Penguins Trade Deadline Preview: What Every Player Is Actually Worth

Diving into the Penguins' potential trade candidates heading into Friday's Deadline.

With the trade deadline looming and the Pens in obvious “sell” mode, let’s take a look at what some of their players might be worth in the current trade market. All the “draft pick” values are approximate (i.e., a “3rd round pick” could also mean a 3rd round talent-level prospect), and all outcomes could be bolstered by the Pens taking back a bad contract or retaining salary. Players are listed loosely in the order of their likelihood of being moved.

LW Anthony Beauvillier

The Pitch: Scrappy forechecking winger who’s on pace for 15+ goals, can pop up & down the lineup, and only costs $1.25 mil.

Comparable Trades: Well, Beauvillier himself got traded at the deadline last year from Chicago to Nashville for a 5th round pick. At the time, he was sitting on four total goals and was still on his $4.15 mil contract from the Islanders, so he was much less sought-after. The contract got dumped on Vancouver in the Bo Horvat trade, then re-dumped to Chicago mid-season before finally being deadline-dumped to Nashville. Lots of dumping going on.

Possible Fits: Teams tight against the cap who could use an extra flexible forward; Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Colorado, Ottawa, Carolina.

Verdict: His bounceback season and his much more palatable cap hit will bump his value back up this year, but rental wingers are still usually a dime a dozen and he doesn’t have any of the “intangibles” (playoff history, physicality) that teams sometimes overpay for. I’m thinking he goes at the last minute for a 4th round pick, with an outside shot at a 3rd.

LD Matt Grzelcyk

The Pitch: Assist machine who can man a 2nd power play unit and be a contender’s #3 Left D and/or spare 7th defenseman.

Comparable Trades: A couple of pure depth defensemen got traded for 4th round picks last year: Colin Miller went from the Devils to the Jets for a 4th, and good ol’ Chad Ruhwedel went to the Rangers for a 4th, but neither guy had Grzelcyk’s offensive output. Two deadlines ago, Shayne Gostisbehere went from Arizona to Carolina for a 3rd, but had 10 goals at the time of the trade.

Possible Fits: Anyone planning to make a deep playoff run that knows they’ll need more than 6 NHL defensemen; Florida, Tampa Bay, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vegas.

Verdict: Could see a 3rd or 4th, but I bet his smallness will worry teams more than his assist total will impress them. 4th round pick, again with a chance at a 3rd.

C Noel Acciari

The Pitch: Gritty 4th liner who can play center, block shots, kill penalties, and eat defensive zone draws, with 65 career playoff games under his belt.

Comparable Trades: At the 2023 trade deadline, Curtis Lazar went from Vancouver to New Jersey for a 4th, and Oskar Sundqvist went from Detroit to Minnesota for a 4th. This seems to be the going rate for 4th line centers, depending on how teams feel about Acciari’s remaining one year of term.

Possible Fits: Teams that need cheap center depth and PK help. Edmonton, Detroit, Minnesota. If they send him to Edmonton with retention and take back a bad contract, it could get interesting.

Verdict: I think he’s worth a 4th round pick. Maybe a touch more since the center market is so thin. While it’s easy to say “good, ship him out for anything and bring up young players,” I don’t know if the Pens want their Wilkes-Barre prospects playing Acciari’s role (all defensive zone draws + PK.) But they can always deal him now and sign another Lizotte type in the offseason.

LW/RW Rickard Rakell

The Pitch: He’s 12th in the NHL in goals, with more than Mikko Rantanen, Jake Guentzel, Jason Robertson, and anyone on the trade market. He can play either wing, and despite his age, his $5 mil cap hit might be a bargain in the rising cap environment.

Comparable Trades: San Jose got a 1st from Dallas for Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci. Trades don’t always work like, “if they got X, then this better player will be worth double that,” but still, if you can’t get at least a 1st for Rakell, there’s no reason to deal him.

Possible Fits: Los Angeles, Edmonton, Utah, Tampa Bay, Ottawa, Detroit, Minnesota, Vancouver (to backfill Boeser), Winnipeg (if his no-trade allows it); in the Summer, add in Chicago, San Jose, & Anaheim.

Verdict: I wrote much more in-depth about Rakell here. I think he’s worth a 1st plus a minor prospect or a throw-in roster guy to balance the salary.

G Alex Nedeljkovic

The Pitch: Backup goalie with 172 career games played who’ll be very cheap to acquire if a team needs an experienced backup or a #3 if they have injuries in goal heading into the playoffs.

Comparable Trades: Jake Allen went from the Canadiens to the Devils last year for a 3rd round pick. Allen wasn’t having a great year either (.892 SV%) and carried a $3.85 mil cap hit for one additional season, but Montreal ate 50% of that, so his cap hit was lower than Ned’s $2.5. He also had a generally better track record than Ned.

Possible Fits: Florida, Philadelphia, Carolina, Edmonton, maybe Utah to backfill Vejmelka.

