
Samual Campbell
It’s hard crafting a trade for a team that’s performing well, but there is always room for improvement. Looking at stats from the regular season, the Pens ended their regular season ranked 28th in face-off percentage with 47.6 win percentage. While they are faring alright so far in the playoffs, winning draws is not a problem you want to encounter in the next rounds.
I think going back to the deadline and adding a center that could win draws would have been a decent move. Not to mention, when looking at the depth chart, your top 4 centers in Crosby, Malkin, Bonino and Cullen, are all left handed. This gives us more incentive to try and land a right handed player as well.
Since we know the Carolina Hurricanes did not end up cinching a playoff spot, let’s pretend they were sellers at the deadline. The guy I’m targeting is Derek Ryan. The right handed forward had a 55.3% in the face-off, and even added 29 points to his season stats. His contract is also very friendly, coming in at $600,000 annual salary.
Ryan fills a need, is cheap, might chip in a goal or two, and shouldn’t cost too much from the Penguins roster to bring him in.
He is 30 years old, and Carolina has quite a few budding NHLer on their roster. So we’ll send a Wilkes-Barre guy who may or may not pan out into a bottom six type, and throw in a pick for good measure.
Derek Ryan in exchange for Jean-Sebastian Dea and 2018 4th round pick.