Hossa Trade

To Pittsburgh: Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis
To Atlanta: Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and 1st round pick

We all knew that Marian Hossa was going to be traded, but just not to Pittsburgh. While the Pens gained a bonafide sniper, it came at a hefty cost when you consider Hossa is just a rental player. Losing Armstrong and Christensen may not affect their scoring, but it could affect the grit and nastiness that is essential in making a run in the post-season. What this trade does for the Pens, is provide 2 solid lines that most Eastern Conference defenses will have a tough time defending. You can expect Hossa to play wing with Sid the Kid, upon his return from a high ankle sprain, and Gary Roberts completing that first line. While I expect the second line to be centered by potential MVP candidate Evgeni Malkin, with Sykora and Malone on the wings. Yikes! sucks to be the team who has to face them in the first round. But where those two lines take the Pens past that is up in the air. The rest of the talent pool is a bit lacklustre with only Jordan Staal (who is underachieving this season) and veteran Pascal Dupuis as potential post season role players.

Overall, this is strictly a short term trade for the Pens organization. Marian Hossa (who is a UFA after this season) will not sign with the Penguins after this season as the team has to eventually re-sign upcoming RFA's Malkin and Staal. The organization will definitely have to re-sign those two and it won't come cheap, especially for Malkin (expect $8-10 million over 5-6 years). They are clearly looking to win now by acquiring Hossa. It makes me wonder who is really calling the shots? General Manager Ray Shero, or executive/former owner/former franchise player/2-time Stanley Cup Winner Mario Lemieux?

On to the Thrashers. Although, they received a couple of 3rd line players and a prospect who may or may not pan out, they at least gained some credible depth players that will benefit them long term. They are slowly developing a core group around the franchise player (Kovalchuk), but still need a few missing pieces (playmaking center??). Nevertheless, this organization is still years away from being considered a legitimate contender. Apart from Kovalchuk and a few promising rookies, this team lacks some serious talent. But I can't blame anyone else but GM Don Waddell for that as he made some questionable moves (e.g. letting Marc Savard walk a few years ago in the offseason and then giving away a lot of the team's future to acquire Keith Tkachuk during last season's trade deadline). Either way, this was a trade they had to make.

Who won it? Well, that is left to be determined until we see how the Penguins perform in the postseason this year. Hossa has a horrible playoff history (13 goals in 51 postseason games), but this is the best supporting cast he has ever had in his career. So this may be the beginning of something special!