Carolina's Ray Whitney wants to come to Pittsburgh?

Here's a juicy rumor, courtesy of the very well-established and regarded Bob McKenzie from TSN:

...many think that team [Ray Whitney] is waiting on at the deadline is none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Whitney might look pretty good patrolling Sidney Crosby's wing in the playoffs. He certainly fits the bill of what the Penguins need - a goal-scoring winger with clutch qualities and Stanley Cup experience.

But sources say Pittsburgh has yet to inquire about Whitney and even if the Penguins did, they are not likely to be able to offer up as much as Los Angeles was prepared to give Carolina.

Ray Whitney has a no-trade clause, he has to agree to any trade before it takes effect.  McKenzie also states in his article that the 37-year-old Whitney demanded a three year contract extension from LA in order to accept the trade.  If that's his stance with Pittsburgh, he won't help the champs defend their title.

Even though McKenzie is a good writer with a ton of great league sources, the days of "Player X would love to play in Pittsburgh" dates back to Paul Kariya supposedly joining his Olympic buddy Mario Lemieux, and so on and so on.  We've heard for a long time of a laundry list of players that would love the chance to play for the Penguins....and it usually never happens.

I think a key part in the article is "Pittsburgh has yet to inquire".  Though Whitney is a scoring winger that still has something to offer, apparently (if you believe this report), it hasn't gotten serious yet.

In terms of a pure rental, Ray Whitney fits Pittsburgh's needs better than perhaps any available player on one of the few teams destined to be "sellers" at the deadline.  What remains to be seen is if Shero will be interested in him before another team sends Carolina king's ransom (and enough pressure) to make a trade first.