Pittsburgh Penguins trade back for old friend Conor Sheary

The Pittsburgh Penguins welcome back old friend Conor Sheary onto the team in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres.

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a second trade after acquiring Patrick Marleau, deciding to bring back a familiar face. On Monday, the Penguins traded forward Dominik Kahun to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Conor Sheary and Evan Rodrigues. Pittsburgh wanted to get deeper going down the stretch and into the playoffs, and their hope is that this trade — along with the Marleau one — does that for them.

Kahun had been up and down this season for the Penguins, though when he was on, he was producing. He started out not scoring in his first 11 games as a Penguin, then scored eight in his next 18 games, and then went into a 21-game stretch where he only scored two goals. It also didn’t help that he had a concussion for about a month sprinkled in there as well.

The Penguins also potentially thought that it was going to be hard to sign him after this season, as he won’t be on an entry-level contract anymore, and they still have to pay some of their other players. Some of those include: forward Jared McCann, and goaltenders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry.

Sheary has nine goals and 19 points in 55 games this season for the Sabres after having 14 goals and 34 points last season. He knows Mike Sullivan‘s system well and he can play anywhere in the lineup, just like Kahun. As for Rodrigues, he’s more help for Pittsburgh’s bottom-six and can play center or wing. He’s coming off a 29-point season for the Sabres last year and currently has nine points in 38 games this season due to not being in the lineup as much. He also reportedly asked for a trade well in advance of the deadline.

Overall, the Penguins’ depth got much better after today’s deadline, as they’ll have plenty of options with their lineup when both players get in and when the injured players get back. For Buffalo, they get a young player in Kahun who’s fast, can score and is a good support player. He’ll also be auditioning for a new contract with them next season.

Follow FanSided NHL for more news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage about hockey in all forms throughout the entire 2019-20 NHL season and beyond.