The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Sam Girard from the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, so let's look at his potential impact with the team.
The Pittsburgh Penguins made a trade with the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, sending defenseman Brett Kulak to the Avalanche in exchange for fellow defenseman Samuel Girard and a 2028 second-round pick.
Kulak was with the Penguins for a little over two months before being traded to the Avalanche. He was originally acquired by the Penguins in the Tristan Jarry trade back in December.
Now that the dust has settled, this is a nice piece of business from Penguins president and general manager Kyle Dubas. He got a younger defenseman who is signed for one more year, along with a second-round pick, for a defenseman who was going to walk into free agency this summer. Dubas has been on an absolute heater for the last year and a half and is showing no signs of slowing down.
That 2028 second-rounder is one of seven second-round picks that the Penguins have in the next three drafts. They also have three first-round picks and six third-round picks in the next three drafts. There's still plenty of time for those numbers to grow, too.
Dubas continues to prioritize his plan to get the Penguins back to being a long-term contender as urgently as possible, while also rewarding his team for the season they're having. He knows this is a team capable of making the playoffs and potentially earning home ice in the first round.
Girard brings a different skill set than Kulak. He may not be as steady in his own zone or in front of the net, but he's a good puck-mover, something the Penguins need more of on the backend. Outside of Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, the Penguins don't have another true puck-mover. Girard is also someone who plays well in transition and exits his own zone cleanly.
He brings more of an offensive presence, and if the Penguins really want to, they can have an offensive-first defenseman on all three of their defensive pairs.
Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard (49) stretches during the warmup before the game against the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn ImagesThey're going to keep the Wotherspoon-Karlsson pairing together since it's been their best pairing all year. After that, they could look to reunite the Shea-Letang pair since it was successful at times earlier this season. That would leave Girard to play on the third pair with one of Connor Clifton or Ilya Solovyov. Either way, you'd have a pure offensive-first and a defense-first player on each defensive pair.
However, the Penguins could also look to try Girard with Letang and at least see how it goes. It might turn into a full chaos pairing, but head coach Dan Muse hasn't been afraid to try new lines/pairs at times this year.
Girard's underlying numbers have been really strong this year. He has played 653 minutes at 5v5 and has been on the ice for 56.4% of the shot attempts, 54.9% of the expected goals, 58.1% of the scoring chances, and 53.4% of the high-danger chances. Yes, the Avalanche are a juggernaut this season, but those numbers speak to his ability to drive possession and work the puck into the offensive zone for some good chances.
All in all, Girard is a nice fit for the blue line and will have the chance to help this team in a multitude of ways on a nightly basis.
We'll see if he's in the lineup on Thursday when the Penguins host the New Jersey Devils. It will be their first game in three weeks since the NHL has been on its Olympic break.
(Data via Natural Stat Trick).
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!