As the trade deadline, approaches, there’s been a lot of talk about what the Pens need to do to upgrade their roster. Most common suggestions include either a scoring winger (Ray Whitney, anyone?) and/or a defensive defenseman.
Along those lines, I received an e-mail from a good friend Wednesday. In it, he suggested the Pens pick up defenseman Brendan Witt, who has been placed on waivers by the Islanders. His logic: the Pens need another rock solid, stay-at-home defenseman ala Rob Scuderi. Great idea, wrong player. Witt’s on the decline, evidenced by his ghastly –18 rating in 42 games this season. He was a dreadful –34 in 65 games last year.
There’s no question Witt fits the bill as a defensive defenseman – he has 25 goals in 890 career games and plays a physical, in-your-face game. No one will ever question his toughness on or off the ice, lest you recall his run-in with an SUV earlier this season. But he’s just not the player he once was. Otherwise, someone would have acquired him via trade, which is exactly what the Isle was hoping to accomplish.
The other rub on Witt – and this is a biggie –is his salary. He’s due $3 million this year AND next. With the Pens’ current cap situation, I don’t think acquiring Witt is feasible. Even if they made room cap-wise for him, do you really want to be on the hook for his salary next season (he turns 35 later this month)? I would think not.
IF the Pens are going to acquire a defensemen for the stretch run, a better option (one my friend also mentioned) might be Garnet Exelby. Toronto is shopping the blueliner, who asked for a trade and has 3 points in 35 games this year. He’s no Scuderi (not even close), but I think he’s a more viable option than Witt. Exelby has a salary of $1,725,000 this year, and he’s an unrestricted free agent after the season. He’s not great, but I think he’d make a good sixth/seventh d-man and give the team some depth heading into the postseason. It’s important to note that Toronto may not be willing to deal him after learning that Mike Komisarek is done for the year with a bum shoulder.
I’m not sold that the Pens need to bolster their blueline. If necessary, give Ben Lovejoy a chance. He looked good the last time he was up and figures to be an important part of the team’s future.
Back to Whitney, who is probably the hottest commodity out there not named Kovalchuk. He reportedly wants to come here, but Carolina is holding out for max value (rightfully so) – to the tune of a high draft choice and/or top prospect. Whitney has 319 career goals (114 in four-plus seasons in Carolina) and a Stanley Cup ring. I would love to see him in black-and-gold, skating alongside Malkin and playing on the PP. With a healthy Chris Kunitz, the addition of Whitney would give the team a sick top-3 lines.
But there are a couple of issues. First, you’d have to clear some room under the cap, meaning somebody has to go. It most likely wouldn’t be in a trade with Carolina. Secondly, can the Pens afford to give up a high draft pick and/or trade away one of their top prospects for an aging winger that will be an unrestricted free agent after the season? I wouldn’t think so, but I’ve been wrong many times before. I just don’t know if this one will happen. In this case, however, the potential reward may be well worth it.