This post is basically a rebuttal post on a rebuttal post. I found an interesting article commenting on a blog from thefourthperiod.com and I don’t really have enough to write an entire blog with but I do have some comments on the one I did find. This’ll be more or less a commentary on both if you will…
But before we get into it, here’s what Bob McKenzie said on his most recent podcast. You should subscribe to it on iTunes or whatever pod app you use because he cusses on his podcast and I dig a media guy who uses the devil’s tongue here and there!
Bob Makes some good points there without really getting into what we don’t already know… But it ties into what the rest of our blog talks about.
Anyways, the main course of the day…
A recent report from The Fourth Period connected the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins in what could be a significant trade within the next couple of weeks.
The Penguins are ideally looking for a 3rd line centre. Riley Sheahan may have to suffice as the team’s pivot in that position, but if Jim Rutherford can upgrade at the position, he will. He’s also looking for another scoring winger.
I’ve been saying that the Penguins are looking at the Oilers for some time now. They’d love to have Mark Letestu back as his experience and right-handedness will most definitely come in handy in the post-season for Pittsburgh. But with Sheahan seemingly building some nice chemistry with Phil Kessel, will the Pens really want to mess around with that?
The Oilers, on the other hand, are selling off, as this season is all but over. Patrick Maroon and Mark Letestu are two of the most talked about rental assets that Edmonton has to offer, and they happen to be a winger and depth centre.
I’m not entirely sure if the Pens will want Maroon at this point. Pittsburgh’s coach likes his wingers fast and responsible, two things that Maroon isn’t lauded for.
While there are obviously more talented options on the market, they may come cheapest, and will fit the bill well enough. Rutherford doesn’t have a ton of great assets to give up, so Edmonton appears to be the perfect trade partner.
This is where things start to get a bit dodgy. Why would this author think that the Oilers are going to give Maroon and Letestu up on the cheap? Sure they won’t cost the acquiring team any 1st rounders or blue-chip prospects but that’s not to say Peter Chiarelli isn’t going to ask for, and get, some decent hockey players that a team would rather not give up.
And this isn’t just conjecture on our part.
Of course it isn’t…
From The Fourth Period’s report:
“While it’s too early to guarantee whether either forward ends up if moved, there seems to be considerable interest in teams in the East, including the Pittsburgh Penguins, who have been eyeing both players.”
This is the only part of the original blog that connects both Maroon and Letestu to the Penguins… I’m impressed that the author could stretch a post out of one paragraph!
East-West trades are seemingly more common occurrences than in-conference trades, so this lines up with that general trend. This seems like a perfect match.
The Penguins have some B-prospects they could give up along with draft picks.
Do they? Because apart from perhaps Filip Gustavsson, Daniel Sprong, and Zachary Ashton-Reese, they’ve got a whole lot of nothing coming up. Which all three would be of interest to the Oilers as well as the Pens’ 1st and 2nd round picks in the upcoming draft. The key asset for a deal here that they don’t have is that 3rd rounder this year.
But maybe, just maybe, they’d be willing to move the struggling Carl Hagelin plus for Maroon and Letestu.
Maroon has 13 goals and 13 assists for 26 points in 50 games this year – he’s coming off a career-high 27-goal season in 2016-17.
Letestu has 8 goals and 17 points in 51 games. He scored a career-high 16 goals last season. He’s known to be able to play in most situations, and could be a decent option for Pittsburgh, should they decide to acquire both players from Edmonton.
So there you have it. Have your feelings changed on what to do with Pat Maroon and/or Mark Letestu? Have your valuations of either player altered since we talked about these players last?
