Time to Re-Evaluate Penguins Needs at NHL Trade Deadline | PHN+

The most talented team or the best team on paper rarely wins the Stanley Cup. No, the best team, emphasis on the word team, usually get to hockey’s grueling finish line and immortality. It’s time to re-evaluate the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL trade deadline needs. Five wins in a row and great team chemistry have changed the equation.

That may run contrary to Penguins President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke, who has told every talk show and reporter that the Penguins management wants to add pieces…tough pieces.

GM Ron Hextall may be able to nibble with depth players on the NHL trade market. He could, perhaps, recoup an asset for players who are no longer in the Penguins’ plans, such as Juuso Riikola, who is terminally mired as the eighth Penguins defenseman. Riikola has NHL talent, but the Penguins erred in his development, and now he’s stuck.