It's rare in these cap-strapped days for NHL general managers to enact trades with serious impact, so it was pretty refreshing today to see a trade go down that will have serious, long-lasting ramifications for both of the involved parties.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers completed a trade today that will send winger David Perron to the Pens and a 2015 first-round draft pick and winger Rob Klinkhammer back to the Oilers.
The trade was first reported by TSN Hockey Insider, Darren Dreger.
As Dreger notes, the fit is fantastic for Pittsburgh and GM Jim Rutherford, who had been on the lookout for quite some time for a scoring winger to add to the first or second lines.
The 26-year-old Perron will add a serious injection of talent and skill - when he's healthy, he's around a 50-point scorer - playing alongside All-Worlders in Evgeni Malkin and/or Sidney Crosby. He's got five goals and 14 assists for the moribund Oilers this season.
The deal is also a pretty good one financially for the Pens - it puts them up against the cap, but nobody ever won a Stanley Cup without spending some serious money.
Perron's current cap-hit is just over $3.8 million and he has a year left on his deal. The Penguins had more than $4.4 million in space before the trade, and with the loss of Klinkhammers $625,000 salary, will be left with a little wiggle room.
For the Pens, this reaffirms to their fans that they're all-in on this season - it's Stanley Cup-or-bust from here on out.
For the Oilers, the addition of a first-round draft pick, even one expected to be very low in the first-round, will be a serious boon to them on their path to rebuilding their currently beleaguered franchise.
