Can't Count On the Trade Deadline?

King Shero is a master at finding guys nobody ever thinks about. He’ll figure something out.

What is out there in terms of giving us some veteran depth on D? Anyone feel we need that, or are we comfy going in with what we have?

I was looking at Moulson and noticed that not one player on the Isles has a positive +/-

The only person that is not negative Jurcina who has a 0 +/-

I don’t think we have any glaring weaknesses and yea our strength is center, but no way do we trade one of our centers away… and the centers I would be okay with getting rid of are pretty cheap and not going to bring anything to make us better in return. I say we stand put with what we have.

I think Gogo would make great trade bait this season. His value is very high right now, and I think it’d be in Shero’s interest to see what type of top six winger we could get in return for Gogo.

Interesting topic.

Another problem is the lack of "sellers’. There’s probably only 6 teams out there with no hope of making the playoffs (EDM, CGY, NJD, NYI, OTT and TOR), Maybe FLA and CBS joins them soon, but other than that everyone else is right in the hunt and probably not going to look to shed a veteran NHL level player.

The bigger problem is the salary cap. The Pens are very tight to it and while they may be able to drop Godard via waivers, probably any move they do they might have to trade a player (Tyler Kennedy?) or be willing to risk a guy like Chris Conner to the waiver wire. And even then, those guys don’t make that much money. I don’t even think the Pens could acquire a guy like Moulson ($2.6 mill) if they dropped Godard ($750k) and traded away Kennedy ($725k).

But I could be wrong. IF they could retrodate Comrie’s LTIR to when he left the lineup, that would be a tremendous savings to the cap down the stretch, but I’m not quite sure if that is how it works. If that’s the case though, they probably could make a move and squeeze under.

Other potential rental targets (from teams likely to be out of contention):
—Alex Tanguay, CGY ($1.7 mill)
—Antti Mietinen or Andrew Brunette if Minn falls out of the race (both at $2.33 mill)
—Cory Stillman, FLA ($3.5 mil)

Tanguay could be intriguing, but he’s far from a “Shero player”, Stillman is a touch too expensive and so old that he looks shot to me, either Minnesota player could be a great addition though.

All of this makes sense what with our stacked center postion, a solid d-core, and a tight slaray cap, but there is one reason we will go after a deadline winger, Sidney Crosby. I’ve heard from a few sites now that Crosby has been pushing for a scoring winger to play with, and we can’t hardly blame him. However that leaves Shero with a tough job, considering what we’ve already discussed a lack of wingers. Personally i would see if we couldn’t strike up a deal to swing Clarke MaCarthur our way. Only a 1 million hit and is putting up solid numbers in Toronto, of course so did Ponikarosky and we all know how well that worked out. It might be hard to pry him away from the Leafs, but I think maybe a player like TK and a mid round pick would entice Burke.

I heard a rumor on ESPN about Arnott being on the move this deadline. I’m wondering what people’s thoughts are on him? He’s a big two-way center that uses his size well. Right now, I don’t think Bylsma is going to change the Staal, Kennedy and Cooke line (though things could change quickly). When Crosby comes back, he will play with Kunitz and Dupuis. That leaves Malkin without any linemates. I think Arnott could play well with Malkin down the stretch.

Ok guys, don’t kill me…I am looking at players purely for skill and ability here, and I am disreguarding current team…here are a few names I would like to see mentioned or attempted to be gotten…Moulson, Zherdev, Lenio, Hejduk, Knuble…top 2 would be Knuble and Lenio, if possible…again I know they are on rival teams, so the chances are slim, but hey a man can dream.

I heard a rumor of us getting Iginla and Regehr for Malkin?? Doesn’t make sense trade a 24 year scorer for a 33 forward who isn’t the same player he was 3 years ago (he isn’t a 50 goal scorer anymore) and a 30 year old defensemen??
I also heard the Pens and Sens working on a deal that could be done in February..
Why trade Malkin?? He has far better hockey ahead of him and they’ll never get equal value for him!! Remember Pens fans who say trade Malkin.. two names Mark Recchi and Markus Naslund!!
They don’t need to make a move now..
My team:
KUNITZ – CROSBY – MALKIN
COOKE – STAAL – KENNEDY
DUPUIS – LETESTU – TALBOT
RUPP – ADAMS – ASHAM

LETANG – ORPIK
MARTIN – MICHALEK
GOLIGOSKI – ENGELLAND

FLEURY
JOHNSON

if add Upshall (see above)

LW – C – RW
1 – Kunitz – Crosby – Upshall
1A – Cooke – Staal – Malkin
3 – Dupuis – Letestu – Kennedy
4 – Rupp/Asham – Talbot – Adams

Line 1 – Upshall bolsters scoring of already potent line
Line 1A – the Staalkin line means Ds can’t focus soley on shutting down the Crosby line
Line 3 – Dupuis bolsters defensive capability

I like the idea of Scottie Upshall. I have always liked his game and he is a Shero guy, from their days in Nashville. If he is worth getting Shero will know.

I wouldn’t mind a depth defenseman because I don’t think Engelland is a playoff guy and Lovejoy can’t seem to make the lineup. Gogo needs a better partner and has played with those before mentioned players not because they are good fits, but by default.

he is a Shero guy, from their days in Nashville. If he is worth getting Shero will know.

good point.