Penguins Trade Rumors: 9 Scouts Fill Press Box

Penguins Trade rumors are again bubbling. Backup goaltenders and scoring depth figure to be on the Penguins wish list and conversations, direct and indirect, have been reported with the Buffalo Sabres, Colorado Avalanche and Vega Golden Knights.

All three teams were in attendance, Tuesday night. Also in attendance were other teams rumored to be shopping for stocking stuffers:

St. Louis Blues, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Rangers have the Devils and Senators on their schedule within the next week, as do the Penguins have the Maple Leafs on this schedule Saturday, VGK and the Bruins on the schedule next week.

Sabres–Chad Johnson

In a Buffalo radio interview, Darren Dreger of TSN discussed the possibility of the Sabres and Penguins completing a deal for backup goalie Chad Johnson.

Johnson, 31, signed a one-year $2.5 million dollar deal with the Sabres in July. Like the team, Johnson has struggled this season. Johnson has posted an .883 save percentage and 3.64 goals against average with a 1-5-2 record.

Ooch.

However, Johnson was solid for the Flames last season with a .910 save percentage. In 2015-16, also in Buffalo, Johnson stopped 92% of the pucks. H

He is an experienced backup with playoff experience and skills.

However, he is not better than Tristan Jarry. So, the rumors around the Penguins hunt for a #2 goalie may be more speculation than reality. A #3 goalie makes more sense, and costs far less.

VGK / Colorado

Both Western Conference teams were on the reported list of interested destinations for Ian Cole (Stick tap, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

While Vegas has more defensemen than they can fit in the press box, they could use a top-4 defenseman. Cole fits that bill.

Same for Colorado.

The rest…is fun conjecture. Pittsburgh Hockey Now will have the Giveaways and Takeaways tonight after the game.