Up to this point in the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the most active teams in the league on the trade market.
On Tuesday, they made yet another move to help shore up some depth for a playoff run. And it's a move that has some upside potential.
The Penguins sent forward Valtteri Puustinen and a 2026 seventh-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for left defenseman Ilya Solovyov. The 25-year-old blueliner was selected in the seventh round (201st overall) by the Calgary Flames in the 2020 NHL Draft, and he was claimed off waivers by the Avs on Oct. 3.
In 16 games with the Avalanche this season, the 6-foot-3, 208-pound defenseman registerd a goal and three points to go along with a minus-1. In 31 career NHL games, he has a goal and seven points.
On the surface, nothing jumps out about Solovyov, who didn't really have the chance to crack the lineup much on a dominant Colorado team. But, given the Penguins' lack of depth on the left side of their blue line - and their lack of NHL-ready organizational depth at defense in general - it made sense for GM/POHO Kyle Dubas to target depth defensemen, especially as the Penguins push for the playoffs.
But there may be a bit of untapped potential in Solovyov. He has a booming shot, and he isn't afraid to use his size to his advantage. In 59 games with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL last season, he had six goals and 28 points and was a plus-8. He also has the ability to box out players at the net-front with his frame, and he is pretty decent in transition.
Solovyov will join the NHL club on its Western road trip, and their next game is in his old stomping grounds in Calgary on Wednesday, when they take on the Flames. With Kris Letang day-to-day with an upper-body injury and Erik Karlsson stating he wouldn't be in the lineup Wednesday despite making the trip with the team, there's a chance Solovyov might be in the lineup as soon as then.
All in all, this was a low-risk move for the Penguins, and it never hurts to have more depth on the blue line - especially on a left side that has yet to have a bottom-pairing blueliner stick in the lineup on a permanent basis.
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