Rumor: A potential trade fit between the Penguins and Canadiens?

A potential match?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Rumor: A potential trade fit between the Penguins and Canadiens?
David Kirouac/CSM/Zuma

Although I must admit I would have expected this to be a very quiet season on the trade front, due in large part to the quarantine restrictions in place that could result in traded players having to sit out a significant portion of the shortened season, there has actually been quite a bit of trade chatter in the early days of this National Hockey League season, and that's before we even mention the huge trade that went down over the weekend.

The rumors have not slowed down since that massive trade however and now we have a pair of independent rumors that seem like they could fit very well together, although I will admit that no one has officially connected the dots between these two just quite yet. We'll start with the rumor that broke first last week, this one from NHL insider Darren Dreger who revealed that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford was trying to make a trade to bolster his blue line.

"He is. He's looking for a defenceman and part of that is through urgency and necessity and the fact he's already experienced injuries to the Pittsburgh Penguins blueline," confirmed Dreger on Insider Trading. "But you're right, Jimmy Rutherford historically, traditionally, has always tried to get his shopping out of the way early. He's in the market for the best available defenceman but, in reality, he knows that he's going to have to settle for a third-pairing defenceman. He's definitely in the market looking for some help."

Dreger made no mention of what teams Rutherford might be speaking to or of which players that the Penguins trade happy GM might be looking to acquire as a result of the injuries on his roster. Last night however, in a totally unrelated segments, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that some teams had begun to inquire about the availability of defenseman Victor Mete, a player that has been unable to crack the Canadiens line up early in the season.

"The Canadiens are so good right now... they are off to a great start," said Friedman on Saturday night's NHL broadcast. "They've got so many players, they are so deep, that Mete can't get into the lineup. They won't put him on waivers, which is smart because he is a good player and someone will claim him, but I do think there are some other teams circling around this here and seeing how the Canadiens are going to deal with this as the season progresses."

That certainly sounds like it would be right up Rutherford's alley, could the Penguins be targeting Victor Mete?  Rutherford and Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin have traded with one another before, the most recent coming in February of 2020 in what was a relatively minor 4 player trade.

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