NHL Trade Talk: Jim Rutherford Must Be Aggressive in Adding to Penguins' Top 6

When Pittsburgh Penguins forward Pascal Dupuis was sidelined for the season Nov. 19 with a blood clot in his leg, it heightened the need for a capable top-six forward to pair with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.

First-year Pittsburgh general manager Jim Rutherford has been aggressive in the past when he held the same role with the Carolina Hurricanes by acquiring players his team needs before the trade deadline.

In fact, the word "aggressive" and Rutherford seem to be synonymous with each other.

As Kevin Allen of USA Today Sports pointed out, Rutherford is no stranger to being forceful when he realizes his team needs that final piece. Rutherford orchestrated a blockbuster trade for the "big prize" of the 2005-06 trade market in Doug Weight well before the trade deadline. He acquired Mark Recchi later that year. The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup that season.

Bob Donaldson/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

With Dupuis' injury, it's not hard to imagine the Penguins will look for a permanent solution to their top-six needs before the clock strikes zero on deadline day. In order to do that, Rutherford will need to get aggressive—again.

A lack of top-six wingers has always been a real problem for the Penguins since the start of the Crosby era. There have been a few solid contributing wingers in Pittsburgh's top six through the years—Marian Hossa, James Neal and Bill Guerin come to mind. But they were either traded, retired or didn't re-sign with the club.

With Chris Kunitz and Patric Hornqvist as the only locks in the top-six with Malkin and Crosby, Pittsburgh could use as many as two replacement wingers this season.

Hornqvist has looked best with Crosby. Kunitz, who has started slow this season, works well with both Crosby and Malkin.

Trading for that top-six option seems to be the approach most fans prefer to take. It should be the route Rutherford takes as well.

Lyle Richardson of The Hockey News speculated that the Buffalo Sabres would be a perfect trade partner with the Penguins, specifically regarding wingers Drew Stafford and Chris Stewart. 

Stewart, who is 27 years old and an impending free agent at the end of the season, is one of many struggling players in Buffalo. He has just three points in 22 games. Stewart scored 30 goals with the Colorado Avalanche in 2009-10 but has been inconsistent throughout most of his career.

There's a reason Crosby chose Dupuis and Kunitz as his preferred linemates. Stewart's inconsistency might not bode well for his prospects if paired with Crosby, who demands a fast winger with a tireless work ethic on his line.

Dan Hickling/Olean Times Herald

Stafford, 29, has been a bit better this year with 12 points in 22 games. The winger has three seasons of at least 20 goals in his nine-year NHL career. He was undoubtedly the best forward on the Sabres a year ago.

Stafford would be the better option here and would fit nicely in a second-line pairing with Malkin.

In return, Buffalo figures to need help everywhere, but it could stand to use a good goalie prospect. That makes a lot of sense for Pittsburgh. The team just signed goalie Marc-Andre Fleury to a four-year contract extension, which might make 2013 second-round goaltender Tristan Jarry expendable in Rutherford's eyes. 

If the Sabres don't bite on Jarry, they make take a liking to the Penguins' deep defensive pool, which includes prospects like Scott Harrington, Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson.

Speaking of defensive prospects, the Edmonton Oilers could sure use a few, and they have plenty of forwards who could be traded. Players like Jordan Eberle, David Perron, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov all have been rumored in deals recently.

Perhaps the most compelling of those names is Eberle, who, at just 24 years old, is signed for $6 million a season through 2019. That figure fits into the Penguins' salary-cap structure with very little adjustment.

Pittsburgh has $3,314,797 in cap space according to CapGeek.com, and it could trade a player like defenseman Rob Scuderi and his $3.75 million cap hit during the season.

Eberle notched 65 points on a horrible Edmonton team last season and scored 34 goals three seasons ago. His tireless work ethic matched with Crosby has Penguins fans drooling at the potential matchup nightmares for opponents.

Adam Williams of The Hockey Writers proposed such a notion, sending Pittsburgh's top prospect, defenseman Derrick Pouliot, one of defensemen Robert Bortuzzo or Simon Despres and a draft pick for Eberle's services.

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With the exception of trading Crosby or Malkin, any move to get a winger of Eberle's caliber would boost the Penguins to an instant Stanley Cup favorite. In Williams' proposed deal, Pittsburgh only loses potential production. Prospects are never a sure thing. At most, Pouliot would become a version of Kris Letang with better quarterback skills on the power play. Though Pittsburgh would likely rather keep Despres over Bortuzzo, the latter wouldn't be too crippling of a drop off.

The Oilers prominently need goaltending, defense and a center moving forward. Edmonton could demand a player like center Brandon Sutter, who has anchored the third line for Pittsburgh since Rutherford traded him to the team from Carolina in an aggressive pursuit of forward Jordan Staal in 2012. In that case, the Penguins could move underrated fourth-line center Marcel Goc to the third line if needed.

Not limited to these two teams, the options from Edmonton and Buffalo are the most often rumored around the Penguins and Rutherford. What usually isn't, though, is a third potential option: Rutherford doesn't do anything.

There may be some justification for that option. The last time Pittsburgh played a game, Blake Comeau scored a hat trick while playing in the top six, lifting the Penguins to a 4-3 overtime triumph over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Nick Spaling, the Penguins' other top-six forward that game, has a similar skill set to Dupuis.

Then there's oft-injured winger Beau Bennett, who has tons of talent but can never stay healthy. He was working his way up the lineup for new coach Mike Johnston before going down with a knee injury he suffered in a 3-2 win against the Boston Bruins on Nov. 24.

Furthermore, Pittsburgh ranks second in the entire league with a 1.41 five-on-five goals for/against ratio.

Rutherford could simply ride with the players he has and hope for the best.

Or, he could be aggressive.

Yep, that sounds more like Rutherford.

All statistics courtesy of NHL.com.