Penguins Swap Centers in Four-Player Deal with Florida

The Penguins have traded centers Derick Brassard and Riley Sheahan to the Florida Panthers for centers Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann. The deal, announced earlier in the day by general manager Jim Rutherford, was the club’s second this week and fifth in-season deal since November.

JR also parted with a second-round pick and two fourth-rounders in the exchange.

My first blush? The Pens get younger. McCann is 22 and Bjugstad 26, as opposed to Brassard and Sheahan (31 and 27 respectively). They also gain some size (Bjugstad goes a whopping 6’6″ 215) and speed with McCann. Both are former first-round picks. Neither is especially physical…89 hits this season for the Panthers combined.

The locals gain an extra level of control as well. While Brassard and Sheahan were due to become unrestricted free agents in July, Bjugstad is signed through 2020-21 at an AAV of $4.1 million. McCann is secured through next season with a cap hit of $1.25 million.

Once regarded as a player of considerable promise, Bjugstad has endured an up-and-down career in South Florida similar to that of the departed Sheahan. After notching a career-best 24 goals in 2014-15, the mammoth Minneapolis native tumbled to a meager 14 points (in 54 games) two seasons ago before rebounding with a career-high 49 points in ’17-18. This season he’s got five goals and 12 points in 32 games.

Originally drafted by Vancouver in 2014, McCann cracked the Canucks’ lineup as a 19-year-old rookie in 2015-16. He enjoyed his most productive campaign last season with the Panthers, totaling nine goals and 28 points. Numbers he’s on pace to equal or break this season (eight goals, 18 points in 46 games).

“Right now, he can be used as a shutdown center iceman,” Rutherford said. “He can kill penalties, but I also feel there’s an upside there offensively over time.”

Once thing he’ll need to work on is faceoffs. His career rate? A putrid 39.2 percent.

The trade effectively ends the Brassard era…one filled with disappointment. Although a solid, skilled hockey player the Hull, Quebec native never hit his stride with the black and gold (12 goals and 23 points in 54 games, minus-5 over two seasons), let alone matched the sizeable expectations set for him. Nor have the Pens fully recovered the chemistry they displayed prior to his arrival at last season’s trade deadline. A development Rutherford hopes to remedy with his latest deal.

“When our team is playing and focused and with these additions, I like our team,” he said. “The good news is we’ve got a few weeks to watch it now. I don’t sense urgency at this point in time unless I’m shown otherwise in the next few weeks.”