Path for Penguins to Trade Ryan Graves; Won’t be Easy
Ryan Graves was supposed to be the Pittsburgh Penguins’ plug-and-play replacement for Brian Dumoulin, the steady and reliable left defenseman who counterbalanced Kris Letang for a half dozen seasons. Dumoulin departed via free agency as the blue line shuffle was necessitated by Dumoulin’s decline and the Penguins’ need to get younger.
It didn’t work. Not even a little bit.
Not even Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas could put a positive spin on the situation during his year-end press conference earlier this month. Graves was bad this season, and it seemed to be an addition by subtraction when he left the lineup due to a concussion in the final weeks of the season.
Ryan Shea and Jack St. Ivany more than adequately handled the third-paid duties, as P.O Joseph rose to the occasion playing beside Kris Letang. The Penguins defense was better.
However, Graves is signed for five more years with a salary cap hit of $4.5 million, so this isn’t a short-term problem that can be easily fixed. It’s going to require one of two things: Graves improving his physical conditioning and game this summer or a Penguins trade.
The best-case scenario is Graves responds well and returns in the fall ready for the challenge.
Short of that, a Penguins trade should be a primary consideration.
A buyout would stretch a payment over 10 years. That’s almost unfathomable. Burying Graves in the minors would be a quick way to save $1.15 million on the salary cap, but it would also kill his trade value. While the possibility of stashing him in the minors has appeared in this space, it would be the “break glass in case of emergency” option.
While Graves himself did a pretty good job of destroying his trade value this season, a rival GM could hold some hope that he reclaims his capable game, which he displayed with the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils.
However, a GM would also be saddled with Graves’s onerous contract. That’s not going to happen without sharing the risk with the Penguins. In other words, a team would want to dump a contract on the Penguins, or the Penguins belly up to the table, and eat a sizeable portion of the contract.
There is a bevy of undesirable contracts floating around the NHL, and that would be Dubas’s best option for dealing Graves and opening space on the Penguins’ blue line. In fact, some of those bad contracts could be bad fits on their current team, and with some luck and lots of analysis, perhaps Dubas could snag some lineup help in the process.
It bears repeating that Graves will most likely be back with the Penguins next season, but Dubas challenged the defenseman to be much better on the ice and even in the weight room.
Of course, nothing is out of the question. Dubas’s presser the day after breakup day began with the words, “You can’t dance around it…”
If a trade can be worked out, there is some salvageable talent with less time left on bad deals. We’re not playing armchair GM and suggesting trades with sweeteners, additional players, or salary holdbacks, but merely laying out the type of players who could be expected in a Graves deal.
It can almost be assured none of the players will excite you, but the get will be equal to the give.
Bad Contracts / Penguins Trade Potentials
Alex Killorn, 34, Anaheim Ducks. $6.25 million Cap Hit
Anaheim is still going nowhere fast despite a lineup loaded with talent. First, the downside of Killorn is his contract with a heavy cap hit. He has three more years. He’s 34 and had knee surgery in February.
The plus side is he was a reliable scorer and big man in the Tampa Bay Lightning lineup until signing the big deal with Anaheim last July. He had 64 and 59 points, respectively, in his last two seasons with Tampa Bay before slumping to 36 in 63 games with Anaheim.
Also, three more years is better than five. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native could be a warrior in the trenches and another big body for net-front traffic.
Josh Anderson, 30, Montreal Canadiens. $5.5 million
If there’s a less bad option on the list, circle this one.
The winger who can play both sides has three more years left on his contract with an enormous $5.5 million cap hit. He’s suffered through a pair of rough seasons with the Montreal Canadiens but stats weren’t why former Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin significantly overpaid him.
Anderson is a big forward, fast, and plays with an edge. He’s got hands–he’s scored more than 20 goals twice (2022-23, 2018-19) and had 19 goals in 2021-22. He’s overpriced, but when healthy, he’s eminently serviceable. On a talented team, he could be a bigger-bodied Bryan Rust.
However, Montreal has a truckload of young defensemen, which would only complicate this hypothetical scenario.
Ryan McDonagh, 34, Nashville Predators, $6.75 million
McDonagh still skates well though his offense has gone downhill. He’s a shutdown defenseman with Nashville and has only two more years left on his contract. Would Nashville GM Barry Trotz, who got a good look at Graves when coaching the New York Islanders, take on the wayward defenseman?
McDonagh would, on paper, be a good complement to Erik Karlsson for a year, maybe two, which is all the Penguins need.
Barclay Goodrow, 31, New York Rangers, $3.64 million
Goodrow hit the skids in New York this season with just 12 points in 80 games. However, Penguins fans have also seen the best of Goodrow, too. His gritty bottom-six play can create some offense and forecheck pressure.
He’s got three more seasons on his contract, and an overpaid bottom-six center or winger isn’t ideal. He’d be unlikely to hurt the Penguins. The Rangers also have “space” on their third pairing if they can reclaim Graves’s game.
Categorized:NHL Trade Rumors Penguins Penguins Trade Talk
Having Graves play up to expectations is the very best outcome that can be hoped for. That would make it easy to trade him if desired or keep him as a top 4 defenseman. I also looked at other players underperforming their contract and Josh Anderson was the one I saw as the most interesting. There’s always a concern that they might not fit in with the style of play, but his speed/size/skill could definitely make an impact. And could he be the net front presence on the power play they desperately need.
MTL may look to take Graves and Smith – we could always take a cheaper LD on their roster (if they’re willing to part) and send to the AHL or try in the top 4. I like the idea of Anderson on the power play with Bunting, Crosby, Karlsson and X. Maybe a free agent Reinhart signing. Since MTL is heavy on LD, that’s the potential hold-up. But both players could use a change of scenery.
Like your thinking Eri….great idea
Why would Trotz trade McDonagh who has been +246 over the course of his 15 yr career and never had a single negative +/- year….not once! Trotz doesn’t strike me as being gullible.
This focuses on the wrong problem! PP, bottom 6, and LD that complements Karlsson. Those should be the priorities for the Pens. Moving the PP to 15 would add 20 points. Any trade that takes away cap space is an absolute no. That takes away from forwards to fix PP and bottom 6. Based on the last quarter of the season Joseph and Letang will be paired together. We tried both Pettersson & Graves with Karlsson and that didn’t work. Worse case Graves plays 3rd pair with St Ivany. They didn’t look bad together. IMO the Pens need to trade… Read more »
ALL GAS, NO BRAKES ! Pettersson would fetch a haul, and I imagine Dubas would not pass up an offer if it added an extreme offensive element(s). I think Joseph’s RFA rights will be added as sweetener to some deal and that they should inquire about Chychrun in OTT, he was relegated to 3rd pairing and was a -30. His value in OTT has sunk, but paired with Letang or Karlsson would add more offense, but much less defense. It’s all about transitioning to offense now.
Chychrun – Karlsson
Ludvig – Letang
Graves – St. Ivany
Shea
Ludwig top 4…. You are not serious.
I believe they did pair them together during the regular season, but I don’t recall on how well it worked before injury. He’s likely a 6/7 d-man. I do agree with Dean on the power play being a top 3 priority. It’s certainly Crosby’s team but it needs to be EK65’s power play. He needs whichever 4 other individuals compliment his style and bottom line of puck on net.
Forget Killorn, that Cap Hit is WAY TOO BIG!, but give me any of the other 3 RIGHT NOW for Graves. Do it!