Would the Penguins get good value by trading Phil Kessel to Minnesota?

When analyzing trades (or potential trades), often people will want to know one thing. Who won the trade? It’s not uncommon for people to try and award a winner just five minutes after the ink is dry on the paperwork.

In the terms of the potential Phil Kessel/Jack Johnson trade on the table with the Minnesota Wild, it’s not unreasonable to see it as a wash of sorts.

The Penguins would get younger in the deal, by shedding Johnson and Kessel for two younger players, and get a little bit faster too. Jason Zucker and Victor Rask are both younger players.

Like it or not (by trading a popular player, I feel the consensus will be more of the latter), this kind of trade is the type that can easily be summed up as a “hockey trade.” Two teams each looking to fill a need or fix a problem, and in this case, it can be a little bit of both.

Bigger than anything else, if the Penguins feel the need to make a trade, even if you don’t want to see Kessel go, we all should be in agreement that it’s a better alternative than Malkin or Letang.