MAJOR: 800-Game NHL Veteran Reportedly Nearly Traded by the Penguins at the Deadline
The trade deadline this year was full of huge trades and awesome surprises. After the fact one NHL insider revealed a couple more trades that nearly happened.
NHL Insider Reveals Kings Had Interest In Penguins Forward At Deadline
One player that many expected to be moved this year was Penguins winger Reilly Smith. The veteran has over 800 games of NHL experience, including a Stanley Cup championship he earned with Vegas Last season. Elliotte Freidman revealed after the deadline that there was some interest in him. He specifically mentioned the LA Kings, but noted that the team did not have enough cap room to make the deal work.
That being said, this does not mean that the two teams still can't come to an agreement with the player in the future. After all, the Penguins future is very uncertain right now, especially with the way the team is trending and the shift in tone coming from Kyle Dubas.
Dubas Hints At Upcoming Rebuild For Pittsburgh Penguins
One word that NHL general managers hate to use is, "rebuild." It is like a curse that only teams in the most grim of situations use regularly. While Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has not explicitly used the term, he did hint that the team could be heading in that direction in his latest media availability.
Words like these will likely scare many Penguins fans. After all, Sidney Crosby is entering the final year of his contract next season. Should the team struggle again, there is a very real chance he could play his last game for the team next season. It is even possible that Dubas could look to fully embrace the rebuild over the summer, dealing the captain before next season even starts. While that decision will be very difficult, smaller moves such as dealing Reilly Smith will hurt a lot less.
Troubled times are ahead for the Penguins. Luckily, fans have multiple Stanley Cup championships to remember as the team enters its next era.
As seen on The Penguins nearly traded another top player at the Deadline!
| POLL | ||
MARS 14 | 50 ANSWERS MAJOR: 800-Game NHL Veteran Reportedly Nearly Traded by the Penguins at the Deadline Do you think the Penguins will trade Smith in the offseason? | ||
| Yes | 34 | 68 % |
| No | 16 | 32 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Werenski | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| Sean Monahan | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jesper Bratt | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Frederick Gaudreau | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jack Hughes | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Mackenzie Weegar | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Kent Johnson | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alexander Wennberg | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mitchell Chaffee | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matthew Coronato | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Nick Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Conor Geekie | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Stefan Noesen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Corey Perry | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Igor Sharangovich | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dmitry Voronkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 19 | 16 | 3 | - | 32 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||