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NHL Trade Rumors: Penguins acquire Mark Streit from Lightning

By Dave Stevenson

Dec 8, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Mark Streit (32) against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers defeated the Oilers, 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 8, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Mark Streit (32) against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period at Wells Fargo Center. The Flyers defeated the Oilers, 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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Less than an hour after acquiring Mark Streit, the Tampa Bay Lightning have flipped him to the Penguins. 

The Tampa Bay Lightning are a very exciting team. This applies both on and off the ice. Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman always has an ace up his sleeve and is constantly thinking about his next move. He put this on display by acquiring Mark Streit from the Philadelphia Flyers for Valtteri Filppula and draft picks. Now Yzerman’s is getting that fourth round pick back from the Penguins, though it will be in 2018 as opposed to 2017.

The Bolts ended up with a fourth rounder in this year’s draft for their part here, but also retained a whopping 50 percent of Streit’s contract. Keep in mind they were in possession of that contract for about 15 minutes.

Goodness gracious. Take a bow Yzerman because that is some masterful trolling of the Flyers. Why the Penguins didn’t deal with Philadelphia directly is beyond me. But props to the Lightning for being creative.

Streit should help the Penguins. They have numerous injured defensemen. And despite Streit’s age, he’s still a decent defenseman. He can handle second pairing minutes until everyone’s healthy and then he can handle third pairing minutes. Streit also provides their relatively young blue line a nice mentor. While Ron Hainsey also provides this, he provides a double dose of it. And both players are still decent depth guys at worst.

As for the Flyers? This makes no sense. Why not just trade Streit to the Penguins? Instead of doing so, they take on a guy who might have to be bought out. If Filppula isn’t bought out, he has a $5 million salary for next season. A bit of a weird trade for the Flyers.

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In 49 games this season, Streit has 21 points (five goals and 16 assists). He’s been quite productive on the power play with eight points, including seven assists. Streit can still make good decisions and moves the puck well, so he should be a nice fit for the Penguins.

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