TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 (edited) From NHL.comhttps://www.nhl.com/news/new-jersey-trade-for-john-marino-from-pittsburgh-in-exchange-for-ty-smith/c-335010816 Interesting that two division rivals would trade potential offensive defensemen, particularly Pittsburgh. Have they given up on John Marino? Was it more about cap space and they view Ty Smith as just as capable? The NJ Devils continue having a nice off season not only in the draft and in signing their defenseman pick, Simon Nemec, but adding Stanley Cup veteran Ondrej Palat to the forward ranks, adding solid top 9 forward Erik Haula, and Vitek Vanecek in goal to go along with MacKenzie Blackwood, and now up n coming John Marino to the blue line. None of these moves by the Devils are 'eye popping wow' by themselves, but added up, yes, it looks to try and address the team's need for more grit, experience, and the need for more skill on the blue line. Meanwhile, the Penguins, after signing Letang and Malkin to new deals, are clearly still in 'win now' mode, which is why I find it interesting they gave up Marino for a guy in Ty Smith who may still be more of a work in progress. They do get a nice extra with the 3rd round pick, however. Pens fans wanna weigh in? Was Marino's development not fast enough? He is 25 and should be entering his prime for a defenseman. The Devils in recent years have turned from a defense first franchise to one with all out offense, albeit, very deficient in defense. Not exactly anyone's granddaddy's Devils. Edited July 16, 2022 by TropicalFruitGirl26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 Well, very shortly after starting this topic, this shows up: Trade makes a bit more sense for Pittsburgh now. They swap the young defender Marino for a younger Ty Smith who could be molded into something good down the road, they have the draft pick, and it looks like they will be getting their 'win now' defenseman in the solid Jeff Petry from the Canadiens. This isn't an officially announced deal, but Elliote Friedman oftentimes reports accurate stuff, so I expect that to be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted July 16, 2022 Share Posted July 16, 2022 Two places have stated the Penguins are not done, they are looking at bringing back.... wait for it.... Phil Kessel. I doubt they can fit him in but honestly he can still score and was loved in the clubhouse. @TropicalFruitGirl26 the other team linked to Kessel is your Bolts and he may be a great replacement for Palat. Man can still score if you can accept his other deficiencies..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 1 hour ago, yave1964 said: Two places have stated the Penguins are not done, they are looking at bringing back.... wait for it.... Phil Kessel. I doubt they can fit him in but honestly he can still score and was loved in the clubhouse. @TropicalFruitGirl26 the other team linked to Kessel is your Bolts and he may be a great replacement for Palat. Man can still score if you can accept his other deficiencies..... I mentioned Phil Kessel in the free agency thread about him being one of the "interesting" names still floating around out there. I'd imagine anyone signing him WON'T be giving him some crazy deal near the 8M cap hit he had last contract. But on a one or two year low cost deal for a cap strapped team? Yea, I could see that happening. I checked in with the Bolts situation, even after LTIR'ing Brent Seabrook, they will be 320K over the cap if I read that right, so not sure they could add a Kessel even if they wanted to on a low cost deal, without moving out another contract. The Penguins here might have better luck as even after their trades, they still have about 1.5M left to possibly make a deal with Kessel. I think everyone knows by now...you don't sign a Kessel for his two way play. You sign him to skate fast, snipe and score, and while he obviously isn't the same player from seasons past, he can still do those things pretty well. If a team has a decent enough defense and a good goalie, they can absorb his Petr Klima-esque episodes on the ice as a trade off for equally Klima-esque goals! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 16, 2022 Author Share Posted July 16, 2022 (edited) Pittsburgh GM Ron Hextall on Ty Smith, via the Penguins Twitter account: In the meantime, with Petry in the fold, there is less pressure on Smith to live up to anything. Just has to put in the work and eventually get to the point where the Penguins really can be justified in giving up John Marino. Many, myself included as I've looked him over to add to my fantasy teams, are waiting for him to have his "break out" season.....maybe he finally does with the high offense Devils. Edited July 16, 2022 by TropicalFruitGirl26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Jeff Petry (803) holds the NHL record for most games played for Canadian teams by an American-born player. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.