Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins have yet to engage in contract talks with pending unrestricted free-agent defenseman Marcus Pettersson. Kingerski adds that he doesn’t believe there are any talks scheduled, which would signal that the Penguins intend to trade the 28-year-old prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7th.
The situation is a complicated one for Pittsburgh, particularly after they climbed back into the playoff picture with a solid stretch of play in December. However, getting just two of a possible six points against the Islanders and Red Wings might make general manager Kyle Dubas’ decision to trade Pettersson a little bit easier. The Penguins sit a point back of Ottawa for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, but the Senators hold two games in hand.
Pettersson missed 17 days after falling to injury in a mid-December game against the Senators and returned on New Year’s Eve but struggled to get to his game as he was on the ice for three goals against. Overall, Pettersson’s play has been a tad below his usual production, though his offensive numbers have been okay, posting two goals and 11 assists in 33 games. Even with his uneven play, Pettersson remains perhaps the only steadying defensive presence on the team’s blue line. His looming free agency could be playing a role in his play dropping off, but it could also be attributed to the Penguins’ poor team defense.
Pittsburgh has been stockpiling future assets for the past year and given the direction Dubas has gone in, and the lack of contract talks, it seems like a foregone conclusion that Pettersson will be in a different uniform by the first week of March.
Dan, what do you think the Penguins roster would look like if Jim Rutherford was still the Pens GM .
Crosby and Malkin would have beef
Solid idea: trade the only defenseman who consistently plays actual defense. Why don’t more teams do that, I wonder?
The only question is how they trade him, not if.
Will they try to find his replacement in the deal? Just an example, say Pettersson to WPG for Heinola or Samberg or whoever plus a 2nd round pick.
Or will they just want the biggest return, trading him for a first round pick and then trying to extract, say, a second or third for taking back someone else’s D man on a bad contract and hope to make that player useful?
It feels like Petterson would be a hot commodity on the trade market, so Dubas probably has a fair few options out there. Interesting to see who/what he chooses.