At 11:59 p.m. EST on Dec. 19, NHL rosters will freeze until Friday, Dec. 27.
As a result, the trade market has gone into a frenzy.
Three separate trades were made Wednesday, Dec. 18, on the eve of the holiday roster freeze deadline:
– The New York Rangers traded forward Kaapo Kakko to the Seattle Kraken for defenseman Will Borgen, a 2025 third-round pick, and a 2025 sixth-round pick
– The Montreal Canadiens acquired defenseman Alexandre Carrier from the Nashville Predators for defenseman Justin Barron
– The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph from the St. Louis Blues for future considerations
The Pittsburgh Penguins – already down three defensemen on their depth chart, including Marcus Pettersson, Jack St. Ivany (AHL), and Sebastian Aho (AHL) – made a move for Joseph because of the injuries to their defensive core as well as the pressure to add to their defensive depth ahead of the roster freeze.
The urgency to get some deals done before the holiday freeze exists because – like the Penguins – there are many teams that still have two or three games to play before the holiday break yet after the freeze, and some of them are in the middle of critical stretches.
Pittsburgh is 7-2-1 in its last 10 games, and they have clawed their way back into the wild card picture despite a 7-12-4 start to the season. They’re in a groove, and they will want to make sure they head into the holiday break on a high note.
So, will they look to bolster their depth even further?
At this point, it’s unlikely that the Penguins make another trade before the freeze, but it’s certainly not impossible. With teams like the Rangers, Buffalo Sabres, and Vancouver Canucks reportedly looking to wheel-and-deal, there may be a few Penguins’ players to keep an eye on through the end of the day and in the coming weeks.
Here are three of them:
Drew O’Connor
It’s no secret that O’Connor is struggling offensively for Pittsburgh this season. After scoring three goals in the first six games to open 2024-25, he has no goals in 27 games and has registered only six points in that time.
O’Connor is a pending unrestricted free agent, and given his versatility on special teams, his speed, and his ability to be deployed up and down the lineup, the Penguins probably won’t want to lose him for nothing.
This could open up an opportunity for a “change-of-scenery” swap with another team possessing a player in the same situation. Two other players struggling immensely are Vancouver’s Nils Hoglander, who hasn’t registered a point in 21 games nor a goal in 26 games, and Toronto’s Nicholas Robertson, who only registered two points in his first 23 games but has 2 goals and 4 points in his last two.
Jesse Puljujarvi
© Bob Frid – Imagn Images
You can pretty much copy-and-paste from O’Connor’s section, although the one stark difference is that Puljujarvi is struggling to find his way into Pittsburgh’s lineup at all.
Puljujarvi has played in only one game since Nov. 23, and he has three goals and eight points in 21 games this season. He isn’t necessarily struggling to create offense when he’s in the lineup; the Penguins are simply in the midst of a strong stretch of games and are happy with the current mix of defensively conscientious bottom-six players that they have.
He probably deserves to have an opportunity elsewhere, and the same kind of “trade swap” could apply here for the Penguins in hopes of acquiring someone who can immediately make an impact if slotted in, such as Buffalo Sabres center Peyton Krebs.
Matt Grzelcyk
© Charles LeClaire – Imagn Images
Despite his defensive struggles this season, Grzelcyk has proven to be more than capable on the offensive side of the puck – and he is among the league’s elite power play quarterbacks.
He’s already tied his career high in power play points at seven, and he has a goal and 16 points total on the season. He is second only to Erik Karlsson in points among Penguins’ blueliners, and his current 39-point pace is set to obliterate his previous career high of 26 in 2022-23.
A team in need of a left defenseman – such as the Canucks and the Rangers – who can provide a punch on offense may bite on pending-UFA Grzelcyk’s $2.75 million cap hit. And, since his game is trending up, the Penguins should be able to get something of value in return right now.
