The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired Jack Rathbone in exchange for Mark Friedman.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have made their first trade of the 2023-24 season and acquired defenseman Jack Rathbone from the Vancouver Canucks.

Also coming to the Penguins organization is forward Karel Plasek; Rathbone will be sent to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, while Plasek is heading to the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.

In exchange for Rathbone and Plasek, the Canucks receive fan-favorite defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Ty Glover.

Rathbone is a 24-year-old left-shot defenseman who has played 28 career games in the NHL after being a fourth-round pick in the 2017 Entry Draft.

In those 28 games, Rathbone has collected a pair of goal and three assists; down the line, he could be a quality third pairing defender for the Penguins.

Rathbone is in the final year of a contract that earns him $850,000 at the NHL level.

The Penguins are losing a fan-favorite in Friedman, but he had lost his fight for a role in the lineup and was more of a Ron Hextall guy.

With Kyle Dubas in charge, the Penguins have slowly clensed themselves of quite a few Hextall additions.

During his time in Pittsburgh, Friendman spent more time with the WBS Penguins than at the NHL level.

Friedman appeared in 54 games with the Penguins and recorded 11 points.

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