Trade Deadline = Happy Time

Well here it is the most wonderful time of the year. I honestly like the NHL trade deadline more than Christmas or the Super Bowl, especially this year. Deadline day makes or more often breaks every team in the league. This season will be the most involved Penguins GM Ray Shero has ever been on deadline day. Which is saying a lot because Shero has made a big deal every year that he has been the Penguins GM. With Malkin's season over Shero now has $8 million in cap space to play with at the deadline. The Penguins have plenty of offensive holes to fill with that money. There are two questions that Shero needs to answer. First, what position do you want to fill center or wing? Then which player do you want? Well here is a list of all the players I have heard mentioned. So lets try to figure this out by process of elimination.

Andrew Ladd - 1 year left
Tim Connolly - 1 year left
Jarome Iginla - 3 years left
Alex Tanguay - 1 year left
Sergei Samsonov - 1 year left
Milan Hejduk - 1 year left
Mike Fisher - 3 years left
Jamie McGinn - 1 year left
Cory Stillman - 1 year left
Dustin Penner - 2 years left
Ales Hemsky  - 2 years left
Alex Kovalev - 1 year left
Jakub Voracek - 1 yearleft
Kris Versteeg - 2 years left
Jason Arnott - 1 year left

Lets keep in mind Malkin's $8.7 million contract will be back on the books next season so whoever they get needs to have an expiring contract or the Penguins will need to make another big trade in the offseason. So lets just eliminate any player with contracts past this season. Which knocks off the most intriguing name on the list. Sidney Crosby's 2010 Olympic linemate Jarome Iginla is the name I have heard talked about the most from Pens fans. Obviously because he is the most talented name available. However, there is no way the Penguins are giving up the players necessary to get him, such as Eric Tangradi.

Next Shero loves to trade for veterans with good playoff experience. So young guys like Jakub Voracek and Jamie McGinn won't be in Pittsburgh uniforms. Ray Shero learned his lesson last season about trading for guys without much playoff experience. Remember how bad Ponikarovsky looked in last year's playoffs.

Now you have to look at each guys style of play. Do you need grinders or goal scorers? Obviously this team is looking for goal scorers. This is a team that has a plethora of third line type forwards and are in serious need of a first line caliber guy. Andrew Ladd and Tim Connolly just do not foot the bill.

So here is the short list:
Alex Tanguay - W - Calgary Flames
Sergei Samsonov - W - Carolina Hurricanes
Milan Hejduk - W - Colorado Avalanche
Cory Stillman - W - Florida Panthers
Alex Kovalev - W - Ottawa Senators
Jason Arnott - C - New Jersey Devils

I personally believe the Penguins will get two players at the deadline. There is no telling what Shero's going to do. If I were making the decision I would like to see Alex Kovalev and Sergei Samsonov. I feel Kovalev is the sniper that Crosby has always needed. I know Kovalev is nowhere near the player he was ten years ago, but neither was Bill Guerin and the Penguins won a cup with him on Crosby's wing. Sergei Samsonov is a great player for Bylsma's system. He brings a lot of speed and scoring touch. I look at him as a really good Tyler Kennedy. Which would make him an excellent wing on the second line with Jordan Staal.

So there you have it my opinion on the trade deadline. Now it is not certain and probably will not happen. The only thing I actually know is that Ray Shero is looking into this far more expansively than me or any other hockey "expert". Whatever he decides to do I am sure it will cause a major stir throughout the league.