After nibbling around the edges on his first few moves of the summer, POHO/GM Kyle Dubas made his first truly lineup altering deal of the summer. In a swap of defensemen, Dubas acquired Kaeden Korczak from Vegas in exchange for Parker Wotherspoon.
My gut reaction when fellow PPer Caleb DiNatale clued me in on the deal? I didn’t like it, for a number of reasons.
First off, I just plain like the player Wotherspoon is—tough, competitive and remarkably sturdy in a first-pairing role, to say nothing of productive with 30 points.
For lack of a better way to describe it, Wotherspoon plays a hard game. During the ill-fated series against Philly he led the Pens with 20 hits, including a handful of bristling checks, and seemed to be the one guy the Flyers consciously tried to avoid. And I absolutely loved the job he did skating next to Erik Karlsson, basically enabling his gifted partner to rediscover his Norris Trophy form.
Second, I hate the fact that this rips a huge hole in the already tissue-thin left side of our defense. And last, but not least, I despise the fact that we hemorrhaged yet another player who provided a healthy dose of tensile strength and fighting spirit.
Indeed, that very spirit was one of the things I truly loved about last season’s team and separated it in my eyes from the languid, Milquetoast Pens of the late Mike Sullivan era. The way they battled and stood up for each other. To say nothing of the exemplary team chemistry they displayed.
Now Dubas seems determined to deconstruct what he’s so brilliantly assembled.
Okay, that’s my emotional reaction.
From a pure logic standpoint, I get it. Korczak, 25, is nearly four years younger than Wotherspoon, who’ll turn 29 in August. A former second-round pick (41st overall), the 6’3” 206-pounder is a player of some promise who already has 155 NHL regular-season games under his belt. Contract-wise, he’s signed for four more seasons at a very reasonable $3.25 million cap hit, while Wotherspoon will be a UFA following the season.
Given that Korczak’s a right-hand shot, his presence will enable the Pens to bring prospect Harrison Brunicke along at a more comfortable pace. Never mind that this practically decimates the left side of our defense (guess I said that already).
Surely Dubas will be following up with other moves to fill in the port side in short order.
Still, I don’t have to like this deal.