A Penguins Trade For One More Run On The Cheap-ish
Over the last few days, fans and some in the sports media have been calling for a trade to spark the Penguins—a move to bolster their defense or bring in a quality second-line center. I laughed this off at first because, to me, they don’t realize the situation the Penguins are in, or at the very least, they are deluding themselves. It’s clear that Kyle Dubas has been shopping in the bargain bin, likely because he believes, as I do, that this team’s Stanley Cup window has closed—or at least won’t reopen without some serious investments that the Penguins just don’t have.
However, as I kept thinking it over, I began to wonder: with the core of Crosby, Malkin, and Letang still going strong, would it be possible to make a modest investment to improve the team’s chances this season without mortgaging the future? Or at the very least not too much of it? The Penguins have a few promising prospects and draft picks to work with, so what if they made a move that doesn’t sacrifice too much but gives this core one more serious shot?
As I always do in these situations, I put myself in Kyle Dubas’s shoes and started scouring teams.