The Pittsburgh Penguins made a very interesting trade the other day when they acquired former Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Dumba and a 2028 second round pick for defenseman Vadislav Kolyachonok. Sportsvival breaks down this move, what it means, and what else could be coming.
To begin, Matt Dumba gets to play for the team that belongs to the city where he was originally drafted. Welcome, Matt! Matt carries a one year deal and a 3.75 million dollar contract that ends at the end of this upcoming season. Dumba was, at one time, a 50 point defenseman. He had a couple off years, especially last year with Dallas, but the overall organizational tone is positive with this addition. A veteran defenseman for a year, not even making 4 million dollars, and you get a second round pick for him? Ok, Mr. Dubas.. you’ve intrigued me again.
But there are other moves to come. Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell are all names that have been floated around for the Pittsburgh Penguins to trade. Karlsson said that he would be more than willing to move his no trade clause to go to a Stanley Cup contender. Bryan Rust has been a great player ever since being drafted, but, in order to accelerate the rebuild, you have to give something to get something. Rakell’s name was loaded around the trade deadline a little bit last year, especially when the acquisitions of Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde were announced, and both players fetched a first round pick. No disrespect to either player, but Rakell was a 30 goal scorer last year. Dubas was correct to assume that he could’ve gotten more for a 30 goal scorer. Maybe a first round pick and a B+ prospect. It’s still relatively early in the summer. Obviously more is to come. We just don’t know the extent yet.
The Penguins just got through the end of a relatively solid draft on paper. Dubas still is so hyper fixated on getting draft picks that it does nothing but make me excited. Look at where they’re at now. 15 picks of the 30 or so that they have are in the first three rounds. Have a couple bad seasons. Acquire high end talent. Trade some picks to get good players to get back into contention. Let some players leave and retire. Get the cap space up. Be aggressive. Finish what you started.
The Dumba Domino is the beginning of hopefully many other moves that will result in necessary changes and improvements. Overall, I believe this move can be explained in a relatively straightforward way: He’s only here for a year. I don’t see anything wrong with it. The team is rebuilding, they get a pick for the future, and they continuously add to the ever-growing cabinet of future prospects and players. Also doesn’t even account for the future high-end picks they will probably have when they finish with a top ten pick this upcoming season. Dumba is a name that will be spoken around the trade deadline next season. Dubas is playing chess while others are playing checkers. Only time will tell if this game of chess will end in a victory, or a disappointing defeat.
(photo courtesy of Elite Prospects)