Verdict: I don’t think Ned is un-tradeable — there aren’t many pure cheap backups on the market besides Calgary’s Dan Vladar, who’s also struggled — but the teams who need goalies will likely focus on actual upgrades like Utah’s Karel Vejmelka or Anaheim’s John Gibson, rather than deal for a $2.5 mil backup who’s struggled. I think Ned stays, but if they do trade him, I bet it’s part of a swap for a contract that another team doesn’t want, maybe with a negligible pick thrown in.

RD Erik Karlsson

The Pitch: An all-time gifted offensive defenseman who’s still one of the best skaters in the league, drives offense, plays a ton of minutes, and only has two years left on his mega-deal. Yes, he has his obvious shortcomings, but look at contenders’ D depth charts — everyone needs more defensemen.

Comparable Trades: Honestly, the one that just happened: RD Seth Jones went from Chicago to Florida for a 1st round pick and G Spencer Knight, with Chicago retaining $2.5 mil of Jones’ $9.5 mil cap hit for the next five years — a pretty significant retention.

Possible Fits: Win-now contenders who need a high-end D and have enough talent around him to maximize Karlsson’s strengths and minimize his deficiencies. Dallas, Edmonton, Tampa Bay, Vegas, Utah, or an Ottawa reunion. (Honestly the team that needs him the most is Toronto, but it won’t happen for cap reasons and “everyone would be too annoying about it” reasons.)

Verdict: Once Karlsson is paid a bonus this Summer, he’ll only have $10.5 mil in real salary owed to him over the next two seasons. If I’m the Pens, I’d happily retain 3-4 million in cap space for two years to widen the market and improve the return. The cap gymnastics are probably too complicated to pull off in-season. I think Karlsson goes for a 1st this Summer, with the Pens retaining $3.5 mil.

C Kevin Hayes

The Pitch: There are so few centers on the market and they’re expensive to sign or acquire. Teams could do worse than Hayes for one year remaining at $3.5 mil; he’s a 30-point guy who can help on the power play, and he’s very very large (you teams like large, right???)

Comparable Trades: In terms of “offensive-minded bottom-6 centers,” you might have to go back to the Pens acquiring Nick Bonino from San Jose at the 2023 deadline for a 5th and 7th (he was a rental with retention.) The Jets also acquired Vladislav Namestinkov from the Sharks at that deadline for a 4th. Jack Roslovic went to the Rangers last deadline for a 4th as well.

Possible Fits: Colorado, Winnipeg, Detroit.

Verdict: He’s such an odd fit on a roster: not quite good enough to play top-6 full-time, but also not built like a traditional bottom-6 forward on a contender. I think the Pens hold onto him and deal him for a 3rd or 4th at next year’s deadline.

LW Michael Bunting

The Pitch: Top-9 winger with a scoring touch and some SNARL. Currently out with appendicitis, though, which makes a deal pretty unlikely.

Comparable Trades: Anthony Mantha was sitting on 20 goals and an expiring contract when he went from Washington to Vegas for a 2nd round pick last deadline.

Possible Fits: Anyone in contention next year who needs a scoring + snarl boost; Colorado, Minnesota, Edmonton, Columbus, Vancouver, Buffalo.

Verdict: I think he’ll be the classic “rental winger for 2nd round pick” at next year’s trade deadline.

RW Bryan Rust

The Pitch: Top-6 winger with six straight 20-goal seasons and two Cups on his resume.

Comparable Trades: There really aren’t many examples of veteran wingers with 3 years of term left getting dealt. Columbus sent Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for a 3rd and 4th round pick two seasons ago, but that was more of a cap dump on Columbus’ end. The Pens aren’t going to cap dump Rust.

Possible Fits: Young teams looking for a talented veteran to take that “next step” but don’t want to sign someone for 6-7 years, Detroit (hometown team!), Minnesota, Columbus.

Verdict: His name hasn’t come up much and the Pens have more pressing matters than getting Rust to waive his no-move clause (which expires this Summer anyway.) If they trade him, it’ll likely be a mutual agreement this Summer that sends him to a preferred destination for a 1st or a “multiple solid assets” type return. Otherwise, they have no reason to push him out the door; they need some players and aren’t in a cap crunch.

LW Danton Heinen; D Vincent Desharnais

Basically just repeat the Beauvillier and Grzelcyk sections at next year’s deadline. Control-R-replace the stuff about about Grzelcyk having assists and being small with Desharnais having no assists and being big.

C Sidney Crosby

The Pitch: Talented top-6 forward who can still put up points and be a veteran locker room presence. Also a solid postseason resume. The Four Nations tournament made him suddenly realize he wants to play with better players (something that had somehow never crossed his mind before February of this year,) plus he must be traded “for the good of the league” (going to Colorado and getting knocked out in the first round.)

Comparable Trades: Oh there’s tons of them. Adam Henrique got traded last deadline, he’s a veteran center.

Possible Fits: Colorado, Montreal, Vegas, everyone else.

Verdict: Just IMAGINE the HAUL you could get for Crosby… a 1st, a mid-level prospect, and an ok salaried roster player? It’s just too good to pass up. More of a Summer deal, though.

Making sure to clip this section and lead with it on Twitter so every Penguins fan has no choice but to respond to it 1000000x.