The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a tough spot on the blue line.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a bind. They have nine NHL caliber defensemen and can only carry eight on the opening roster. With the recent news that the Penguins attempted to trade prospect PO Joseph to all 31 teams this summer, it seems they are destined to lose a defenseman before the start of the season.
While having too much NHL talent should be good for the Penguins, losing one of those pieces due to poor asset management is not. Penguins general manager Ron Hextall was quick and decisive with his moves this summer, signing Jan Rutta on the opening day of free agency and executing two trades a few days later to bring in Jeff Petry and Ty Smith.
Those moves happening in quick succession created a log jam on the Penguin's blue line at the NHL level, and general managers around the league took notice. Fast forward two months and the Penguins are fast approaching the deadline to get salary cap and roster compliant.
Smith is the only defenseman that can be assigned to the minors without the threat of a waiver claim, but it seems he has won the battle for the last spot on the bottom pairing. That leaves one of Joseph, Mark Friedman, or Chad Ruhwedel to be placed on waivers in the next week.
While there is still time for a trade to be made, the Penguins will have to choose between receiving a diminished return for an NHL asset or likely losing one for nothing on the waiver wire. Losing the organization's ninth-best defenseman isn't a crippling blow to the team. However, it is a loss due to Hextall overplaying his hand early in the summer, and one that could've been avoided.
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