NHL Trade Rumors: Matt Duchene to Penguins?

Could the Pittsburgh Penguins find a way to acquire Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche? 

The Pittsburgh Penguins are all-in for contending. With a relatively weak prospect system and their core players not getting any younger, they want to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. This season, the Washington Capitals appear to be four lines deep, even with the recent injury to Andre Burakovsky. To counter this, the Penguins are reportedly showing interest in acquiring Colorado Avalanche star Matt Duchene.

"[Nick Kypreos] suggested that defenceman Derrick Pouliot, the eighth overall pick of the 2012 draft who is currently playing in the AHL, could be of interest to the Avalanche. With Semyon Varlamov out for the season and goaltending a concern, he also suggested Marc-Andre Fleury could potentially be a fit."

So the potential offer would be Fleury and Pouliot, with likely someone else heading to the Avalanche for Duchene. From the Penguins stand point, this makes a ton of sense. They’d be adding one of the NHL’s most dynamic offensive players for two spare parts. With Matt Murray, they don’t particularly need Fleury. Also, Pouliot has been very disappointing this season, taking a step back after showing promise last season. Sure, they’d likely have some cap casualties, but they’d arguably have the best top two forward lines in the NHL. And likely one of the best third lines.

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However, from the Avalanche’s point of view, this reeks of selling low on a star. If Colorado is going to trade Duchene, they should demand nothing less than a king’s ransom. Now, if the Penguins got, say, Jake Guentzel and Daniel Sprong involved, it would make more sense. Also, Brian Dumoulin or Olli Maatta would both be a better defenseman to target than Pouliot. One would hope Colorado would hold off until after the expansion draft to maximize their potential return for Duchene. But who knows?