The Pens Should Trade For....................

@Evil_Shero

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on top of the Atlantic division at the halfway point of the season. The Pens are going to make the playoff and they should compete for a Stanley Cup. When the Pens went to the finals in back to back years they made some big time trades each year. In 2007-2008 they traded for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis, giving up Colby Armstrong, Angelo Esposito, and Eric Christensen. They also sent a pair of draft picks to Toronto for Hal Gill. The results were great for the Pens. Hossa was amazing in the playoffs and the Pens came close as Hell to winning a Stanley Cup.

Hossa left in free-agency that off season for Detroit, which sucked, but the Pens got the last laugh. The Pens won the cup against Detroit the very next season and once again made some big moves around the trade deadline. In February the Pens got Chris Kuntiz (and Eric Tangradi lulz) for Ryan Whitney. I wonder who won that deal?...... Then at the actual deadline the Pens got Bill Guerin from the New York Islanders for a conditional pick. Another win for Ray Shero and the Pens. Yinz know the rest of the story.

Now those are the moves that worked. Some of the deadline deals that Shero has made recently haven't been as lucky. Here are some examples:

THE TRADES 

2009-2010: Pens got Jordan Leopold from Florida for a 2nd round pick. Leopold sucked the big one in the playoffs. Pens got Alex Ponikarovsky from Toronto for Luca Caputi and Martin Skoula. That's kind of a wash for the teams but Poni was pretty bad in the playoffs.  Pens lost to Montreal in 2nd round of playoffs.

2010-2011: In February the Pens made a unbelievable dead trading Alex Goligoski to the Dallas Stars for James Neal and Matt Niskanan. I still can't believe the Stars made that trade. Only downfall was Neal taking a while to find his way in Pittsburgh. Pens also brought back Alex Kovalev lulz. Pens lost to Tampa Bay in 1st round.

2011-2012: Pens made no big deals during last season. The lost to the Flyers in the first round.

What the Pens Need:

Now I don't think you have to make a big trade to win a cup but recent history shows that it helps. Sometimes in hockey you just need to shake things up.The Pens have the best core group of players in the NHL with Crosby, Malkin, Fleury, Letang, Kunitz, and Neal. But they do need more.

The Pens need to trade for a stay-at-home, gritty, experienced defenseman.They need a Rob Scuderi part two. Remember how great Scuderi was for the Pens in 08-09. He was one of the biggest reasons why the won the cup. They need someone like that.

The Pens also need another winger but not necessarily a big-time winger. They could use a guy with experience and speed, or more importantly some leadership, two-way hockey, and grit. I like the idea of getting Vinny Prospal from Columbus.Prospal can play either wing or center and plays on both sides of the ice.

The Pens need to get rid of Deryk Engelland and Tyler Kennedy. Kennedy is soft and adds nothing to the team if he's not scoring goals. Kennedy has the worst shooting % in the NHL right now with 2 goals on the season. TK makes $2 million a year. Engelland does not use his "toughness" enough for the lack of overall talent. Pens need to be better on the blueline. Paul Martin coming back from injury will help and Mark Eaton adds depth and experience. Engelland only makes about $566,000 a year so he is very tradable.

Pens Should Not Get Jack Johnson or Jarome Iginla


As I'm writing this I just saw this pop up:










Rob Rossi doing some major trolling. But let's play with it right now. The Pens have around $15 million in cap space to play with. I would assume that Kennedy will be attached to almost any trade, now giving them around $17 mil in cap space.

I don't think the Pens will get Jack Johnson and I'm not sure why Columbus would give him up, nor do I think the Pens should get Johnson. And even if they would trade for Johnson, which would only make sense if the Pens know for sure they won't be able to sign Kris Letang long-term, better not give up Simon Despres.

Instead of talking about Despres being traded for an overrated Jack Johnson, or an old Jarome Iginla, the Pens would be better off playing Despres full-time. Every game.

I think the Pens need to get another shutdown defenseman. A better version of Mark Eaton. Deryk Engelland sucks. I know a lot of fans like Engelland but I don't. I think he's awful. Sure I like when he punches people in the face, but as far as a hockey player, there's no way he should be playing ahead of Despres and Robert Bortuzzo every night.

Assuming the Pens are going to make some trades, I think Bortuzzo will be gone via trade, although if Bylsma has any say I wouldn't be surprised if they traded future All-Star Despres.

I am strongly against getting Jack Johnson. I think Iginla would be awesome, but considering the way Chris Kunitz has been playing this year, I don't think the Pens need to give up so much to get Iginla who may do something similar to what Hossa did in 07-08.

Pens Should Get Brenden Morrow and Ron Hainsey 

The two guys I think the Pens should go after are both UFA and in their lower 30's.

Dallas Stars Forward Brenden Morrow and Winnipeg Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey. Jet's GM Kevin Chevaldayoff already said that Hainsey is on the block. Hainsey is 31, and is a true stay at home d-man, who leads the NHL in blocked shots right now. He's much better than Engelland, and I think he would thrive in the Pen's system. Right now the Jets are saying that they want a 2nd round pick for Hainsey. A little pricey maybe the Pens could offer Engelland and a 4th rounder. Hainsey's a UFA after all and I doubt he would sign back with Winnipeg after this season.

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Morrow is 35and makes $4.1 million this year and he is a UFA as well next year. So it would be two rental players, but I think the Pens would have a great chance at signing both of these guys if they choose to do so.

Morrow would bring leadership, grit, effort, versatility, scoring depth, and some two-way hockey. He's worth it and you would be getting Hainsey and Morrow for almost the price of Iginla.

I think Iginla is awesome, and I'm sure as Hell not going to be mad if they pull a trade off for him (unless they gave up way too much). Either way I trust Ray Shero. He's been such a great GM for this team. But there's a lot of pressure this year. There's tension every night that something goes wrong. The team still has to improve if they want to win a cup.

IN SHERO WE TRUST.