The Pittsburgh Penguins realize they may have a problem offensively. Specifically, the Penguins are aware that they’re lacking scoring depth behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. While that’s a problem most teams would be happy to have, the Penguins have seen what happens when the opposition shuts down both stars and it’s not pretty. The club will be looking to find some offensive help prior to this year’s trade deadline.
GM Jim Rutherford spoke with Trib Total Media and outlined the fact the Penguins will be looking to acquire a goal scorer.
“We’re getting into the period where names are going to surface and teams are going to get serious. If it’s a guy who’s capable of scoring a big goal, I would like to get that guy because if Sid and Geno get shut down, we need to be able to win games with our third and fourth lines.
They try to shut (Crosby and Malkin) guys down. If they shut those guys down, and you don’t have enough balance on your third and fourth line where you can score periodically, then you can’t win.”
Who would Rutherford part with in order to secure some additional offense? There may be several possibilities, but he has stated he has no intention of trading away the team’s top defensive prospects. That may change should the right offer surface, but it sounds like Rutherford doesn’t want to deal away the team’s future on D quite yet. Some of the team’s current forwards would be expendable should the team land a new skater, but the Penguins would have to package some picks in order to secure an upgrade.
As with any trade report or rumor, the Penguins may end up sitting back should a deal fail to materialize. They have two of the best offensive weapons in the NHL, but that may not be enough to make a deep playoff run.
