Pittsburgh Penguins and Oilers Could Be Ideal Trade Partners Before the Season – The Hockey Writers – Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers have spent the summer creating two very different traffic jams, which eventually send Penguins GM Kyle Dubas and Oilers GM Stan Bowman toward the same solution.

Pittsburgh has accumulated more NHL-caliber forwards than it can realistically use, while questions remain about the quality and long-term makeup of its defense. Edmonton has the opposite problem near the bottom of its roster, with Bowman acknowledging that they have three goaltenders and “a lot of D” while indicating that another forward would be the more likely addition.

Edmonton also expects to begin the season with approximately $4 million to $4.5 million in cap space, giving Bowman room to move if the right opportunity appears. He discussed that flexibility with Oilers Now last week, although it does not automatically mean a trade.

Edmonton may ultimately want a legitimate top six winger rather than another depth forward, and Pittsburgh should not move a useful player simply because its depth chart looks crowded in August. Still, the two organizations possess complementary surpluses that make them worth watching once training camp reveals which players actually lack jobs.

Penguins Have Forward Depth They Cannot Fully Use

The Penguins’ problem is no longer finding enough NHL forwards. It is finding enough minutes for all of them. Their THW roster projection already had Justin Brazeau holding a fourth-line position, while Elmer Söderblom, Hendrix Lapierre, Ville Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty and others will compete around the edges of the lineup. That projection came before Koivunen received his eight-year extension, which made finding meaningful opportunities for the younger group even more important.

Brazeau may be the easiest player to imagine moving. He produced 17 goals and 34 points in 64 games last season and carries only a $1.5 million cap hit in the final year of his contract. I recently argued that the Penguins could make Justin Brazeau expendable because he combines actual trade value with a roster position management could realistically replace.

Lapierre and Söderblom create different decisions. Pittsburgh traded two future draft picks for Lapierre before signing him for two years at $1.3 million annually, so immediately flipping him would be unusual unless another team values him highly. Söderblom is signed for only $1.125 million after Pittsburgh surrendered a third-round pick to acquire him at last season’s deadline.

Both are inexpensive enough to become part of a larger conversation without creating cap problems in Edmonton. The question for Dubas is whether depth still provides value when several players are competing for the same limited assignments. Eventually, quantity has to become either NHL production or another asset.

Edmonton’s Defensive Logjam Creates the Match

This is where things get interesting. The Oilers have eight defensemen with realistic roster chances, and three players near the bottom of that group are particularly difficult to manage. Spencer Stastney, Ty Emberson and Shakir Mukhamadullin are competing for limited positions, and all three require waivers if Edmonton tries to send them to the minors. A recent THW examination of three Oilers who could be traded identified Stastney as the clearest candidate because the team could lose him for nothing if he doesn’t make the opening-night roster.

The contracts make both players plausible targets for the Penguins. Stastney carries a $1.525 million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, while Mukhamadullin is signed for two seasons at $1.75 million annually. Edmonton’s current cap sheet also lists both as players who would need waivers for an American Hockey League (AHL) assignment.

The Penguins have reason to consider both players because their blue line remains unsettled. Samuel Girard gives them a proven left-handed option, but they are still trying to determine what they have in Owen Pickering, Ilya Solovyov and their other young defensemen while relying on an aging veteran group elsewhere. A trade would not solve the entire defense. It could improve the competition without requiring Pittsburgh to chase a major contract.

Stastney Is the Cleaner Pittsburgh Target

If Dubas wants a relatively simple move, Stastney makes more sense than Mukhamadullin. He recorded two goals and 10 points in 66 games last season while averaging 16:02 in ice time. The Oilers later scratched him for the final 12 regular-season games and all six playoff contests, leaving a 26-year-old defenseman on a $1.525 million contract without an obvious place in the lineup.

That profile fits Pittsburgh’s current approach. Stastney is young enough to provide more than short-term veteran insurance, inexpensive enough to be a seventh defenseman and experienced enough that head coach Dan Muse would not need to shelter him like a prospect receiving his first NHL opportunity.

Brazeau would be the Penguins’ cleanest trade chip in that type of conversation because the salaries nearly match. That does not mean Brazeau for Stastney is fair value for both teams, but it illustrates why negotiations would not require complicated cap manipulation.

The problem is Edmonton’s actual need. Bowman has indicated a forward would be the logical addition, but that does not necessarily mean he is searching for a 17-goal bottom-six winger. If the Oilers are preserving cap space for a player who can skate beside Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl, Brazeau may not address the priority strongly enough. That distinction keeps the fit interesting without making a deal inevitable.

Mukhamadullin Would Require a Bigger Conversation

Mukhamadullin is the more intriguing target because his ceiling is higher. The Oilers acquired the 24-year-old defenseman in the Darnell Nurse trade in July and then committed two years to him. He is a 2020 first-round selection, can play either side despite shooting left and remains young enough to fit the type of roster the Penguins are trying to build. Edmonton also has Mattias Ekholm, Jake Walman and Ryan Shea on the left side, which contributes to the competition around Mukhamadullin.

Those same qualities make him less likely to come cheaply. Pittsburgh probably would not land Mukhamadullin simply by offering whichever forward loses a training camp battle. Edmonton would have little reason to exchange a controlled 24-year-old defenseman for a marginal roster piece unless that forward filled a more meaningful need or the Penguins added value elsewhere.

Lapierre could create a more interesting discussion because he is also 24, carries two years of control and has already played 158 NHL games. Pittsburgh, however, only acquired him in June for a third-round pick and a fifth-round pick, making an immediate trade difficult to justify unless Dubas believed Mukhamadullin represented a clear upgrade at a greater organizational need. That is the type of conversation worth having, even if it never becomes a deal.

Dubas Should Be Trying to Turn Surplus Into Balance

The Penguins do not need another trade for the sake of activity. They can enter training camp with their current group and allow injuries, performance and waivers to reshape the depth chart naturally. Four preseason games will provide only a brief evaluation window, but Muse should still see which forwards actually separate themselves before Dubas moves someone out.

The danger comes if Pittsburgh leaves camp knowing it has useful forwards sitting in the press box while the defense still needs help. The Penguins’ crowded roster is already squeezing opportunities, and maintaining excess depth indefinitely would eventually become counterproductive.

Edmonton faces its own version of the problem. Stastney, Emberson and Mukhamadullin cannot all be hidden in the AHL without waiver risk, while Bowman has publicly left room financially for another forward. PensBurgh connected the two situations on Aug. 11 and identified Brazeau, Lapierre and Söderblom as forwards who could logically enter the conversation.

That is what makes these teams worth monitoring. The Penguins do not have exactly what Edmonton wants, and the Oilers are not offering Pittsburgh a top-pair defenseman. Neither side needs a blockbuster for the roster logic to work. Sometimes a trade begins because two teams have the same problem. Pittsburgh and Edmonton may have something more useful: opposite ones.