Tuesday, 15 December 2015

Pens trade Scuderi to Blackhawks for Daley

The Penguins have managed to trade veteran defenceman Rob Scuderi to the Blackhawks for Trevor Daley. The news broke during the game last night at around 9pm and explains the late scratch that was bestowed upon Scuderi. The deal also includes the Penguins retaining 33% annually, which will be $1.125m.

It has been well documented in the media and from Rutherford himself that the Penguins have been looking for a puck moving defenceman and they clearly feel that Daley fits the bill. Daley is a two way defenceman capable of taping passes and moving at speed. The Penguins have struggled to gain entry into the oppositions zone at times this season so this will help.



The Penguins power play has struggled this season too and Daley has in the past, whilst in Dallas, spent time quarterbacking the power play. Right now the Pens are trialling Warsofsky in Letang's place whilst he is out injured. Realistically though they need a long term option and perhaps a back-up if Letang cannot perform in that role.

Daley is a much more offensive defenceman than Scuderi was and he has 237 points in 756 career games. He was included in the trade that took Patrick Sharp to Dallas last season and has found himself struggling to adapt in Quenneville's defence first system. It remains to be seen whether Daley will join in time for the Pens trip to Boston but when he does play he will wear the number 6.



Elsewhere, Wilkes-Barre lost their head coach to the Penguins and they have put in new people behind the bench. Jay Leach has been appointed the interim head coach with Bill Guerin, Mike Buckley and Mark Recchi offering support. Wilkes-Barre have a history of training and giving new coaches a chance so expect to see them involved in some official capacity at some point.

The Penguins next game is against the Bruins in Boston as part of the NHL's Rivalry Night. The return game is on Friday in Pittsburgh as part of a back-to-back, the second game being against the Carolina Hurricanes. It is possible Matt Murray makes his NHL debut in one of those games after being called up today. Here's hoping he gets a chance with Fleury out.

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