This will be a great deal IF:
1) The Pens win the cup
2) Hossa resigns with the Pens for a long term deal
3) Angelo Esposito doesn’t turn into a good player meaning 30-40 points plus)

If those three things happen then it will go down as a great deal. Hossa is a superstar, there’s no doubt about it, but he does have some concerns. I’m a huge Pens fan, but this trade definitely has me worried. After today, the Pens don’t have a pick in this years draft until the 3rd round and then they only pick in the 4th, 6th and 7th round! If we don’t win the cup this season then all of this could be for nothing and we could be set back a bit.

Posted by B.W. from Michigan on 02/26/08 at 05:07 PM ET

I hate Shero, bring back Patrick.

Posted by callmedrw on 02/26/08 at 05:45 PM ET

“they will ultimately have to pony up big to retain Evgeni Malkin the year after that, it is unclear how general manager Ray Shero might also find the $8 million or so required to sign Hossa beyond July 1.”

I’m certain the salary cap will climb enough to accomplish all of this.

Posted by Ted from Innisfil, Ontario on 02/26/08 at 05:51 PM ET

Strange. Patience would have been better. You got some amazing young talent in Pittsburgh.

The only stranger trade was Huet for some pucks, some gatorade and a whistle.

Posted by Laker from dapuddle on 02/26/08 at 06:45 PM ET

If Hossa doesn’t re-sign with the Penguins the only thing we lost is the 1st round pick and Esposito’s potential, which seems to drop every time you turn around.  This belief that the Penguins mortgaged the future is ridiculous.

Armstrong is a dime a dozen grinder who is overrated (I thought it was only in Pittsburgh, but it seems to be league wide) because of his personality and his place in the locker room chemistry.  For someone that people always say is a tireless worker and a good energy player, he recently went almost 2 months without anybody noticing he was on the ice.  The big hits he dished out last year have been nowhere to be seen this season and he has been an absolutely pathetic forechecker.  He has absolutely no scoring touch and it would be long before Atlanta fans realize that Colby Armstrong is where scoring chances go to die.  The Pens 3rd line RW position will be upgraded by Dupuis replacing Armstrong.

Christensen is an incredibly talented player who is a major headcase and has no place in Pittsburgh.  He was never able to adjust to playing the wing and needs to be a center on one of the top two lines to have any impact on a team.  He’ll be put in that position in Atlanta and if he succeeds he will have done more than he ever would have accomplished in Pittsburgh.

As far as team chemistry goes: trades are never an easy thing, especially with a locker room that is so close together.  There is still a good group of veterans that has been through this before to lay down the law.  In general, the young players on this team learned a valuable lesson today: above all else, hockey is a business.  Colby isn’t dead.  Him and Crosby will still be buddies.  If the team can’t get over these trades, then they never had the mental makeup to win the cup anyways.

Just to use a Pittsburgh reference, no one cared that Dan Quinn was Mario’s buddy, no one cared that John Cullen was best friends with Stevens and Recchi, no one cared that Stevens and Recchi were still best friends in 92, no one cared that Bob Errey was Mario’s buddy.  All of those players got traded because it bettered the team, regardless of personal relationships.

Posted by Dickie Dunn from Pittsburgh on 02/26/08 at 11:40 PM ET

Just something to add: Christensen getting moved is something that has been rumored, and something Pens fans have wanted, for almost 3 years now.  Him finally getting traded shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, and sure as hell doesn’t affect the future.

Posted by Dickie Dunn from Pittsburgh on 02/26/08 at 11:43 PM ET

As a Pens fan, I love this deal. Yes, it was quite a price to pay, and I especially hated to see Armstrong go. But any team that was going to get Hossa was going to pay a big price. In the Pens’ case, they already had early-20s Crosby and Malkin as their top-2 centermen: they could afford to give two talented center prospects for one of the very best wingers in the game who is still in his 20s and is just entering the prime years of his playing career. Losing Armstrong hurts, but they have guys who do what he does both already on the roster (and Dupuis will help with this) and in the system (Filewich, Stone, etc.).

What does this mean for them financially? Well, right now, I consider the Pens’ core long-term to be Crosby Malkin, Whitney, and Fleury. Whitney’s cap hit is fixed at $4 million for several years. The cap is currently at $54 million, and the current cap space for the Pens is about $10 million. The increase in Crosby’s and Malkin’s respective cap hits (which will be about $5 million each, assuming Malkin gets a nearly identical contract to Crosby) will eat up that cap space. The rumor, though, is that the cap could rise to $64 million next year: that gives another $10 million. Let’s go with that. I would say that Fleury will likely get a cap hit increase of about $2-3 million with a shorter term deal (I’m thinking 3 years, $11-12 million). There’s $2-3 million. I imagine that Conklin will probably be resigned, too: he’ll get a similiar contract to Fleury’s, but a bit less. That’s a cap hit increase of about $2.5-3 million. So we’ve eaten up $4.5-6 million of that cap space, leaving $4-5.5 million left in cap space. I would think that Hossa will go up to a cap hit of about $8 million, which would put them a little over.

This means that someone is going to have to go. I’m betting that this will be Gonchar. I love the guy, and he’s a special player: he’s the best offensive defenseman in the league. He is truly a player that can transform a power play, if not a team. But trading him not only would allow the Pens to keep one hell of a young core intact for a number of years, but it will allow them to get good value in return. (Such as some good prospects to make up for those lost in the Hossa trade.) Furthermore, they have plenty of players that do what Gonchar does, although maybe not as well: Whitney is going to be a premier offensive defenseman in the league (if not a premier overall defenseman), and Letang and Goligoski are both terrifically speedy and gifted.

This summer, look for Gonchar to be the guy who has trade rumors swirling around him. There could be lots of teams who are maybe a step away from the playoffs/Cup contention who have struggling Power Plays (Colorado, St. Louis, Chicago, Edmonton, Toronto, Nashville, New York Islanders) who could line up to get him.

Posted by Paige on 02/27/08 at 12:05 AM ET

I don’t know about signing two goalies to big contracts like that. Never seems to work.

As Ray Ferraro said the problem with having two bigtime goalies is that you don’t have one.

In a hard cap world the backup goalie is going to need to be in the 1-2 million range at best.

Posted by Laker from Dapuddle on 02/27/08 at 12:11 AM ET

It was a bad trade.  Short-sighted.  They will lose in the playoffs because their defense is made of styrofoam.

Posted by DrW on 02/27/08 at 09:22 AM ET