Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas met with the media yesterday and was frank and open about his team as the trade deadline nears. With the Pens mired in seventh place in the Metro Division and sixth in the Eastern Conference wild-card chase, Dubas sounded ready to wheel and deal as the deadline nears. He’ll have until March 8th to get the team shaped up for a playoff run, and some big names could be exiting Pittsburgh.
The biggest name of all would be a trade of Jake Guentzel, who is a pending free agent. With the Pens locked into guaranteed no-trade contracts with some of their biggest names, there might be no room for Guentzel, who is currently on the injured list.
CapFriendly.com says the Penguins have thirteen players with no-trade or no-movement clauses in their contracts, and Dubas didn’t sound as if he had asked anybody to waive the protection.
Dubas believes he’s stocked with high-quality NHL talent that has not been able to play consistent hockey together. He’s taken lots of calls from other teams interested in grabbing a player or two from the Penguins.
Dubas expressed confidence in coach Mike Sullivan but appeared to waver a bit on assistant Todd Reirden, who is in charge of the underachieving Penguins power play.
The Pens will play the Montreal Canadiens tonight at PPG Paints Arena. Noel Acciari could return from a stint on injured reserve with a concussion. The Pens yesterday waived forward Colin White to pave the way for Acciari’s activation from IR.
Because of high school basketball tonight on U92, we cannot air the Penguins’ game.
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