Pittsburgh Penguins History: Revisiting the 2007 Trade Deadline

The Pittsburgh Penguins are usually busy in the days leading up the trade deadline, Feb. 27, 2007, was no exception as the team completed several trades.

During his time with the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager, Ray Shero never shied away from making big trades.

While the deals he made during the 2007 trade Deadline may not be the biggest in terms of the marquee talent involved, the number of deals Shero completed ranks among the most in team history.

Here’s a look back at one of the busiest trade deadlines in Penguins history.

Minor Rust

In one of the minor deals of the day the Penguins acquired Joel Kwiatkowski from the Florida Panthers for a 4th round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.

Prior to the deal Kwiatokowski skated in 41 games with the Panthers and scored 5 goals and 10 points.

His only appearance with the Penguins occurred on Mar. 8, 2007, vs. New Jersey Devils, where Kwiatowski logged 11:59 of ice time from 18 shifts.

The Panthers selected Matt Rust (current Pittsburgh forward Bryan Rust‘s brother) with the pick they received in the trade.

Although Rust never cracked an NHL squad, he did appear in 43 games with the Wilkes Barre Scranton Penguins (WBS), the Pittsburgh Penguins American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, in 2011-12, where he collected four goals and 11 points in 43 games.

Brains and Braun

In another minor deal, the San Jose Sharks, shipped goaltender Nolan Schaefer to the Penguins, for a 7th round pick in the 2007 draft.

The Sharks selected defenseman Justin Braun with their pick.

Braun would appear in 603 games and scored 27 goals and 173 points, with San Jose and the Philadelphia Flyers.

While Schaefer never joined the Penguins he earned a respectable 9-5-0 record with WBS.

Go Wild

Years before the Minnesota Wild and Penguins forged the Jason Zucker/Alex Galchenyuk deal. Pittsburgh sent defensemen Dominic Moore to the Wild for a 2007 3rd rd pick.

Moore was traded to Pittsburgh by the Nashville Predators with Libor Pivko for Pittsburgh’s 3rd round pick in 2007 NHL Draft on July 19, 2006.

In 59 games with the Penguins, Moore collected six goals and 15 points.

Pittsburgh turned their pick into forward Casey Pierro-Zabotel.

Pierro-Zabotel found his niche with the Wheeling Nailers, who is Pittsburgh’s East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Affiliate, where he scored 26 goals and 75 points in 91 games with the club.

Pierro-Zabotel remains active to this day with the Adirondack Thunder of the ECHL, he has scored 23 goals and 36 points in 57 games this season.

The Big One

In one of the larger moves of the day, Pittsburgh brought in some serious muscle with an infectious smile.

Pittsburgh sent Daniel Carcillo and a 2008 3rd round pick (Tomas Kundratek) to the Phoenix Coyotes for Georges Laraque.

Carcillo was a hard-nosed winger with a penchant for physicality. Carcillo played with Phoenix, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York during his 9-year career.

Carcillo accumulated 48 goals and 100 points with 1233 penalty minutes in 429 games.

Laraque was eager to protect the burgeoning superstars on the Penguins roster and accumulated 4 goals and 15 points with 155 penalty minutes in 88 regular-season games with Pittsburgh, he also appeared in 17 postseason games earning one goal and three points with four penalty minutes from 2006-2008.

The Bigger One

In the biggest move of the day, the Penguins and Panthers completed another swap. Defenseman Noah Welch was shipped to Florida and Gary Roberts came to the steel city.

Welch had appeared in 27 games over two seasons with Pittsburgh, while Roberts was a veteran with nearly two decades experience and well over 1000 games under his belt by the time the trade was executed.

Roberts scored 10 goals and 28 points in 57 regular-season games with and 4 goals and 8 points in 16 playoff contests with Pittsburgh from 2006-2008.

What do you think was the biggest move of the day for the Pittsburgh Penguins? Drop it in the comment section below.