Are the Penguins Looking at Trading for Pageau?

Is there a chance that the Penguins are trying to grant my wish?

Perusing the internet, with the trade dead line fast approaching, just to see what may be getting ready to shake loose, I ran across an interesting tidbit. It is no secret that Ottawa is struggling both on and off the ice. Following another frustrating loss, this past weekend, a rumor seems to be coming out of Canada involving a player that I have mentioned as someone I would love to see the Penguins try and obtain (Jean-Gabriel Pageau).

Another Penguins blog quoted Elliot Friedman as saying “One of the teams that is currently looking hard at Pageau is Pittsburgh. And I would think that would make a lot of sense he would make a great fit there.”

As soon as I read that, I must admit, I brightened up.

In another recent article on the NHL web site, discussing possible trade dead-line candidates, Pageau’s name did surface but the author of that article, Greg Wyshynski, stated that because Pageau is still young Ottawa may not really shop him around. However, he did concede that if the right offer came along they would pull the trigger.

Hooks Orpik, author of the blog report quoting Friedman did acknowledge that a deal may not be all that easy to reach. I must confess, I did like Hooks’ suggested offer. He suggested that the Penguins may be able to pry Pageau off of Ottawa by including either Conor Sheary or Bryan Rust in a trade or either their 1st or second 2nd pick in this year’s draft. And if the Penguins do lose their 2nd round pick, they may be able to recover that pick by trading Ian Cole as a rental to a team eyeing a play-off berth, needing a defensive Defensman.

The Penguins need a true 3rd line Center, Riley Sheahan has been doing a good job but is better suited to anchoring the 4th line. He really hasn’t shown the offense needed to drive the third line and compliment Phil Kessel. For the Penguins to thrive, they need to have that three-headed monster again; Sidney Crosby, Evgei Malkin, and Phil Kessel split up, threatening opponents from three different direction, forcing opponents to have to choose where to play their best defensive players, freeing up at least one of those talents to bloom every night. No team is deep enough to cover three separate lines without stripping themselves of their own ability to score.

Personally, I would start the trade talks off with Conor Sheary as my main offer. Both players are in the $3 million range in cap (Pageau $3.1 mil, Sheary $3.0), therefore, from a Cap perspective, the numbers will work out. I would then add, if need be, the 2nd pick in this year’s draft (with the idea of trying to get the pick back on an Ian Cole trade). I would hate to add Rust into the discussion though, at least not without more compensation than Pageau. Rust is a CORSI monster and has shown that he can fill just about any hole the Penguins need him to fill; the perfect utility player. Rust’s speed is incredible and he has a knack of getting big goals in the play-offs.

Another reason I do like this trade idea and have been advocating it for a while is that Pageau is young, not yet a free agent/rent-a-player, but he is only signed for two more year (Thanks Lothar). I have been following Jordan Bellerive’s development and would hate to get tied up in a big and protracted contract if Bellerive does develop rapidly. However, if he isn’t quite ready to make the leap, the Penguins could then consider resigning Pageau.

If the Penguins are considering this trade, and can pull it off, I would really like their chances of three-peating. Three-peating is always tough but it would seem to me the probability of one would really get back into a reasonable range, after a trade like that.