Expensive Penguins Defenseman Healthy Scratched: Trade Speculation Growing
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Trade speculation is growing after the Pittsburgh Penguins decided to healthy-scratch an expensive defenseman from their lineup.
There's been a lot of trade rumors surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. After a tough start and a 7-10-3 record, Sidney Crosby's team is currently seventh in the Metropolitan Division.
President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas appears poised to make a move and indicated that everyone on the team except Crosby could end up on the trade block.
Less than a week after the Pens traded Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals, experts are all wondering who'll be the next player to be traded out of Pittsburgh.
It turns out that management possibly gave fans a massive hint on their next move during this weekend's game against the San Jose Sharks.
For that game, they decided to healthy scratch defenseman Ryan Graves from the lineup. Since then, a wave of rumors involving Graves has been circulating.
In Parsons' words:
"The Pittsburgh Penguins made defenseman Ryan Graves a healthy scratch on Saturday as the played the San Jose Sharks. Considering the trade rumors surrounding the Penguins, it's hard not to see this decision as anything less than a warning to the $4.5 million defenseman that he needs to turn his game around."
With Graves' $4.5 million AAV contract with five years left on it, Dubas could struggle to trade the defenseman. Also, his underwhelming performances so far this season could dissuade many teams from acquiring him.
In 19 games this season, Graves has a -7 rating and zero points.
It's only a rumor at this point, but if Graves can't help his team bounce back from the tough first stretch of the season, Dubas could be looking to offload him to create cap space or acquire a depth player.
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