After a dreadful start to the new season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around in a big way, with the team now sitting at 17-17-5 on the season, giving them a great shot at making a run to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This is a huge turnaround from the doom and gloom that surrounded the team early in the season, with many reports that they would be big sellers if things didn't change as the year rolled on.
While things have changed, it appears as though selling one particular player hasn't, as Dan Kingerski has confirmed that Marcus Pettersson is likely playing out his final games as a Penguin.
According to a recent report from Pittsburgh Hockey Now, there's simply been no contract talks between Pettersson and the Penguins front office, and it will eventually lead to a split.
While Kingerski doesn't specify that the team will either let him walk into free agency or move him beforehand, the latter would make sense to get an asset out of him before the two teams part ways, with the veteran blue liner likely to command plenty of interest if he does become available.
In 33 games this season, Pettersson has 2 goals and 13 points, so while he's not producing points at a high level, he's a veteran shutdown defenseman, so while the team are trying to get younger, it makes sense to get as big an asset as you possibly can from Pettersson at the deadline.
POLL | ||
JANVIER 2 | 421 ANSWERS Pittsburgh Penguins Set to Move On from Defenseman with No Deal in Sight, per Dan Kingerski Is moving on from Marcus Pettersson the right move for the Pittsburgh Penguins? | ||
Yes | 272 | 64.6 % |
No | 149 | 35.4 % |
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