Photo Credit: nhl.com
The Pittsburgh Penguins have been making more than a few moves during this year’s free agency. One of the biggest has to be their trade with the Maple Leafs that resulted in the Pens acquiring Phil Kessel. This time, however, the Penguins traded Brandon Sutter to the Vancouver Canucks along with a 2016 third-round draft pick. Sutter should be used to trades by now, especially since he was acquired by Pittsburgh in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Even Penguins GM Jim Rutherford made a joke about Sutter, “He’s actually, believe it or not, one of my favorite guys,” Rutherford said. “And I’ve ended up trading him twice” which refers to both his trade of Sutter now and his previous trade when Rutherford was GM of the Hurricanes.
With the trade of Sutter, the Penguins got forward Nick Bonino, defenseman Adam Clendening and a second-round draft pick in 2016. So far this off-season, the Penguins have been trying to beef up their roster and Bonino is another great addition to that. Just last season, Bonino racked up 15 goals, making his career goals up to 48 and 24 assists. Bonino’s position on the Pens roster seems pretty defined at this point. Bonino will be picking up where Sutter left off essentially and it looks like it Sutter will be an excellent replacement for Bonino.
The addition of Adam Clendening is certainly an interesting one. Clendening is a former Blackhawk turned Canuck and is now a Penguin. Clendening is young, eager and hungry to finally get a chance to really show himself off. While Clendening doesn’t have as much experience, he has an outstanding AHL career with 47 assists and 59 points which is certainly what the Penguins need. Even though it’s not as impressive, Clendening still has his first NHL goal from Chicago to give him a little bit of credibility. If the Penguins give him a chance to show off his potential and help to mold him into a more defined player, he will be a welcomed addition to their roster.
While Sutter’s trade was big news, the signing of Eric Fehr seems to be even bigger news. Part of the reason why they were able to sign Fehr was the loss of Sutter. Trading Sutter helped the Pens to make space in their salary cap to obtain Fehr. Fehr’s contract is 3 years for $6 million, but one of the biggest drawbacks of Fehr is his elbow injury which could leave him out for a few months. Last season with the Capitals, Fehr scored 19 goals and 33 points which is the second highest of his career. Fehr adds a lot of meat to the Pens roster due to his versatility on the ice since he is very adaptable and can play multiple positions along with the fact that he’s a very physical player.
So far, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been making some steals this offseason. Hopefully, all of these moves can help get them farther into the playoffs and will finally get their roster the help that it needs.
