3 defenseman options Pittsburgh Penguins could add at trade deadline

2. Adam McQuaid, New York Rangers

The Rangers have declared themselves as trade deadline sellers, sitting multiple players before sending winger Mats Zuccarello to the Dallas Stars on Saturday. McQuaid was one of those scratches against the New Jersey Devils on Saturday, and he sat out Sunday against the Washington Capitals too, so the Rangers may have a deal brewing. But McQuaid also came out of last Thursday night’s game with an upper body injury, and they’d probably like to move a healthy player as a bit of good faith.

McQuaid is a stay-at-home defenseman to an extreme degree, as he’s only reached double-digit points twice in nine seasons prior to this one and he sits with five points so far in 2018-19. But he has 68 games of playoff experience in his career, and won a Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011, so that may bolster his appeal to contending teams.

An expiring contract, and what’s left of a $2.75 million salary for this season, deepens McQuaid’s appeal as a trade deadline addition. The Penguins may have to get in line, but a call to the Rangers about McQuaid is easy to see if one or both of Dumoulin and Letang is facing an extended absence.