This year's trade deadline produced only ripples for the Penguins

Last season the Pittsburgh Penguins made quite the splash at the trade deadline acquiring longtime captains Jarome Iginla and Brendan Morrow, defenceman and penalty killing specialist Douglas Murray and centre/left-winger Jussi Jokinen. This season the Penguins created only ripples, adding to their depth at forward, but left the bigger fish to other organizations. Now that I have pretty much killed that analogy, I will explain why I think the smaller moves will be more beneficial for the Penguins playoffs hopes this season, assuming of course that they can make it through the first round and Marc André Fleury plays the way all us fans know he can. 

The Penguins only made two moves at the deadline, adding right-winger Lee Stempniak from the Calgary Flames and centre Marcel Goc from the Florida Panthers, both for future draft selections.

With Pascal Dupuis expected to miss the remainder of the season because of his knee injury and Beau Bennett still sidelined with a broken wrist, Stempniak will likely start by playing alongside Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz. The main reason I like this move is that Stempniak adds experience to the line; Bylsma has been forced to rotate through a variety of wingers on his top line, including rookies Jason Megna and Brian Gibbons both called up from Wilkes-Barre Scranton this season. Stempniak has 10 years of NHL experience, so while is point production isn’t very high with only 23 points in 52 games this season with the Flames, his NHL experience may provide the stability they have been missing since December. 

Many have speculated that Marcel Goc was acquired so that he could either form part of a package the Penguins would send to Vancouver in exchange for Ryan Kesler, or so that they could trade Brandan Sutter for Kesler, while maintaining depth at centre. In the end Kesler wasn’t traded so we’ll never know whether either of these scenarios was accurate, but given the Penguins history with injuries, I like the addition of a gritty third or fourth line centre. Goc is not a high scoring elite centre, but with Malkin and Crosby in the lineup, the Penguins don’t need him to be; what he does add is a solid faceoff percentage with 52.8% success rate, and the ability to kill penalties. It is a common belief in hockey that elite players will help you succeed, but that contending teams are great because they have strong depth and talented role players who can provide secondary scoring. Going into the trade deadline the Penguins had all the talent and elite ability they needed to win, but they lacked depth and, unlike last year when they loaded up , I think this year Shero got it right.

Last year Shero went all in and added skill and prestige to the lineup at the trade deadline with some big name rental players. No one expected Brendan Morrow, Jarome Iginla or Douglas Murray to stay past the season, the Penguins were loading up for one last run at the cup before the salary cap was lowered under the new CBA. On paper the Penguins seemed almost unstoppable, and yet they floundered in the conference final losing four straight to the Boston Bruins. So what happened? Personally I think the additions at the trade deadline may have ruined the chemistry the team had worked so hard to create at the beginning of the season.

Teams go through ups and downs every season, whether it be winning streaks, losing streaks, injuries and road trips, it all builds chemistry and camaraderie. Hockey players are all about routine, they get used to playing with the same players and playing their role in the larger team dynamic, when a team adds that much talent that close to the playoffs, everything changes. New lines are formed, younger, hardworking players become healthy scratches and the team searches for a new identity. The Penguins were able to squeak through the first two rounds last year playing younger, less experienced team, but as soon as they faced the Bruins, their lack of cohesion and identity became apparent. They weren’t playing their game because this group of players hadn’t yet defined what their game was; there were too many new pairings and new players and the chemistry just never quite happened. All of a sudden the team that was favoured to win the Cup was out, losing in stunning four game sweep. 

Last year Shero went too big and got too greedy and I think it cost the team a chance at the Stanley Cup Finals, this season I think he got it just right. He didn’t make the splash he did last year, instead he evaluated the team dynamic and added key parts to help strengthen their identity and fill the holes created by injuries. The off-season is for the big moves and blockbuster signings, the trade deadline is about strengthening what you already have, and this year Shero did just that, and, barring any further injuries, I feel confident this team has what it takes to challenge for the Cup.