When Elliotte Friedman initially reported the Penguins were open to moving veterans, he didn’t specify who. Now, he has reported that Montreal explored acquiring Rickard Rakell to potentially include him in a package for Kirill Marchenko before Toronto completed the Marchenko-Knies trade the day before the season started.
We have known that Rakell has been available for large parts of the past two seasons. He wasn’t moved last year because the team was in contention. He wasn’t moved this offseason because the asking price wasn’t met or a team didn’t accept (I believe he was the roster player offered for Ottawa’s first-round pick).
Now, with the Penguins in free fall, it seems all but certain Ricky Raks will be the first to go.
Rakell had an atrocious start to the season, which may have tanked his value. He did score against Utah, and usually once he gets going, his play exponentially increases. If he starts producing more, his trade value will only rise, and thus the Penguins would be wise to move on.
Rakell is a talented goal scorer who has a little term left at a great cap hit and offers positional flexibility. Plenty of teams could use a Rakell as a secondary scoring option, and the Penguins being willing to accept picks and prospects makes a deal much more attractive for prospective teams.
Now, I don’t think Rakell is netting the Penguins a great return, but that’s not the point. Maybe you get a second-round pick and a B prospect, and that’s perfectly fine.
What it does is open up a spot on the roster for a McGroarty, Hayes, or Zonnon, and that’s what’s important right now. Those guys are pushing and proving they deserve NHL time.
Moving out the old guard for the youth is the only correct course of action. The Penguins might be bad regardless, so at least be bad with the players of the future.
Do you think Rakell should be the first to go?
