Adam Proteau analyzes the state of the Pittsburgh Penguins after trading for Granlund, the Philadelphia Flyers, the Ottawa Senators and the Detroit Red Wings.
Welcome back to Screen Shots, a regular THN.com feature in which we break down a few hockey topics, and discuss them in a few short paragraphs. Onward we go:
Newly acquired Pittsburgh Penguins forward Mikael Granlund and Rickard Rakell.Late Wednesday night, after the Pittsburgh Penguins made a curious deal to acquire former Nashville Predators forward Mikael Granlund, the level of anger I saw on social media was off the charts. And when you combine that anger with the anger of the Philadelphia Flyers, I don’t ever remember a time when there was more frustration over NHL hockey in Pennsylvania than there is now.
The worst part of the Flyers’ and Penguins’ current woes is that most of, if not all, the wounds to the two teams are self-inflicted.
Pens GM Ron Hextall’s plan for winning is not apparent, and he seems to be throwing whatever he can against the wall and hoping it sticks.
The Granlund acquisition locks up $5 million in cap space for the next two seasons, and he’s a 31-year-old who hasn’t reached the 20-goal level since the 2017-18 season. He’s a diminishing asset who hamstrings the franchise in adding talent down the line, and Hextall is responsible for this desperate-feeling move.
Meanwhile, in Philly, the Flyers are 2-6-2 in their past 10 games and 3-8-4 in their past 15 games. They’re now just a single standings point ahead of the Montreal Canadiens for 15th place in the Eastern Conference.
While it improves their chances to win the Connor Bedard sweepstakes, Flyers fans have every right to question why their future is being left to current GM Chuck Fletcher, who just recently said his team will be sellers after thinking this club was a legitimate playoff contender for years now.
It’s tough enough on fan bases when their team goes through a stretch of bad luck, but in the case of the Flyers and Penguins, the grand majority of the wounds are self-inflicted. And the light at the end of the tunnel for both teams seems quite far away.
Another big trade on Wednesday was the deal that sent defenseman Jakob Chychrun to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for a conditional first-round draft pick and two second-rounders. There’s no question the Sens are a better all-around team with Chychrun on board, but we wonder if the move has come too late in the season for Ottawa to earn a wild-card playoff berth.
The Senators’ improved performance of late has moved them out of the Eastern Conference basement, but they’re still only tied for 12th place in the East. There are five teams ahead of them for the two available wild-card spots.
Ottawa does have some games in hand on the teams ahead of them, but this writer has said before that he believes the blossoming Buffalo Sabres are going to take one of those wild-card slots, and the other five teams in the race are going to make it very difficult for the Sens to overcome the odds and avoid missing the playoffs for the sixth-straight season.
If Chychrun had been acquired earlier in the season, the Senators’ playoff chances might have been far better than they are now. Chychrun is under contract for two more seasons, and while their odds at being a playoff team at that point have now improved, Ottawa is more than likely up against too many obstacles for them to be a playoff team this year.
Lastly, the Detroit Red Wings continued to make headlines before the trade deadline, moving top-six forward Tyler Bertuzzi to the Boston Bruins Thursday in return for a top-10 protected first-round pick in 2024 and a fourth-rounder in 2025.
The Wings are still in the hunt for a wild-card spot, but GM Steve Yzerman has been more than willing to deal a player not in Detroit’s long-term plans for help down the road.
As a result, the Red Wings have got five picks in the first two rounds this summer and three picks in the first two rounds of the 2024 draft. That's impressive work by Yzerman.
The Wings aren’t yet good enough to be considered a bona fide Cup contender, but they are putting their draft and development team in a solid position. Sure, they’re desperate for playoff hockey in Motown, but their patience with Yzerman should pay off relatively soon.