1000 Game Veteran Open for Trade as Crosby and Malkin Struggle to Carry Aging Penguins
Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins are reportedly considering moving one of the NHL's top defenseman at the trade deadline this year.
The Penguins are one of those teams that just can't pick a direction.
This season has been more of the same with periodic hot streaks fanning hopes that they could make a push for the playoffs only for longer cold streaks to dampen those flames.
Currently, the team is on one of those infamous cold streaks, winning just 2 of their last ten games.
As the March 7th trade deadline gets closer, it will soon be time for Kyle Dubas to decide what he needs to do, and he may very well be a seller yet again.
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey now writes:
Players like Marcus Pettersson and even Erik Karlsson could be all but out the door. Karlsson is open to a deal if that is what Kyle Dubas needs to do."
Karlsson may very well be the Penguins most valuable trade asset this season.
He has been much better than last year, putting up 4 goals and 32 points in 48 games.
He has been particularly hot recently, posting his best stretch of the season with 14 points over his last 15 games.
If this trend continues, he could potentially fetch a very good return come March, assuming the Penguins are still out of the playoff picture.
That being said, he does still come with a 10 million dollar cap hit and he has two years left on his deal after this one.
As such, it will be a tough pill to swallow for the team to retain salary on him, but it may very well be worth it.
