The Pittsburgh Penguins' prodigious offense is averaging 3.62 goals a game - the best mark in the league - according to NHL.com.
That ridiculously potent offense hasn't satisfied head coach Mike Johnston or general manager Jim Rutherford though. They're apparently in the market for a top-6 forward to take Blake Comeau's spot on Evgeni Malkin's line, and could be eyeing a young player with the St. Louis Blues to fill that need, Ryan Wilson of Hockeybuzz.com reported.
Ty Rattie, a goal-scoring prospect currently playing at the AHL level, could be of interest to the Penguins should they seriously consider upgrading one of their second-line wing spots.
Rattie is a guy who loves to score goals. He scored them in bunches in junior hockey and he scores them in bunches in the AHL as well.
Rattie managed 31 goals last season - his first professional season - for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. He's got 10 goals and two assists already this season. According to the Hockey Prospectus rankings, Rattie is the 61st ranked out of 100 prospects.
The difficulty facing Rattie, and the pleasant problem facing St. Louis, is the plethora of forward talent already permeating the roster.
Problem for him is that he is stuck behind a wall of forward depth in St. Louis. The Blues boast impressive depth at that position that includes: Vladimir Tarasenko, Paul Stastny, David Backes, TJ Oshie, Patrick Berglund, Jayden Schwartz, Jori Lehtera, and fellow prospect Dmitrij Jaskin. So where does he fit into this equation? The answer is he might not.
Yes, NHL teams often prefer allowing a player to receive seasoning via big minutes in the AHL versus small minutes in a fourth line role on the big club, but a guy like Rattie may very well be ready for more, and letting him while away the days in the AHL is a waste for the team and a waste of his talents.
Rattie's value is hard to pin down, but his NHL future currently looks bright and were he available, there would, no doubt, be a number of teams, including the Penguins, interested in acquiring his services.
Pittsburgh makes a bit more sense than other teams though, for one special reason - his junior coach just so happens to have been new Penguins coach, Mike Johnston.
