This past Tuesday the Pittsburgh Penguins traded away Brandon Sutter and a third round draft pick to Vancouver in exchange for Nick Bonino, a second round draft pick, and their best defensive prospect in Adam Clendenning. They also went out and signed Eric Fehr to a three year deal worth two million per year. Let's take a look at the signing and the trade.
The Penguins won this trade by a lot. The Penguins were able to get something for Brandon Sutter who was going to be a UFA next summer and get a considerable raise and they also signed his replacement in Eric Fehr as well. The best part about this trade is that the Penguins were able to find a team that overvalued Sutter. The Penguins have done a lot of good things this offseason and now they are one Rob Scuderi trade away from a perfect offseason.
Eric Fehr is most likely not going to be available to start the season because of his elbow surgery he had on June 3rd. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford said that it is a 4-5 month recovery so he would likely be available sometime in late October or into November. When he does come back he will be leagues better then Brandon Sutter in almost every category except goals maybe. The Penguins see him as the third line center but expect Nick Bonino to be in the third line spot until he returns.
Nick Bonino is a very good player and comes on a cheap contract. He makes 1.4 million per for the next two seasons and is coming off two very good seasons. Before he was traded to the Canucks, he had a 22-goal season for Anaheim, but only had 15 last season. He still put up 39 points for Vancouver, which is good and he has some great puck possession numbers which will really help in Mike Johnston's system. If the Penguins can put him in the fourth line center role when Eric Fehr comes back, they would arguably have the best group of four centers in the league.
Adam Clendenning I don't know too much about but after reading up on him a little bit and looking at his stats, he was the Canucks best defensive prospect. He hasn't played in that many NHL games yet but he is a very good offensive defenseman but still needs work on the defensive side of his game. Expect him to start the season in Wilkes-Barre Scranton where head coach Mike Sullivan can develop him a bit more. This is still a very good get though for the Penguins since they lost Scott Harrington in the Phil Kessel trade.
This is the deepest Penguins team most people have seen since the 2013 playoffs. Their goal is to be a four line scoring team and Jim Rutherford is making that goal a reality. The defense could use some more help but Jim Rutherford is having an offseason to remember for Penguins fans.