Penguins Acquire Streit, Corrado at Deadline

Laboring under the mistaken assumption that Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford stood pat at the trade deadline, I started to compose a piece for PenguinPoop based on Kenny Rogers C&W classic, The Gambler.

The one where he sings, “Know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em.”

I was convinced JR had held ’em. Which, I confess, left me a tad disappointed. But not crestfallen.

Then my boss rolled in and said he heard JR had squeaked in a couple of deals…just before the deadline.

Hurriedly, I visited Trade Tracker on NHL.com.

Almost wish I hadn’t.

It was quickly apparent the Pens had gotten…all together now…smaller and more benign. Okay, a bit more skilled, too.

Truth be told, I’d been hoping against hope JR would see the need to add a little size and snarl to help us stack up better against heavier division rivals such as Columbus and Washington. Knowing pretty much full well he wouldn’t.

In fact, we shed some size in rangy forward Eric Fehr, and what little combativeness we had in Steve Oleksy. Both were dealt to Toronto, along with a fourth-round pick in 2017.

The return? Frank Corrado, statistically speaking, a nondescript 23-year-old defenseman of modest (Penguin-esque) size who split time between the Maple Leafs and the AHL Marlies the past two seasons.

Perhaps I’m being a bit harsh in my initial assessment. But Corrado looks a depth guy, nothing more.

To be fair, JR also acquired Mark Streit, a highly skilled, mobile, puck-moving defenseman. Streit came from Philadelphia by way of Tampa Bay for a fourth-round pick in the 2018 Entry Draft. Certainly a reasonable price for one of the better power-play quarterbacks in the league, albeit one who’s a bit long in the tooth at age 39.

Kind of a Matt Cullen on the d-side.

Still, I can’t help but envy the Rangers, who acquired erstwhile Detroit defenseman Brendan Smith, an aggressive 28-year-old “all-arounder” who can play both sides with equal ability. New York got him for a third-round pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018. A price I would gladly have paid to add a little bite.

Water under the bridge, at this stage.

I should note…I felt much the same way after JR’s dual deals at the 2015 deadline when he swapped Robert Bortuzzo and Simon Despres for Ian Cole and Ben Lovejoy.

Those trades grew on me over time.

Hope these will, too.

Ice Chips

The Penguins recalled defenseman Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In 32 games with the Baby Pens, the former first-round pick tallied five goals and 14 points. Pouliot was a plus-6.