2, 2017
The National Hockey League trade deadline passed at 3 p.m. Wednesday, and Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford made it clear that they are in it to win it this season.
The Pens acquired two defensemen, Mark Streit and Frank Corrado, while holding on to goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. They acquired defenseman Ron Hainsey last week.
Streit and Hainsey are an immediate fix to make up for the injuries to Kris Letang, Trevor Daley, and Olli Maatta. The Penguins were forced to part with a few draft picks to acquire these players. But after winning the Stanley Cup last season, the Penguins needed to gear up for a playoff run again as most of their Metropolitan Division opponents made moves at the deadline that strengthened their teams going forward.
The Pens got rid of Eric Fehr, Steven Oleksy, and a fourth-round pick to acquire Corrado from the Toronto Maple Leafs. This is a low-risk move. The three pieces the Penguins traded weren’t very valuable to this team. Corrado will start in the minor leagues and is a young guy who wasn’t given much of a chance in Toronto.
With the Metropolitan Division being as tough as it is, these moves are necessary for any chance at winning the Stanley Cup.
Perhaps one of the most surprising moves on the day was the Penguins retaining Fleury for a playoff run.
With the NHL expansion draft upcoming this off-season, Fleury’s no-movement clause doesn’t help the Penguins make decisions any easier. Teams can only protect one goalie from the expansion draft, and Fleury would be the automatically protected netminder due to this clause.
With goalie Matt Murray being the younger, cheaper and more promising option, the logical choice is to keep him. To do this, the Penguins would have to either buy out Fleury’s contract or find a trade partner for him. But the goalie trade market is not the best right now, especially for a goalie coming off one of his worst seasons in recent years.
The Penguins are no strangers to making deadline trades. Since 1968, the Penguins have made 59 trades on deadline day, the most of any NHL team. This season’s deadline was no different as they load up assets in an attempt to be the first team to win back-to-back Cups since the 1997 and 1998 Detroit Red Wings.
