I was reading some articles about the Penguins’ possible approach to the looming trade deadline when a thought occurred to me. A rather unsettling one at that.
Is POHO/GM Kyle Dubas so committed to his long-term plan that he might weaken the team in the short run for future gain?
You could point to the recently completed Brett Kulak-for-Samuel Girard swap as evidence that he might.
If his aim was to be more competitive in the upcoming postseason, I think the correct move would’ve been to keep Brett Kulak despite his pending UFA status. Having been to the Cup Final two consecutive seasons, Kulak is a playoff-tested all-arounder who proved to be a solid partner for Kris Letang.
Girard is younger by five years and more skilled, with arguably more of an upside. Personally, I don’t think a 5’10” 170-pound defenseman with a bit of a checkered health history is going to help what was already an undersized defensive corps stand up to the rigors of playoff competition.
Girard’s won a Cup with the Avs, you say? Yes, he did. But he was knocked out of the playoffs early with a fractured sternum and was not available in the later rounds.
Again, my take is we would’ve been better served in the short-run to keep to Kulak. Of course, it’s important to note that we also received a second-round pick in the deal. Again fitting with Dubas’s plan of always making trades with at least one eye cast to the future.
Could he make other, similar deals at the deadline?
More to the point, could he be planning to move any or all of the Pens’ pending UFAs, including forwards Anthony Mantha, Noel Acciari and Connor Dewar? Defenseman Connor Clifton and goalie Stuart Skinner as well?
With a passel of promotable young talent at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, including Rutger McGroarty, AHL Player of the Month Ville Koivunen, Filip Hållander and Sergei Murashov, it certainly would seem a possibility.
Too, Dubas has a documented habit of dealing his UFAs-to-be (Kulak, Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass) or allowing them to walk, dating back to his tenure with Toronto.
However, any trades involving the aforementioned players could severely weaken a team that already dealing with Sidney Crosby’s prolonged absence. Mantha (21 goals, 45 points, plus-16) has been a revelation. Dewar (a career-best 13 goals and counting) and Acciari are key members of a gritty, productive fourth line that’s limited foes to only seven 5v5 goals.
While Skinner hasn’t been brilliant, he’s certainly been serviceable and more to the tune of a .905 save percentage and an 8-1-2 record over his last 11 games. Great guy in the locker room as well.
Remove any of one these players? It could undercut the team’s chances in the immediate future, perhaps significantly. Especially since, as we know all-too-well, implementing kids isn’t necessarily a linear process. As often as not there are growing pains involved. Koivunen being a prime example.
This is just a guess, and an uneducated one at that. I think Dubas will go against type and hang on to all or most of these players, with the possible exception of Skinner. Tandem-mate Arturs Šilovs seems to be emerging as a bona fide starter. Murashov’s been lights-out for the Baby Pens (2.12 GAA, .924 SV%) and would seem to have little left to prove in the AHL.
Obviously, it’s impossible to know what Dubas plans to do. My hope is, he doesn’t intentionally bust up a spirited, overachieving bunch that has earned the opportunity to at least take a run at hockey’s Holy Grail.