We are really stretching for interesting NHL news at this point in August, but a Penguins trade offer nobody knew about just came across my desk. Most NHL teams post a behind the scenes of the draft process throughout the summer. Two days ago the Ottawa Senators did just that and it sparked an interesting storyline. The Senators made a huge trade moving Brady Tkachuk to Florida and received the 9th and 25th overall selections (plus more). They moved the 9th overall pick to San Jose to acquire Will Eklund and were rumored to be interested in moving the 25th pick as well. That rumor definitely had legs, because GM Steve Staios was videoed exploring his options to move off of pick 25.
Per the video above it seems like Ottawa wanted to move the pick but was really only interested in obtaining a roster player. The only team seemingly offering a roster player was Pittsburgh. As a Penguins fan this makes me want to become Sherlock Holmes, who could Dubas have offered? The player likely had good stand alone value because Vancouver was offering two high end 2nds (no. 33 and 41) to acquires picks 25 and 71. Therefore, the Penguins had to be offering someone of decent value. It’s possible that the Penguins were offering someone of lesser value and their later second round pick (54th overall). Let’s discuss the possibilities…
Was The Penguins Trade Offer Rakell or Rust?
We all somewhat assumed that Rakell or Rust might be on the chopping block. We also learned that their value throughout the league was seemingly less than what a lot of Penguins fan would expect. However, I doubt Dubas was offering either player straight up for the 25th overall selection. Maybe, he was trying to get picks 25 and 32 for Rust/Rakell and that would make sense why Ottawa ultimately declined the trade. I am not convinced either of the top-line wingers were involved in this trade though. Ottawa did acquire Eklund to help replace losing Brady, but they still would have been silly to baulk at either of the Penguins wingers. They would have immediately have become a significantly deeper team than when they Brady was on the team. So, ultimately I don’t believe either of these two were involved.
Karlsson
Everyone would immediately jump to Karlsson due to his previous ties to Ottawa. I think it’s quite easy to shut this down because I don’t think the Penguins would be moving EK65 for that package. A Karlsson trade, especially after last season, would need to net the Penguins more (or at least closer to NHL ready talent). From a league perspective a Karlsson Senators reunion would be fun. It should also be noted that there would have been noise revolving around Karlsson being asked to waive his no movement clause.
Penguins Prospect
I would cast major doubts on Bruincke being moved. Same applied to Zonnon or Horcoff. Sure, maybe McGroarty could have been on the block but what would be the point in that? The only player I could fathom being moved in this scenario, at least from a prospect perspective, is Ville Koivunen. Koivunen likely didn’t have 25th overall value because of his lackluster NHL season. Koivunen did have a great AHL season so maybe the value wasn’t far off but the Penguins would have needed to include more. I really don’t see Dubas moving a prospect tier player for this pick because it wouldn’t really accomplish anything for Dubas, or the Penguins. It’s also important to note that Staios specifically said that the Penguins were offering a roster player and none of the prospects could really have been considered a roster player.
Novak or Brazeau
It had to of been one of these two. Ottawa clearly wanted to use Brady’s departure to make them a deeper squad. The 25th overall pick isn’t likely to add a legit top 6 talent on its own. That pick falls more into the tier of Novak and Brazeau. Sure, the Penguins would have needed to attach something else of value but I doubt that would have been an issue. If I am Dubas and I could have moved Brazeau and a 2027 2nd for another 1st, I am doing that in a heartbeat. Also, if I am Ottawa I probably decline that trade. So this had to of been the offer. It’s obvious that the Penguins no longer have a need, nor a spot, for Brazeau so I am certain they have tried to move off the big boy for most of this offseason. With Novak receiving a three year extension, I doubt he was seriously on the block. Management teams plan these extensions out far more in advance than the couple of weeks it takes to come together on a deal so at the draft I’m sure Dubas was already thinking on retaining Novak’s services. Since this deal fell through, and I certain Brazeau was involved, it makes me wonder if he could still be moved at some point this summer. I also wonder if a trade with Ottawa could still be in the works. Obviously Ottawa wouldn’t be offering the 25th pick but as we learned with Chinakhov sometimes trade deals are discussed for months on end, sometimes even longer, so maybe something could still be cooking with the team in Canada’s capital.
Who were they looking to draft?
I have seen a lot of discourse that the Penguins were trying to get 25 overall to select the other Ruck brother. I am just not buying that. For one, it seemed abundantly obvious that every team was aware the Rucks wanted to go to the same team. No team was going to risk wasting a 1st round pick on a player who could have opted to not sign after college. Also, Marcus Ruck wasn’t deemed 1st round pick worthy. Hell, there were rumors that the Penguins could have waited several rounds to take the second Ruck because no team wanted to be put in that situation. So, there’s just no reason for the Penguins to trade up to acquire Marcus Ruck. This would leave me to believe the Penguins were targeting either Jack Hextall or Thomas Bleyl. Hextall is a center and Bleyl is a defensemen, both are areas that the Penguins need to continue to build out. Hextall specifically fell a little bit and had the exact type of prospect card that the Penguins tend to target. Ultimately, I am glad this didn’t happen because my body has still not recovered from the last time a Hextall was affiliated with the Penguins.
