Could The Penguins Casey DeSmith Be On The Move?

So, I am hearing noise to the effect that Casey DeSmith may be going off to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

There is an old saying, “success has a thousand fathers, failure is an orphan”. When a team is winning, everyone takes credit. When you are not only losing but getting your head handed to you, the rumors start to fly, so I am not surprised to start hearing rumors. Actually, I am surprised it took this long.

Now, I am not going to say that a trade is imminent, how far along the process may be, or even that the rumor is true. The source of this rumor didn’t suggest anything like that. Although the source does have the potential to have inside knowledge, it was only mentioned in passing and we were both trying to let off a little steam over our Pittsburgh Penguins recent defeats. Unfortunately, I never got around to questioning the strength of the rumor or anything like that.

So, the point of all of this is just an exercise, an exploratory of could there be any benefit for our foundering, flightless fowl and who would I want.

Several weeks back, there were those talking heads out there that suggested that Penguin’s GM Ron Hextall kick the tires on Toronto’s Justin Holl. At the time, I took note of it, but didn’t really move my needle off center.

However, now, after watching our Penguins defense get shredded by partially depleted Washington Capitals roster, (sans Nicklas Backstrom, Nic Dowd, Anthony Mantha, and T.J. Oshie) and thoroughly humiliated by the Ottawa Senators team (because of who they are) with nearly half of their already weakened roster out with COVID and other issues, yes, it is time to consider making a move.

If the team isn’t considering this move, then maybe they should – DeSmith for Holl.

Why should Toronto go for the deal?

Okay, let’s face it, DeSmith has been awful (or has he really been offal?) so far this season, so why would they want him?

Height: 72”	Weight: 180 lbs
Age: 30	Catches: Left
Current Salary: $1.5 Million	Current: Cap Hit: $1.25 Million

Str	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OTL	SA	Sv	Sv%	GA	GAA	HDVA	HDSv
All	3	3	177:49	0	2	1	97	83	0.856	14	4.72	27	19
EV			136:4				82	70	0.854	12	5.27	24	16
PP			24:49				3	3	1.000	0	0.00	0	0
PK			49:31				12	10	0.833	2	7.37	3	3

The answer is simple and in two parts; first they have no back up to Jack Campbell right now. Joseph Wall is up on Emergency recall. Secondly, they have no Cap space and will have players ready to come off LTIR.

What do the Penguins lose when trading DeSmith?

Nothing! Absolutely nothing. Yes, there is a slight risk right now. Filip Lindberg was injured over the weekend down in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), only leaving Louis Domingue to back up Tristan Jarry. However, strengthening the defense can only improve the goaltending.

So, who is Justin Holl?

Height: 76”	Weight: 211 lbs
Age: 29	Shots: Right
Current Salary: $2 Million	Current Cap Hit: $2 Million

Season	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	S%	PIM	SOG	Blk	Hts
2019-2010	68	2	16	18	13	2.2	43	89	83	89
2020-2021	55	2	18	20	16	3.5	25	57	84	82
2021-2022	10	0	0	0	-6	0.0	2	6	26	19

You can see, Bobby Orr he ain’t. However, this team has too many forwards on it. They need a Defenseman.

Agreed, under any other circumstance, Toronto would not be a team I would first look to find a real NHL calibre defensive Defenseman but looking over all the other Right-Handed Defensemen (RHD) on this team, in truth, he couldn’t hurt – only help. Outside of this season, in the previous 2 full seasons (or as real as a the last 2 seasons could be) he had positive numbers in his +/- on a team not known for its defense.

Furthermore, at 6’-4” 211 lbs, he instantly gives the team much needed size on the blue-line. Yes, I would love to see him with more hits defensively, but in Toronto’s run-and-gun style, he may not have too many opportunities to hit anyone.

Dan Kingerski promoted this idea based on the fact that Holl averages about 20 minutes ice time per game. Sorry Dan, that is stupid. I don’t want minutes eaters, I want players doing something with their Time On the Ice TOI.

What intrigues me about Holl isn’t his TOI but his size and +/- numbers.

Why am I impressed by his +/-?

I am impressed by his +/- because of his Offensive Zone Starts Percentage (OZS%) 5-on-5. They have been 38.78%, 49.36%, and 49.94% over these last 3 years and up to the point of this writing this season. He starts his shifts at the broken end of the bottle the majority of times but doesn’t get cut as often as he cuts.

Would I make this trade if I could?

Yes, by all means yes, most emphatically yes! I make this trade. The team is foundering. It needs a shake up. It needs a spark. The Defense has to be improved by the trade and the Goaltending could be hurt by it.

Odds and Sods

For the record, those of you who have been reading Penguin Poop for the last three or four season may harken back three years ago. I wanted to deal DeSmith back then to Toronto for Kasperi Kapanen. Toronto has had Cap and Goalie issues for years. There could have been a good chance of working that deal back then. It would have saved the team a First Round Draft pick when Jim Rutherford finally looked to pluck back the player, he traded North of the Border for Phil Kessel. At that time DeSmith’s stock was high and Kapanen’s stock was low.

To fill the empty roster spot in Goal for the Penguins, I suggested the team sign Adam Reideborn not Emil Larmi out of the European leagues. Reideborn opted to jump from the SHL to the KHL. Has anybody been paying attention to Adam Reideborn? I have.

Height: 72”	Weight: 184 lbs
Age: 29	Catches: Left

Season	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	GAA	Sv%	SO
2019-2020	AK Bars Kazan	36	21	9	4	2.11	0.913	3
2020-2021	AK Bars Kazan	29	16	9	3	1.82	0.931	3
2021-2022	CSKA Moskva	14	8	4	2	1.97	0.920	4

Reideborn is playing in the KHL, so I am not sure how the numbers will translate. However, I am relatively confident that he would have been a better signing than Larmi and could not have played worse than DeSmith has played this season.

Next Up

Our Penguins take on the Buffalo Sabres tonight at 7:00 pm at home in the PPG Paints Arena

Go Pens!