Proposed Trade With Arch Rival Gives Pittsburgh The Perfect Winger For Sidney Crosby

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James Connelly
July 28, 2023 (12:25)

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A recent trade proposal has made waves after sending Pittsburgh the perfect complimentary player.

Pittsburgh's Predicament

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a tough spot. Their core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are all aging and their team is on the decline in a rapidly improving Eastern Conference.

After missing the playoffs for the first time in 16 seasons, the Penguins fired Ron Hextall and hired Kyle Dubas with the expectation of Dubas bringing them back to competitiveness.

A recent mock trade has made waves as it would send the Penguins the perfect piece to pair with Sidney Crosby to make the playoffs once again.

Mock Trade Analysis

The package that Pittsburgh would send would net them two key pieces, Travis Konecny and Nick Seeler. Konecny is the more valuable of the two pieces but Seeler provides excellent service in his own role.

Konecny is coming off of a 61-point year where he played only 60 games. He would certainly see a massive spike in production alongside Crosby. In addition to his offensive output, Konecny is a hard-nosed player who will go to the gritty areas to get what he wants.

On top of this, they would be getting Nick Seeler who could slot into their defense as a shutdown and defensive specialist. He is the type of player every championship team needs.

On the other hand, the Flyers would be receiving a massive payout for their assets. The main pieces of this trade are future assets in Samuel Poulin (21st pick in 2019) along with a first-round pick and two second-round picks.

In addition to this, the Flyers would also receive immediate replacements for Konecny and Seeler in Mikael Granlund and Jan Rutta. While Granlund and Rutta are not up to par with their counterparts, they still fill in a roster spot for Philadelphia and would provide a veteran presence.