Why did the Penguins trade Simon Depres?
Posted 7:19 AM ET | Comments 4
At the recent NHL trade deadline, the Penguins made two trades, both involving defenseman. The first trade they made was dealing Robert Bortuzzo and a draft pick to the Blues for defenseman Ian Cole. I can understand trading Bortuzzo, as the Penguins are wealthy in defensive prospects and don’t have a clear place for him. But the other trade they made, Simon Depres to Anaheim for Ben Lovejoy, wasn’t as good.
Simon Depres has been for the past couple years a guy that is a healthy scratch at times and is sent down to the AHL. This season, he broke out of his shell. While playing the majority of the season, he has played exceptionally. Controlling the puck, generating offense, completing stretch passes. You name it, Depres has probably done a whole lot better job with it than he has in previous seasons. His improvement this year has helped shore up the final defensive pairing. So why was he traded?
Jim Rutherford has done a mostly good job so far in his tenure as Penguins’ general manager. He has made a good bit of trades that have turned out well. This was one trade that was not as good.
In 60 games this season, Depres has two goals and 18 points with a plus/minus of plus-12. Those are solid stats for a guy mostly playing on a pairing with Rob Scuderi, who wouldn’t exactly be considered an offensive defenseman. By comparison, Lovejoy has 11 points in 40 games with the Ducks, and has only a plus-four in the plus/minus category. Lovejoy is clearly a downgrade from Depres. Simon Depres will be a solid defenseman in the years to come. Hopefully, Lovejoy will be the same.
Simon Depres has been for the past couple years a guy that is a healthy scratch at times and is sent down to the AHL. This season, he broke out of his shell. While playing the majority of the season, he has played exceptionally. Controlling the puck, generating offense, completing stretch passes. You name it, Depres has probably done a whole lot better job with it than he has in previous seasons. His improvement this year has helped shore up the final defensive pairing. So why was he traded?
Jim Rutherford has done a mostly good job so far in his tenure as Penguins’ general manager. He has made a good bit of trades that have turned out well. This was one trade that was not as good.
In 60 games this season, Depres has two goals and 18 points with a plus/minus of plus-12. Those are solid stats for a guy mostly playing on a pairing with Rob Scuderi, who wouldn’t exactly be considered an offensive defenseman. By comparison, Lovejoy has 11 points in 40 games with the Ducks, and has only a plus-four in the plus/minus category. Lovejoy is clearly a downgrade from Depres. Simon Depres will be a solid defenseman in the years to come. Hopefully, Lovejoy will be the same.
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04 Why did the Penguins trade Simon Depres?
05 Penguins cooled off by Colorado, lose 3-1
07 Penguins end Anaheim's winning streak, win 5-2
08 Fleury earns shutout as the Penguins win in OT over LA
10 Struggles against Sharks continue as Pens lose in SO
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Not that I agree with the thought process, but I think Depres is gone because the Penguins got Ian Cole. They are essentially the same trade. Penguins trade a 5-7 guy in Bortuzzo for a guy with a bit more upside in Cole, then move another guy with upside in Depres for a 4-6 guy in Lovejoy. Spending 4 years developing a guy like Depres only to move him for a guy like Lovejoy is still a huge red flag to me regardless of whatever other trades you make, but each team evaluates and values players differently. If they ultimately feel Cole will be a better player long term than Depres and that Lovejoy is a better dman than Bortuzzo now (which he is), than the Penguins probably feel like they won both of these trades.
I myself wonder if Depres finally made GMJR aware of his dissatisfaction as to how he was/has been used even this season, and requested a trade.
The bias in this article is so strong
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