Honours even

It is always fascinating how on trade deadline day some American franchises are all about the now, and some are resigned to, or are actively playing the long game. Dustin Penner has scored 21 goals for the Edmonton Oilers this season and has 18 assists, yet they ship him out and bring in defenceman Colten Teubert from the Kings. The Oilers also bag a first round 2011 pick and potentially a second round pick the year after. Teubert was picked 13th overall in the 2008 draft, but has yet to play in the NHL. The Oilers did further business yesterday trading Shawn Belle to acquire Kevin Montgomery of the Colorado Avalanche (both defencemen).

Penner’s trade has split all polls on who got the best deal as Penner has been in good form this season, but the Kings gave up a lot. However, it is the Kings who are in the now. Organisations have to decide whether they are in a position to push for honours or to consolidate and take a shot at the title later. And that decision was already clearly made for both teams with their seasons’ form. The Oilers are propping up the West and the Kings look set for a playoff place.

Penner gives the Kings strength and power up top, and he is particularly prevalent during the powerplay when his size really comes in to its own. The forward took some time to settle in at Edmonton, but has shown himself to be a 30 goal a season man in the last two years, if he continues to score as he has this year. Like any sport you either rate what you see or you don’t and Penner has been accused in some quarters of being a lazy player who doesn’t have what it takes to be the best of the best.

Do the Kings have enough of a shot this time around though to give up a first and possibly second round pick for Penner? I think this move signals they obviously think they do, and they are very much prepared to have a tilt at it. A further consideration is where this deal leaves the Kings for future seasons, and that potentially was a big factor in the trade for LA. The signing of Penner in the context of other movement in the roster this season means that the salary cap wasn’t greatly affected by the trade. Penner will be linking up with the likes of Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar who has 42 assists to his credit this term. That should be enough to keep any defence busy, and Justin Williams has 20 goals and 29 assists playing right-wing depending on the line.

The Oilers are in transition as they say, although of late they have managed to improve the scoring record that has been their achiles heel for most of the season. After only scoring more than two goals twice in January, they performed that feat on eight occassions in February contributing to five wins. Somewhat surprisingly, just two of their goals in the whole of February came off the stick of Dustin Penner. And if the Oilers are starting to find their scoring touch, they have just acquired a highly rated young defenceman, and plenty of bargaining power to sure up their roster for next season in the NHL. This appears to be one of those trades where both sides walked away without any doubt that they had done the right thing.