POINT SHOTS
Deadline day is one time of year when we must be wary of NHL execs who may be putting on poker faces. But if Ron Hextall was sincere Wednesday when he said the Penguins don’t plan to deal top prospects or the few premium picks they have left and that he doesn’t anticipate making a “hockey deal” to shake up their roster, that leaves little wiggle room to do something significant, especially when you consider how little salary cap space they have. For example, Columbus captain Nick Foligno would check a bunch of boxes. But something would have to give for Hextall to actually make a trade like that happen.
Hextall wants a “big, physical forward” who ideally plays center. In terms of forwards who could possibly be acquired at a reasonable cost and would fit under the cap ceiling without a key regular needing to go the other way, two guys come to mind: Philadelphia’s Scott Laughton, pictured left, and Calgary’s Sam Bennett. Brian Burke was with the Flames when they took Bennett fourth overall in 2014. And Laughton skated for Hextall in Philly. It seems unlikely the Flyers would hand him over to their rivals. So the Penguins may need to stealthily get a third party involved.
If they want more blue-line brawn, Jamie Oleksiak makes sense. Ex-NHL exec Brian Lawton pitched that move in this space a few weeks back. Oleksiak is a mammoth, he punches people and he has enough ability to actually play hockey.
But are the Stars even sellers? As of Friday morning, only eight NHL teams were far out of playoff position. And one of them, the Canucks, had at least 21 players test positive for COVID recently. Might be slim pickings on the trade market.
All that said, it seems unlikely given their situation that the Penguins will make a deal that dramatically changes the team’s trajectory. So the prudent course of action would be to add a bargain-bin depth piece or two, see what this current squad is made of, and then assess in the offseason what must be done to keep Sidney Crosby’s Cup window open for another 3-5 years.