Could they or would they get him? Probably not. But you have to at least make a call.
With the NHL trade deadline approaching faster than anybody wants to admit or might realize, it is pretty much a certainty that the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to be more involved in selling players than they are buying players. At least for the most part.
Even though they are on the fringes of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference it would not make sense to trade future assets or prospects to try and acquire short-term rentals that might help you sneak into the second Wild Card spot and lose in five or six games to Florida. That would be a waste of everybody’s time.
Pending free agents like Marcus Pettersson, Drew O’Connor, Anthony Beauvillier are probably almost certain to go.
Maybe somebody with term remaining on their contract goes for an offer the Penguins can not refuse.
That is the smarter short-term and long-term play.
But that does not mean they should not be keeping their eyes open to buy if the right opportunity presents itself.
For example — a younger, more in-their-prime NHL player under team control for several years that could be a long-term solution, perhaps even after Sidney Crosby and/or Evgeni Malkin retire. If you can find a player like that, and if they are attainable or available, and if you think you might have a chance to acquire them, you at least owe it to yourself to try.
That brings us to the Vancouver Canucks who are reportedly at least listening to offers on forwards Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller as their season continues to descend into turmoil and chaos.
The Penguins were rumored to be interested in Miller a couple of years ago, and while he is still a productive player I have zero appetite to take on that contract for a player who will be 32 years old next season. Let the Rangers or somebody else deal with that.
Pettersson, on the other hand, is a very different story. He is still only 26 years old. He can be a top-line player for the foreseeable future. He is under contract through the 2031-32 season, even if it is pricey (over $11 million per season against the cap).
And the Penguins should at least pick up the phone and make a call.
Do I expect the Penguins to get him? No.
Do the Penguins have the assets to acquire him? Probably not. Especially given the assets other teams that might be interested could offer instead.
But I also know trades almost never, ever, look the way you think they will look during the rumor and speculation stage, and while Canucks fans might have visions of some lopsided trade coming their way in the event it actually happens, the actual return is almost certain to leave them underwhelmed.
You are going to get a first-round pick, maybe an additional first-round pick that has some conditions attached to it, a good prospect, and some kind of NHL player that is playable/useful but is mostly there to balance out money. That is the boilerplate for almost every modern-day NHL blockbuster.
It could be doable.
I am starting to strongly favor the approach the Washington Capitals took a couple of years ago where they sold off their rentals, and then quickly turned the assets they acquired around to add to the roster. The total teardown and rebuild approach takes too long, has too many variables and requires too much luck to always work out the way you expect it to work out, and you are probably more likely to become the next Buffalo or Detroit than you are to find a competitive level anytime soon.
While the Penguins have added some intriguing young prospects to the organization over the past couple of years, they are seriously lacking somebody that could make a major impact and be a focal point player anytime soon. If ever.
They are also not likely be positioned in the draft anytime soon to land one unless they get some insane lottery luck. They might not be particularly good right now, but they are not particularly bad, either. They might not ever be as long as Crosby is in the lineup and they have something that resembles a competent top-six and power play.
Players that produce like Pettersson, especially in their mid-20s, do not become available very often, and there is not really another path for the Penguins to get one anytime soon. So why not try to get one while you can? One that you already know is good and might actually move the team in a meaningful direction both short-term and long-term.
Could they actually do it? Probably not. It would take a lot, and probably some serious creativity in terms of piecing together a competitive offer. But it is at least worth exploring. It never hurts to at least call. Players that good, that productive, that talented and that young are almost never available. You have to pay attention when they are.