NHL Trade Rumors: Pittsburgh Penguins close to acquiring Derick Brassard

Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun is reporting the Pittsburgh Penguins are close to trading for Ottawa Senators center Derick Brassard

The Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to become the first team since the New York Islanders to win three consecutive Stanley Cups. It hasn’t been a smooth road for them, but they’re back on track to try to three-peat. The latest NHL trade rumors have them pulling off a huge trade for Ottawa Senators defenseman Derick Brassard.

According to Darren Dreger, the deal would be for a first-round pick, goaltender Filip Gustavsson, and other pieces. There are going to be some salary cap moves to make this work, but it appears it’s about done.

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UPDATE: Ian Cole of the Pens is involved in the trade as well, per Darren Dreger. This seems to be a move for cap reasons and should help the Penguins accommodate Brassard’s cap hit.

For the Penguins, Brassard provides them with a third line center. And an extremely good one at that. He has 38 points in 58 games this season in a top-six role for the Senators.

Ottawa isn’t very good offensively, so it can be assumed moving to the Penguins will help make his numbers better. Brassard has a $5 million cap hit through the end of the 2018-19 season. His salary, however, is just $1 million next year (along with $2.5 million of signing bonuses).

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For the Senators, this is a pretty good return. Even if the first-round pick becomes a pick away from being a second-rounder, they continue to clear salary. And Filip Gustavsson is a promising young goalie. The Penguins drafted him in the second-round of the 2016 NHL Draft. Gustavsson is currently doing quite well over in Sweden, doing especially well during the World Juniors.

This makes the Penguins a much more lethal team, as Brassard is a proven playoff performer. The Senators continue to sell off their assets. One has to wonder if Erik Karlsson will be next.

UPDATE (5:09 p.m. ET): The trade is far more complicated than anyone originally believed. There’s a third team involved, according to Bob McKenzie.

UPDATE (6:20 p.m. ET):

UPDATE (11:00 P.M. ET): The trade has been finalized.