Second Pairing Defensemen Equals Second Round Pick

Not once, but twice today we have seen a solid second-pairing defensemen moved for a second round pick.

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired Jordan Leopold for their second round selection after reportedly refusing to part with the pick for Raffi Torres.  This move will push either Jay McKee or Alex Goligoski out of the Penguins top six altogether, with the latter completely derailing what looked like such a promising season.  Expect a relative boost for Leopold as he moves to a much better team offensively (Pittsburgh holds the fifth best offense, Florida the third worst).

So much for gaining fair value for Jay Bouwmeester.  GM Randy Sexton should have moved him before the trade deadline last season as all he has to show is two draft picks, neither of which relatively high.  With Leopold gone, several other players should see heightened playing time, including Bryan McCabe and Dmitry Kulikov.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Nashville Predators acquired Denis Grebeshkov from the Edmonton Oilers.  Grebeshkov proved with 39 points last season he will be a fully capable offensive defenseman in the NHL, warranting his 18th overall selection.  Still as a 26-year-old he now joins his fourth organization hoping he will play a more consistent game.  He likely will fall short of last year’s totals but looks to set a career high in goals playing the second pairing and top powerplay unit.

The addition of Grebeshkov cues the rumors of a potential Dan Hamhuis trade.  With their newest acquisition the blow of losing a top four defenseman certainly hurts less than originally expected.  Rumors will continue to swirl around the free agent defenseman with the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers seemingly the front runners, despite the former being consistently refuted.

Keep checking back here as we will continue covering trades and what they mean to your fantasy team.