Penguins' GM Ron Hextall Reveals Team's Trade Deadline Strategy
We're inching closer to the end of February and multiple teams are making moves. One of them soon to be in the market is the Pittsburgh Penguins.
They have missed out on multiple pieces who have quickly come off the board, such as Vladimir Tarasenko, Bo Horvat and Ryan O'Reilly are no longer available.
Penguins GM Ron Hextall Discusses NHL Trade Deadline
Penguins GM Ron Hextall reveals Trade Deadline plans
With the playoffs fast approaching, the Penguins need all the help they can get, as in their last ten games, they have a measly 4-5-1 record and are trending downwards.
In order for the Penguins to continue their playoff push, Hextall will be under the needle to deliver talent capable of helping to secure a record 17th playoff appearance. Hextall had a discussion with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic to layout his strategy.
«It depends on the fit, it depends on the price. I'm not willing to give up the world for rentals. But we're looking at everything and looking at the prices, and we'll see what makes sense for us. Obviously there's cap constraints so we've got to be creative, like a lot of teams.»
So automatically, you can get the idea that someone like Timo Meier is off the table, as he is an expensive rental and the Penguins don't have the salary cap for a qualifying offer.
Hextall sounded like his main focus is bolstering team consistency and the bottom six is where he allocates assets or what is needed to shore it up. With Tristan Jarry returning to the lineup recently, it looks like pressure will be off of Casey DeSmith and Hextall didn't sound like goaltending for now, isn't a priority.
| POLL | ||
Will Ron Hextall acquire a Bottom 6 Forward first? | ||
| Yes | 116 | 63.7 % |
| No | 66 | 36.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
