The Pittsburgh Penguins today added some scoring depth by acquiring winger James Neal and defenseman Matt Niskanen from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Alex Goligoski. Neal has 21 goals and 39 points in 59 games for Dallas and Niskanen has only 6 assists and no goals in 45 games this season and a -1 rating. Goligoski has 9 goals and 31 points in 60 games this season.
The trades just keep on coming and the deadline is next Monday the 28th at 3 PM ET. Goligoski was a fan and clubhouse favorite in Pittsburgh, but with the Paul Martin and Zbynek Michalek signing this past summer, he was trade-able. Goligoski, like Martin is a Minnesota native and they are close friends. He was instrumental in wooing Martin to Pittsburgh from the Devils this past off-season. So, for Paul Martin this trade would be tough to digest for a short while.
With the season ending injury to Evgeni Malkin, the Penguins with this trade are able to fill his scoring void. Dallas also saves $2.5 million in cap space money with the trade. The Stars are also rumored to be interested in trading Brad Richards, with the NY Rangers as the most likely destination.
No comments:
Post a Comment