Penguins Trade Splash

Former division rivals leave the only team
they ever played for to join Pittsburgh.

Don't look now, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are just 1 point behind the Chicago Blackhawks in the Presidents' Trophy race through 33 games.  They have won the last 12 games they have played and are doing so despite injuries to All Stars in Malkin and Letang.  Not only is Fleury looking great in net but perennial All Star Tomas Vokoun is the backup goalie on this team.  Sidney Crosby is the best player in the NHL and his line mates Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis are coming into their own as two of the NHL's best forwards.  So much can be said about just how good this team is, and they just got better.

On back to back days Pittsburgh has made trades for veteran forward Brenden Morrow and veteran defenseman Douglas Murray.  Morrow was the captain of the Dallas Stars and had many great seasons with that team.  Murray is a little bit of a different story than Morrow, but he is one of the hardest hitting defenseman in the league who is one heck of a shot blocker as well.  This adds talent to an already talented roster, but more importantly it adds grit.  These are hard nosed players who have battled each other for many years in the always competitive Pacific Division.  As pictured above, there used to be no love when Morrow's Stars took on Douglas Murray and the Sharks.  Now these two guys are the missing pieces to a potential Stanley Cup run for the Penguins.

Pittsburgh was eliminated from the playoffs last year by Philadelphia in some obnoxious high scoring, offense only games.  They got caught up playing the Flyers' style of play rather than stick to what got them there.  Rivals have the ability to do that to you.  By having Murray in the lineup to replace one of the younger guys, like Despres for example, you make this team so much more solid defensively.  He has a wealth of playoff experience and is a true student of the game.  In addition, you pick up a guy who can kill penalties, hit hard, and fight.  These are three things they needed against Philly in that epic, yet miserable (for Pens fans at least) playoff series.  The Sharks in return get two 2nd round picks for someone they probably could not resign anyway.  They have solid young defensemen to fill Murray's void so this is a trade that is beneficial to both teams.

As for Morrow, what can't you say about this guy?  He can do it all.  He is not the most prolific goal scorer the game has ever seen, but he has scored over 30 goals twice and has a career high 74 points which is not too shabby.  He may not be the offensive force he once was but what Pittsburgh will really get from him is just as important.  No disrespect to the leadership of Crosby, but this guy is a true locker room leader.  He was a captain that lead by example in Dallas and I think the younger guys in Pittsburgh can look up to him and learn a lot about the game from him.  Crosby and Morrow were teammates on the gold medal winning Team Canada so they have some brief history together.  His physical style of play is exactly what it takes to win playoff games.  This hitting and grit is something both Morrow and Murray will be bringing with them to the steel city.

What does this trade mean for the rest of the league?

I had made a bold prediction before the season started (even before the lockout) that whichever team Dallas trades Brenden Morrow to will win the Stanley Cup in 2013.  This was a bold statement for 2 reasons: 1, Morrow was not part of trade rumors because Dallas was thought to be a legitimate playoff contender going into this year.  And 2, I predicted that an unknown team would win the Stanley Cup just because of the addition of a savvy veteran who is at best a 3rd line left winger.  Well my prediction is not looking to bad now.  I just had a hunch that Morrow would land on a top 5 team in the league and it is hard to say Pittsburgh is anything but that.

Being from Detroit, I have to say that the Red Wings really missed out on Douglas Murray.  When you talk about talented teams that need desperately need to add grit, you are talking about Detroit.  They also are short on defense and should not expect to win a Cup when Quincey, Kindle, Smith, and Lashoff are playing every night.  Throw in the heavy Swedish presence on the team in Zetterberg, Samuelsson, Franzen, Ericsson, Kronwall, Nyquist, Gustafsson and Andersson and you have a player that feels at home away from home.  Looking at it with optimism, I can see Ken Holland signing him as a free agent this summer without having to give up those 2 draft picks that Pittsburgh dished out to get him.

As for teams like Montreal, Boston, Chicago, Anaheim, and other top teams who think this is their year, it's probably not.  I am not bestowing the Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh now, but I do not see anyone being able to win a best out of 7 series with them.  Especially since they will most likely be the team to hold onto home ice in every series they play.  There are only 3 legitimate things that I think could happen that can give other teams hope:

1. Injury:  Letang and Malkin are on the shelf now with injuries and there is the always lurking thought that Sid could go down at any point too.  Too many injuries could derail this amazing team.
2. Morrow and Murray get homesick:  No I do not think they will lay awake at night missing the beautiful cities of San Jose and Dallas.  What I mean is that these guys have only played for one team and have had pretty long careers for that one team.  Getting divorced is not easy and moving on and being expected to play at a high level instantly is not a piece of cake.  Morrow and Murray could have a tough transition period and could be flops despite being seemingly perfect fits for the Penguins.
3. Counter trade moves: The trade deadline is not over.  Keep a sharp eye on Boston, LA, and Chicago in particular to make a splash before the end of the week.  Any one of these teams could be I don't know...A Jarome Iginla away from winning a Stanley Cup of their own.

One last side note: I am making this seem like only a small amount of the teams in the NHL have a chance at winning the cup.  That is obviously note the case.  There is more parity in the NHL than any other sport and therefore the Cup is still up for grabs right now (the Penguins are not the Miami Heat).  Goalies can get hot and steal a round.  I simply think that Pittsburgh is perfectly primed to win the cup and they are my prediction to be the last team standing at the end of the season.  Outside of the teams already mentioned in the heart of this article I see Vancouver, Detroit, St. Louis, San Jose, New York, New Jersey, and other teams right in the mix too.