By Justin Oliver
The face of the franchise got his winger last night, as the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled off a blockbuster deal, sending defenseman Jeff Chychrun to the Calgary Flames in return for RW Nathan MacKinnon. The deal provides badly needed support to Hughes and Pavel Zacha, and signifies a shift in the team's approach going forward. Last year, under new management, the Penguins started an aggressive rebuild in an effort to restock the coffers with youth. Despite drafting Hughes with the 2nd overall pick in last year's entry draft, efforts revolved largely around improving the team's defensive depth, acquiring pieces like Chychrun, Domink Masin, Gabriel Carlsson, Kale Clague and Thomas Harley. MacKinnon had spent the last three seasons in Calgary, and is coming off a 28 goal, 68 point campaign, and should provide a drastic upgrade to the team's beleaguered right side.
While Pittsburgh ultimately settled on MacKinnon, several other offers were considered. "Jeff (Chychrun) generated a lot of interest. He's a great young defender, so it was no surprise. We received a good amount of offers, some more competitive than others, and while the value for some of them was pretty close, we wanted to kickstart this rebuild process and go for a proven commodity rather than draft picks. Last year was pretty tough and Nathan is still young, so once the offer came together it really was a no brainer" said 2nd year GM Jon Hilowitz. In addition to the move to acquire MacKinnon, the Penguins are expected to continue to be active in both the trade and free agency market, the latter of which the Penguins sat out last year. It is expected that the Penguins' top priority going forward will be a #1 netminder, though Huge Alenfelt had a strong year as a rookie last season and ultimately projects to take the reins at some point in the not so distant future.
That's all for now Penguins fans, check back later for more updates, and Go Pens!
4/11/2021 - 328 words
