Two skidding teams flipped stagnating wingers on Wednesday, hoping for an offensive boost.
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has his hand on the trigger more than any general manager in the NHL. His team is in the midst of a 1-5-1 stretch and has resorted to over-relying on Sidney Crosby, tactics of a top-heavy 2013-era Penguins roster. Thus, Rutherford went searching for the uncommon November trade.
He found a partner in the restless Los Angeles Kings, who languish in the Pacific Division’s cellar. Rutherford flipped slumping 30-year-old winger Carl Hagelin for the Kings’ own slumping winger, Tanner Pearson. For both teams, it’s a deal aimed at remodeling unproductive lines and hoping someone else’s depreciating asset can benefit from a change of scenery.
Hagelin is a speedy middle-six dynamo, slashing in and out of puck battles and killing penalties. Amid constant reshuffling from coach Mike Sullivan, Hagelin mostly stuck with Evgeni Malkin on the Pens’ second line as a hard-working defensive counter to Malkin’s offense-focused nature. Geno tends to drift out of defensive duties. The scrappy, agile Hagelin balances that.
The Swede’s value lies in his effectiveness playing both with and without a line-driving star. Arguably Hagelin’s defining moments as a Penguin came on the famed HBK line during the 2016-17 Cup run, a third line featuring Hagelin, Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel. It was Hagelin’s offensive zone competence that ensured Kessel’s productivity and offset Bonino’s defensive tendencies.
Hagelin can hang with smart, offensive lines. Sullivan rarely gave him time with Crosby — Sid doesn’t need forecheckers and speedsters as much as he needs spry young mouths to feed — but Hagelin had the skill and vision to stick around Malkin’s savvy aggressiveness and Kessel’s puck-circulation. Interim Kings coach Willie Desjardins could test Hagelin’s fit with Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter.
LA need bottom six depth. Hagelin can forecheck and skate circles around slower defenseman, adding immediate offense to a dry third line. He won’t have the puck a ton, and he won’t rack up assist totals, but there is value to what he provides. The Kings hope those values will cancel out the age concern (he’s 30 and LA are already super old) and Hagelin’s contract status — he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after this year.
The state of the Penguins is less dire than that of the Kings. Pittsburgh is second-to-last in the Mediterranean Division, but with at least one game in hand on everyone else, and they’re just three points from the second-place Islanders. Both New York teams will regress to their talent levels at some point. Doors will open for the division’s elder statesmen.
Pearson’s spot in the Penguins’ lineup is unclear. Given Sullivan’s recent reluctance to play Kessel with Malkin, Pearson may end up on Geno’s second line. More likely, the 26-year-old will be tasked with helping revitalize a floundering third line, which has been without Derick Brassard due to a lower-body injury. Riley Sheahan has mostly failed to produce offense, even with the insertion of talented scorers Kessel and Jake Guentzel on either side of him.
Pearson is a speedster, like Hagelin. He also is a penalty-killer and should step in alongside Sheahan, Bryan Rust and Matt Cullen as a regular PK contributor; Rutherford likely wouldn’t have dealt Hagelin without securing immediate PK reinforcements. Pearson shoots at similar rates to Hagelin, though Pearson does score more frequently despite Hagelin’s ice time with Malkin. Last year, Pearson’s shooting percentage was 8.3 percent, while Hagelin shot 5.9 percent.
For his career, Pearson has produced more yearly points than Hagelin. Pittsburgh hope Pearson can reverse his recent offensive trends — he’s produced exactly one assist and zero goals in 17 games this year, with LA winning just five. Playing with Malkin, Kessel or even Crosby could give him an immediate jolt.
Pearson’s line will get more favorable matchups with the star centers drawing so much attention. The Penguins’ sustained success under Rutherford stems from extracting offensive production out of lower-tier prospects. Guentzel, Rust, Conor Sheary and now Dominik Simon grew into useful NHL players under Crosby’s guidance — how they’ve avoided the side effects of trading all those first-round picks.
Rutherford is the ultimate win-now general manager. His wizardry in acquiring Brassard last spring expanded that perception. Some have speculated that he will package a 2020 first-round pick and out-of-favor top prospect Daniel Sprong for offensive or defensive help this season, and that move could happen sooner rather than later. The Penguins will never draft in the first round as long as Crosby and Malkin are in town.
Recent trends forced Rutherford’s hand in this early move. Pittsburgh can’t score unless Crosby or Malkin are on the ice.
Crosby, now leading the first line alongside Simon and Rust, has frequently been double-shifted so Guentzel and Kessel can enjoy non-Sheahan ice time, and so as to avoid a fourth line of 40-year-old locker room guy Matt Cullen, raw net-front presence Zach Aston-Reese, and inexperienced career AHLer Garrett Wilson. Crosby can handle the workload, but it’s unnecessary, particularly in November.
Beyond all else, Pearson is new blood for the Penguins. Hagelin provides the same in LA.