Just when you thought the Penguins might stand pat at the trade deadline, they made a deal. Perhaps the first of a few?
According to reports, GM Ron Hextall has acquired defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from Winnipeg for a conditional seventh-round pick. A former 17th overall selection of Montreal back in 2011, Beaulieu is 29, goes 6’2” 201 and is a left-handed shot. During the course of his 10-year NHL career, he’s played in 419 games for the Canadiens, Sabres and Jets and tallied 12 goals and 94 points to go with a plus-9…and 301 penalty minutes. More on that in a bit.
He’s presently on LTIR and isn’t due to come off for two more games and another week.
Given our organizational depth on the left side of defense, a curious move. But the Strathroy, Ontario, native is versatile and can also play left wing or the off side and adds an element in woefully short supply on our Pens. He can fight, and pretty well. Not in the Ryan Reaves/Tom Wilson category by any stretch, but well enough to keep the opposition honest.
If he plays. We’re all aware of coach Mike Sullivan’s aversion to players with a physical bent. But at least we have that element in our organizational tool kit.
We’ve also been linked to Detroit defenseman Nick Leddy. I confess, this one excites me. A key member of a Cup winner in Chicago and then a mainstay with the Islanders, the 30-year-old Leddy can skate like the wind and is an accomplished offensive d-man, with three 10-plus goal seasons and three 40-plus point seasons on his resume. An excellent passer, he’s especially effective on the power play and would be a boon to our transition game as well.
Although not a banger, the 6’0” 206-pounder will hit and block shots, so he’s not a one-dimensional fly boy.
What makes a prospective deal especially intriguing? The Red Wings have tons of cap space and can easily take on salary, perhaps in the form of a Marcus Pettersson (or even Brian Dumoulin as suggested by Pittsburgh Hockey Now) while retaining a chunk of Leddy’s $5.5 million cap hit. Fifty percent seems to be the going rate.
Both Beaulieu ($1.25 million cap hit) and Leddy are slated to become unrestricted free agents this summer.
Friedman Signs
Despite being recently shuffled to the press box, Hextall signed feisty defenseman and fan favorite Mark Friedman to a two-year deal starting next season at an AAV of $775,000.
In another internal move, the Pens have assigned forward Radim Zohorna to the Baby Pens, despite his strong play of late.
Around the League
In deals reported yesterday:
Check back for more updates.
2:50 Update
With the 3 p.m. zero hour fast approaching, this trade deadline may ultimately be remembered for the deals that got away…or were never on the hook to begin with.
Rumored black-and-gold targets Leddy and Montreal forward Artturi Lehkonen each went elsewhere. The Avalanche acquired the latter for defenseman Justin Barron and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. Leddy went from Detroit to St. Louis along with heavyweight swingman Luke Witkowski for defenseman Jake Walman, forward Oskar Sundqvist and a second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Frankly, I would love to have gotten both Leddy and Witkowski.
In other major deals, Chicago dealt Marc-Andre Fleury to Minnesota for a conditional first-round pick in the upcoming draft. Philly sent veteran defenseman Justin Braun to the Rangers for a third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. Washington reacquired forward Marcus Johansson from Seattle for ex-Pen prospect Daniel Sprong, a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
3:00 Update
It’s rumored but yet to be substantiated the Pens acquired forward Rickard Rakell from Anaheim just before the deadline. The return is thought to be a second-round pick, a prospect and likely a player from our active roster.
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View Comments
Hey Guys,
Good to hear from you.
This was the best possible outcome for our team. GM Hextall did NOT over pay and he made us a better team.
We actually did far better than I ever expected short of selling off Letang and Malkin which was not going to happen.
We trade a 7th pick for a big, solid defense man that just may be able to help DEFENSIVELY in the play offs.
We all seem to forget the old proven wisdom ..." DEFENSE WINS CUPS ".
Nathan Beaulieu played for Montreal and Winnipeg and before that he played in the QHL in Saint John NB and I used to watch him play as a junior.He is a leader and has solid hockey instincts.His game was never an offensive one. People over look that. He is injured and is expected back before the play offs start. He is a good 6th d man to have around.
All for the price of a conditional 7th round pick. A great depth move.
What I am really excited about and so are the pundits up here in Canada is trading utility forward Zack Aston-Reese and AHL forward Dominick Simon for the Ducks forward Rickard Rakell. He is a serious upgrade over ZAR and has scored 34 goals and 35 assists in 2018 season when the Ducks had better teams. He still has 28 points with 16 goals today on a struggling Ducks team. He is 6 foot , 200 pounds and is a great skater. Reports say several really good NHL teams wanted Rakell and Hextal did a great job in quietly acquiring him .Also it cost him only a second round pick!!
If that was before and Jimmy Rutherford was still here that would have been a first round pick for sure.
In summary we did well compared to other years in that we did not over pay and come next draft day this summer you will be thankful we still kept that number one pick.
PS : This was a good day and it surprised me, but it does not change my belief that this team will not make it past the first round of the play offs as there are simply to many holes to fix.
All of the contending teams in our conference got better as well and our team is not big enough to compete with them in a 7 game series.Hope i am wrong...
Cheers
Jim
Hey Jim,
I agree with you. All things considered, I'm very pleased. Rakell's a genuine talent and, as you mentioned, other teams such as Toronto were interested in him. Frankly, the price we paid was low compared to what other teams paid for comparable talents. Still can't believe we got him for essentially ZAR and Simon.
I confess to not being that familiar with Beaulieu...I'm glad you like him. I watched videos of some his fights and he more than held his own against the likes of Micheal Haley, Dakota Joshua, Tanner Jeannot and Nick Seeler. Again, he's no Ryan Reaves, but he can handle himself pretty well. I just feel better having someone in the organization that can stand up for his mates and give us a little push back.
Rick
I think the Pens sent ZAR and Simon to the Ducks.
Rick,
Thanks for the updates!
I have to confess, the only thing that would excite me is to find out that the team was sellers this Deadline, selling at least Letang and maybe even Rust to Arizona, Seattle, or Montreal, so that we finally get 1 or more top 5 picks. By no means is that a condemnation of Rust or even Letang, but a simple recognition of reality - the Black and Pyrite are not going the distance, so there is no need of rentals, purchased or home grown.
The simple fact that they sent Zohorna, particularly after that sweet little pick he ran to open up that lane for Carter to pass to Kapanen for a goal, should tell everyone and his Grandmother that Sullivan is going to blow it again. I don't blame Simon for his limitations but I do blame idiot Sullivan for playing him when there are many players already in the organization far and away above him.
The only deals outside of trading at least Letang I want to see is Hextall ridding the team of Simon and ZAR to force Sullivan to play the better in house options. This farce is reminding me of what Billy Beane had to do in Oakland to Art Howe - take Sullivan's Pena and Giambi out of his tool box.
As for Beaulieu or your Leddy, they are lateral moves at best, nothing really to see here.