Chicago Blackhawks: Trade packages for Duncan Keith
3. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins won back to back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 they were defeated in the second round by the Washington Capitals who eventually won the Stanley Cup. They have a pedigree for winning and this year will be no different.
They will look to make moves, as they already have so far this season. They just recently made a trade with the Florida Panthers to add some scoring depth. A team with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will always be loaded at the top and complimented by guys like Phil Kessel and Jake Guentzel.
The defense has always been a critical point for the Penguins, even in years when they won the Stanley Cup. They defend by committee with Kris Letang, who is an all-star caliber defenseman. If they were to add a guy like Keith to the mix, it could do wonders for their chances to get past Washington and whoever wins the Atlantic Division.
Keith would likely be the guy on a second pair with the Penguins as that would give them pretty nice depth at the position with Letang, Olli Maatta, Erik Johnson, and Brian Dumoulin. They also have Justin Schultz on injured reserve who will be back in time for the playoffs.
The Penguins would absolutely want to add Keith to their blue line and attempt another deep run. With their core getting into their thirties, their time to win is now. Pittsburgh has their first round pick available. They hope that it will be a pick in the mid to late twenties so they would likely be willing to move it for the right piece. Keith would be the right piece. They have also been known to trade their first rounder in order to attempt deep runs.
The Blackhawks would probably want another pick or prospect back as well. Pittsburgh does not currently possess a second or third round pick, so it will likely be a prospect. Pittsburgh does not have a top tier prospect pool anymore after many years of success. However, they do have some guys that would look nice playing full time in the NHL. Most of them have already made their NHL debut and play regularly with the Penguins this season.
Zach Aston-Reese is currently injured but he has had some nice moments for Pittsburgh and he is the type of the guy the Blackhawks could target in a trade for Keith. He is a center that can play a nice depth role on a good team. The Blackhawks do not have a lot behind Jonathan Toews on their NHL roster, although Dylan Strome has looked very good as the second line center in a short sample size.
Any of these combinations would be a fair trade for both sides as one looks towards next year in a retool and the other tries to win the Stanley Cup for the third time in four years.