Inside Scoop: Pittsburgh

Trade: Pittsburgh acquires Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Troy Stecher in exchange for a 2025 3rd, a 2024 4th, and Chris Sedoff
Spin: Pittsburgh had been looking at an upgrade at the third-line center position virtually all year. They initially brought in Nick Bjugstad, whom they really liked. But they wanted more offense; they wanted to get Trevor Moore and Bryan Rust going. I’ve been told at various points throughout the year they’ve inquired about some of the big name centers we’ve seen dealt this season, guys like Crosby and Kopitar, but couldn’t get anything done. So they flipped Bjugstad to Calgary and brought in Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who was having a monster year with the Arizona Coyotes and has only continued that in Pittsburgh. In the 17 games since the trade, Pageau has 13 points, while Rust and Moore have 14 and 10 points, respectively. The penalty kill has also seen a dramatic improvement, with Pageau leading that group. An underrated aspect of this deal was also bringing in Troy Stecher, who added stability to the bottom defense pair and was able to free up guys like Nick Blankenburg, Daniil Miromanov (traded), and Santtu Kinnunen for more appropriate roles.

Trade: Pittsburgh acquires Mikey Anderson, Tomas Tatar, Kieffer Bellows, and Brad Malone in exchange for Brian Dumoulin, Pat Maroon, Sam Malinski, Joe Gambardella, a 2025 2nd, a 2024 3rd, and cash considerations
Spin: Pittsburgh has been flying high with scoring goals all year, currently second in the league in goals for. Defense has been a black hole for them, however, especially with Brian Dumoulin. Word around the league was that Dumoulin was going to be allowed to test free agency with no day zero offer coming from Pittsburgh. Some things work, some don’t, and the situation was seemingly tenuous going back to Pittsburgh acquiring Dumoulin at the 2023 Trade Deadline. Bringing in Mikey Anderson not only stabilizes the defensive position for Pittsburgh, it also gives them a younger option with more term that can extend their competitive window. I talked to a few folks around the league who indicated that GM Gurtowski was uneasy about his defensive group beyond this year. In that time, they’ve acquired Anderson and tagged Brodin, so there’s a new lease on life for this team defensively.

Some of the other pieces of this deal also help in their own way. Gurtowski, from what I understand, lost a lot of sleep on dealing Malinski, but the chance to bring in Bellows and Malone gave him an opportunity in his mind to push his AHL team into Cup contender status, a status they're undoubtedly familiar with, considering they've played a lot of playoff games the last four years. Additionally, Malone’s been to the playoffs with the AHL Penguins before. So Malone knows what that team is all about and will stabilize their fourth line and penalty kill.

One last thing I heard on this deal: I don’t think Gurtowski initially intended to make Tatar part of it, but from what I understand, Tatar was open to a change in scenery after going from Boston to Long Island earlier this year. He's had previous success in Pittsburgh, and word around the league was that Pittsburgh was one of the few options he had his agent explore. He’s on the fourth line currently but has two goals since returning.

Adrian Kempe
Spin: Kempe has proven himself to be the Penguins MVP this season, currently up to 40 goals and 86 points in 64 games. He’s been on a line with Bo Horvat all year, who’s also on a career-scoring pace. That duo’s run through the league. Kempe’s going to be an RFA and stands to command a big pay day. The Penguins have every intention of doing whatever it takes to get him re-signed, as he’s a big part of their core. Some teams have asked about his availability, but Pittsburgh’s made it very clear that it’s a no go.

Playoff Picture
Spin: As things currently stand, Pittsburgh is currently second in the Metropolitan Division and will most likely make the playoffs for a third consecutive year. Gurtowski is hoping that this is the year Pittsburgh can finally get out of the first round. Meanwhile, WB/Scranton is third in the AHL’s Atlantic Division. After a brutal start to the season, they’ve added some key pieces in key places, which has propelled them on a run of winning. Joe Gambardella returned to the team at the beginning of the year, but he wasn’t really a fit in his second tour of duty, so they opted to bring in guys like Kuhlman and Bellows, who’ve changed the complexion of that team for the better. Word around the league is they’re looking at adding a defenseman for the AHL level, but time will tell as the deadline approaches.