With the Pittsburgh Penguins in an unfamiliar position heading into the trade deadline this season, general manager Kyle Dubas found himself trying to balance selling off some assets while also keeping the roster intact and skilled enough to possibly try and make a push for a playoff spot (albeit an outside chance at this point). There were plenty of murmurs around the hockey world of players that Dubas could look to trade and what kind of return he could get for certain players, but when the clock struck 3 PM EST on March 8, the first-year Penguin GM only made three trades.
Guentzel Heads to Division Foe
The biggest fish in the sea on the trade market this year seemingly was Jake Guentzel. Even with Guentzel being out with a lower-body injury, it seemed like plenty of teams were interested in the pending unrestricted free agent (UFA). With the amount of success he accomplished as a Penguin since being drafted in the third round of the 2013 Draft, both in the regular season and postseason, many believed that the return Dubas could get for him would be pretty substantial. In the end, the Carolina Hurricanes won the sweepstakes for the 29-year-old.
Related: Grading Hurricanes’ Blockbuster Trade for Jake Guentzel
In the trade, Dubas brought in a player he knows very well, Michael Bunting, along with three prospects from the Hurricanes. He also sent defenseman Ty Smith, who has had a solid season with Wilkes Barre/Scranton, to the Hurricanes. With Bunting, Dubas is very aware of what kind of player he is getting as they spent time with the Toronto Maple Leafs the last few seasons. While he won’t match the offensive output that Guentzel has the capability of, he does play a similar game. He has had a solid season in the first year of the three-year contract he signed last offseason. He is a player that Dubas wanted to get in the deal for Guentzel as a player who can help the current roster compete and have a solid impact in the short term.
Long-term, Dubas is counting on at least one of the three prospects he acquired in the deal to pan out. Ville Koivunen seems to have the most upside of the three. The 20-year-old has found himself amid a breakout season with Karpat in the Liiga this season, putting up 55 points (21 goals, 34 assists) in 57 games while shuffling between all three forward positions. While he has enjoyed a strong season, he must bulk up to succeed in North American professional hockey. He is still considered a raw talent with a lot of upside to his game if he can continue developing. Being touted as having a solid work ethic and relentless playing style, he could carve out a top-six role in the Penguins lineup in a few years.
The other two prospects that the Penguins acquired in the trade, Cruz Lucius and Vasily Ponomarev, do not bring as much hype or upside but are both players who could end up making an impact depending on their development. Lucius (2022 fourth-round pick) has seen his game on the rise since being drafted and has spent the last two years with the University of Wisconsin and has averaged just about a point-per-game with 31 points (12 goals, 19 assists) in 32 games. In his draft year, he battled injuries that contributed to his sliding down to the fourth round. He has proven that he can stay healthy and could eventually become a third-line type of player for the Penguins with a scoring touch to his game. He is another player touted for a strong work ethic and relentless play.
Ponomarev is the only one of the three prospects currently playing North American professional hockey and has spent most of this season in the American Hockey League (AHL). He also made his NHL debut this season, having played two games for the Hurricanes and tallying two points. He does not have the ceiling that Koivunen has, but he could develop into a middle-six of the lineup type of player with strong playmaking abilities to his game.
Giving up on a player with the pedigree and resume that Guentzel had in a Penguins jersey is not an easy move for an organization or for the players on the team to handle. He had been a mainstay with the Penguins, becoming a fan favorite in Pittsburgh and building a dynamic duo with Sidney Crosby during his time with the team. He is widely viewed as the best winger Crosby has played with. However, the organization added a player who can help immediately while also trying to replenish a farm system that ranks near the bottom of the league. They also added two draft picks that should help out with the farm system, acquiring conditional 2024 first-round and fifth-round picks. The first-round pick will be sent from the Hurricanes to the Penguins if the Hurricanes win this season’s Stanley Cup but there will be a second-round pick (originally Philadelphia’s) if they do not win it. The fifth-round pick only gets sent to the Penguins if the Hurricanes win the Cup this year.
A Couple of Minor Moves
In smaller moves, the Penguins sent a long-time defenseman to another division foe when they traded Chad Ruhwedel to the New York Rangers for a 2027 fourth-round pick. He is another player heading for free agency at the end of the season and has seen his usage drop off. Being able to flip him to a playoff team looking for some defensive depth for a fourth-round pick was not a bad return for the Penguins.
As the deadline got closer, many believed there was a chance that Dubas could look to move one of the goaltenders the team had, with Alex Nedelkjokvic seemingly being the most likely candidate. Instead, he shipped offseason free agent signee Magnus Hellberg to the Florida Panthers for fellow goaltender Ludovic Waeber and a conditional 2025 seventh-round pick. Hellberg only saw three games of action for the Penguins while spending most of the season in the AHL. The move seemingly was just a shift of depth pieces between the two teams as Waeber has not lit the world on fire in his first season in the AHL, with a 6-6 record while having a 3.09 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage.
More Moves Could Have Been Had
While Dubas made the three trades he did before the deadline, more moves could have been made. The finish of the regular season could signify and dictate how he attacks the coming off-season. This will also determine what the Penguins’ future will look like, with the core of Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin being among the select few left from the team’s last Stanley Cup win in 2017.
