Grading Pittsburgh Penguins' Deals at the 2015 Trade Deadline

The Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the Eastern Conference's most active teams at the trade deadline, and they got things started early by acquiring Daniel Winnik on February 25. On deadline day, the Penguins made a number of deals, and each was different than the other.

General manager Jim Rutherford is no stranger to making trades, and his goal was to improve the strength of his team for the playoffs.

Without further delay, here are the grades for the Penguins' deadline deals.

Penguins Acquire Ian Cole

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To Pittsburgh Penguins: Ian Cole

To St. Louis Blues: Robert Bortuzzo and 2016 seventh-round pick

The Penguins added a decent third-pairing defender with some upside when they acquired Ian Cole from the St. Louis Blues. Cole was drafted 18th overall at the 2007 NHL draft, and he is a defender who still has some potential. 

He has solid possession numbers, according to Stats.HockeyAnalysis.com, and he is generally a tough player to face despite being just 6'1" and 219 pounds.

Robert Bortuzzo is a physical defender with size, but he didn't bring much more than that to the lineup. In a side-by-side comparison of HERO charts, Cole has the edge, and the Penguins got the better player in the deal.

Grade: B

Penguins Acquire Ben Lovejoy

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To Pittsburgh Penguins: Ben Lovejoy

To Anaheim Ducks: Simon Despres

This trade was a bit of a head-scratcher because Simon Despres is a 6'4", 214-pound offensive defenseman with upside, and Ben Lovejoy is a generic top-four defender who will log minutes.

The Penguins dealt Lovejoy two seasons ago, and since that point, he has developed into a second-pairing defender who averaged a little under 19 minutes a game. By no means is he a bad defender, but dealing a potential top-pairing defender in Despres for a 31-year-old isn't the greatest management of assets.

Despres was finally starting to showcase his talent, and this is a deal that the Penguins will ultimately regret.

Grade: C+

Penguins Acquire Daniel Winnik

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To Pittsburgh Penguins: Daniel Winnik

To Toronto Maple Leafs: Zach Sill, 2016 second-round pick and 2015 fourth-round pick

The Penguins added a winger who can play on the first, second or third line for virtually nothing, and it is a move that seriously bolstered the team's forward depth. Winnik is a forward with 25 points in 58 games, and he played 13:29 in his Pens debut.

At best, he could see some time on the wing of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, and at worst, he will become very familiar with Brandon Sutter. Either scenario puts him in a better situation than he was in while with Toronto, so it really was a win for both Winnik and the Penguins.

Grade: A- 

Trade details via NHL.com's trade tracker.