It is that time of year when the NHL trade market begins buzzing. General managers are getting serious about firming up their roster for Stanley Cup runs, to make the playoffs, or are swallowing the bitter pills to sell off current assets in hopes of a brighter future.
And then, there’s the Pittsburgh Penguins trade strategy.
Are the Penguins willing to sell assets? Yes. Are they buying? Yep to that question, too.
The Penguins have tossed off the shackles of low expectations with an undeniable swagger. They heard everyone root for trades and the first overall pick following a season or two in hockey hell and misery.
The Penguins’ room and coaches heard the predictions that they would plummet to the bottom of the standings. Even as they deny paying attention, they surely heard.
And they reject that idea.
The somewhat unique, if not shrewd, asset management approach from general manager Kyle Dubas has kept all options available as the Penguins are gaining on the white rabbit of a playoff berth, which has eluded them for three years running.
However, Dubas’s approach has been specific and precise. The trades since acquiring Erik Karlsson on Aug. 6, 2023, have been about acquiring draft picks for taking n unwanted salaries, such as Matt Dumba, and about unearthing young players with more potential than production.
Philip Tomasino, Tommy Novak, and Egor Chinakhov are the Penguins who were otherwise buried elsewhere.
Until Chinakhov, the most prominent youngster acquired was Rutger McGroarty, who was the tantalizing prospect in whom many teams were interested. Dubas was the only GM willing to offer an in-kind return, delivering the 2023 14th overall pick (Brayden Yeager) to Winnipeg for McGroarty, who was the 2022 14th overall pick, but informed Winnipeg that he wouldn’t be signing there.
Of course, spelunking on the trade market carries some risk. Tomasino didn’t pan out, but cost only a fourth-rounder. Novak has only begun to emerge from the doldrums of underperformance, where he languished in Nashville. And Chinakhov has started well in his first week with the team, with a pair of goals and three points in five games, but not so well as to assume stardom.
To set boundaries, the Penguins are not in the market for established NHL players who will command a bounty on the trade block, such as Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson or Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly.
Veteran acquisitions are most likely not on the menu.
Youth very much is.
The Penguins were reportedly interested in other young players who were dealt elsewhere, such as Marco Rossi in Minnesota (recently dealt to Vancouver in the Quinn Hughes trade) and David Jiricek (traded from Columbus to Minnesota last season).
This season, Dubas snared the 24-year-old Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets, but it was not an inexpensive acquisition. Dubas parted with the St. Louis Blues’ second-round pick, which figures to be within shouting distance of a first-rounder, and the Washington Capitals’ 2027 third-rounder.
And yet, the Penguins still have 15 picks in the top three rounds over the next three years.
As the NHL season finally begins to create separation between the top and bottom teams, more players will become available. And with veteran teams, some younger players get blocked and ask out. There are reports of at least one player trapped in Winnipeg’s organization who has been given permission to seek a trade.
And the Penguins have plenty more capital to spend.
Penguins Trade Watch
4. Jakob Pelletier, 24, Tampa Bay Lightning/Syracuse Crunch
Pelletier couldn’t stick with the Calgary Flames lineup despite being the team’s first-round pick in 2019 (26th overall). Calgary traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers toward the end of last season. He notched eight points (3-5-8) in 25 games, but the Flyers chose not to give him a qualifying offer, so he signed a three-year deal ($775,000 average annual value) with the Tampa Bay Lightning, who slipped him through waivers in October.
Pelletier is a right-wing with a left-handed stick who has put up good numbers in the AHL, and is doing so again this season with 37 points in 31 games. He is good in the defensive zone and is a PP2/PK type player, but at 5-foot-10, 172 pounds, he lacks size and also strength for a gritty game.
Perhaps the Penguins’ sports science department and player development could fix at least one of those issues that ail him? The Penguins organization lacks scoring wingers, and Tampa Bay’s NHL roster is loaded.
Pelletier has 29 points (11-18-29) in 87 NHL games.
An AHL trade would be comparatively inexpensive but potentially high-reward.
3. Brennan Othmann, 23, New York Rangers/Hartford Wolf Pack
New York has not been hospitable to young players, and Othmann has been left out in the cold New York streets for a couple of seasons running.
The Rangers’ 2021 first-round pick (16th overall) should be a grinder with some offensive contributions at the NHL level. The scouting reports indicate his deficiency is his skating–which is in the Penguins’ Sports Science department’s wheelhouse.
Othmann is a high-motor left-wing who will forecheck with aggressiveness. The Penguins could acquire him as an AHL trade, which would give them time to work with him before giving him NHL time.
However, New York GM Chris Drury has reportedly been hesitant to sell low.
2. Brad Lambert, 22, Winnipeg Jets/Manitoba Moose
Lambert posted 55 points in his first professional season, 2023-24. He scored 21 goals with 34 assists in 62 games with the Manitoba Moose.
However, the Finnish forward has been stymied and frustrated in Winnipeg because he has not yet been able to crack the veteran-heavy Jets’ lineup. In late December, The Bleacher Report’s Frank Seravalli reported that Winnipeg gave permission for Lambert’s representation to seek a trade in late December.
Lambert, 22, was Winnipeg’s first-round pick in 2022 (30th overall). His skating is elite, and even has some strength in his game, but like too many young players, he has thus far enjoyed the safety of the perimeter and needs to get between the dots to be successful at the next level.
A right-handed natural center, Lambert could provide some scoring depth and perhaps be groomed to a third or fourth line role for next season, if not take a spot this season.
1. Ville Heinola, 24, Winnipeg Jets/Manitoba Moose
Heinola is something the Penguins organization does not have: a speedy, left-shot defenseman with offensive instincts.
Like Lambert, Heinola has been stuck with Winnipeg, logging 53 career NHL games, but is back with Manitoba this season.
TSN’s Darren Dreger reported both Lambert and Heinola were available as Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff looks for immediate improvements to the NHL roster that is languishing this season.
The Penguins currently have a glut of defensemen in the organization, but appear ready to give up on lefty Ryan Graves, and have not been overly complimentary of 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering.
Tags: brad lambert brennan othmann jakob pelletier Pittsburgh Penguins Ville Heinola
Categorized: Penguins Trade Talk