Who won the trade that sent Tanner Pearson to the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carl Hagelin to the LA Kings? Our latest NHL trade grade sorts it out.
On Wednesday, two struggling teams traded two struggling wings looking for a roster shakeup. The Pittsburgh Penguins traded Carl Hagelin to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Tanner Pearson. Combined, the two players have merely four points, including just one goal, this season.
The Kings will be Hagelin’s fourth NHL team. He has played his previous three and a half seasons with the Penguins. Hagelin has also spent time with the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks. Meanwhile, Pearson, four years younger than Hagelin, has played with the Kings for his entire career.
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Pearson managed at least 40 points in the 2016-17 and in 2017-18 seasons but has completely fallen off this year. In 17 games, he has recorded only one assist. Still yet to score a goal, he appears quite far off from the Pearson who scored 20 during two seasons ago.
Hagelin is also struggling, on pace to score around half of his total last season, with only 3 points in 16 games. He has never quite managed a 40 point season, but he got close in 2015-16 when he scored 39 points in 80 games. This includes 27 points in his first 37 game stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
So, this trade features two forwards who have not been too great so far. Who can we say, got a better deal in the trade?
Who won the trade?
Although neither Hagelin nor Pearson have ever been the best point contributors, they have helped their teams in other ways in the past. Pearson, for example, had a moderately positive effect on possession numbers last season and has done so throughout his career.
Hagelin boasts a similar skillset. Last season, Pearson had a bit of an edge. He contributed more shots per 60 minutes: 76 over 64. But, he trailed Hagelin separately in successful offensive entries, 50 percent to 43 percent.
Where the separation became clear, however, was in their defensive abilities. Pearson exited his defensive zone successfully 68% of the time, while Hagelin was all the way down at 35%.
This season, things have changed. Along with the huge drop in point totals, Pearson’s Corsi has also fallen. This season, his relative CorsiFor percentage has fallen to -1.9 percent. Meanwhile, Hagelin’s actually increased to 3.2 percent.
In terms of actual play, the advantage is with Hagelin. The only edge Pearson still holds is his age. Something is going wrong with him, but he still has time to improve, at 26 years old. Hagelin is 30.
Conclusion
Although this is a very minor trade in the grand scheme of things, it’s always fun to pick a winner. In this case, it looks like the Kings. In the long term, it’s a mystery really. Pearson has taken a turn for the worst and is not looking like himself this season.
Perhaps, he will take the opportunity to turn things around, in the longer time frame he has available. Pearson has a history of scoring, which is something the Penguins could really use.