Mark Madden: Penguins shouldn't make big trade chasing faint Stanley Cup hopes

Sports teams are generally contending or rebuilding, or at least leaning toward one or the other. Very rarely does a team truly middle the difference.

As the NHL season opened, the Penguins seemed to lean toward rebuilding. But their recent uptick in results has fueled optimism. So has the mediocrity displayed by all of the East division’s teams when they’re not playing Buffalo or New Jersey.

I feel the Penguins’ championship window has closed. But I felt that way in 2016, too, and the Penguins won Stanley Cups that year and in ’17.

But those Cups materialized because then-GM Jim Rutherford made five impactful trades that transformed the team into the NHL’s fastest and made the entire league lean on speed. (The NHL is now trending toward heavy, which isn’t necessarily good for the Penguins.)

Current GM Ron Hextall can’t do what Rutherford did in ‘16. He doesn’t have the trade capital.

The Penguins’ 2021 draft has been gutted: Their first-, third-, fourth- and sixth-round picks are gone. Their system is bereft of big-time prospects beyond defenseman P.O Joseph.

Hextall says restocking the Penguins system is a priority, so trading more draft choices seems very unlikely — unless a realistic championship opportunity presents itself.

That brings up the danger of the false dawn. Like if you won six straight.

The Penguins are playing well. If that continues, Penguins fans will want Hextall to make the team-altering deal they’ve come to expect since then-GM Craig Patrick got Ron Francis, Ulf Samuelsson and Grant Jennings from Hartford in advance of the Penguins’ first Cup in ’91. Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson and Ken Wregget in ’92, Bill Guerin in ’09 … it became a tradition.

Up till then-GM Ray Shero got Jarome Iginla via one of way too many trades in ’13, throwing an already-loaded team out of whack. But that’s forgotten, because it ruins the tradition.

But, as noted, Hextall doesn’t have the trade capital unless he deals established players — like Patrick did in ’91 and’92.

Anyway, to assume the risk of almost any significant trade — especially one that sacrifices still more future assets — Hextall and ownership would have to feel the chance of a legit payoff is well above average. The bare minimum would seem a trip to the semifinals.

Right now, that doesn’t seem realistic.

But it doesn’t seem impossible, either.

The temptation is contained therein.

Hextall probably could trade Joseph for an established player. Buffalo’s Eric Staal is being bandied about on Twitter because he’s a name, has a vague Penguins connection as the brother of ’09 Cup champion Jordan, and he still is decent.

On the negative side, Eric Staal is 36, has 10 points in 27 games, and if he is so good, why is he on the Sabres in the first place?

Joseph is only 21 and will be in the Penguins’ top pair for years. That’s far too big a price. So is any draft pick above the fourth round and perhaps any draft pick, period. So are forwards Samuel Poulin or Nathan Legare, overrated as prospects by the fan base but still promising.

Trading for a third-line veteran offers no guarantees. Last season, the Penguins traded for Jason Zucker and Patrick Marleau. All it got them was being eliminated by the No. 24 seed.

If the Penguins can win with what they have, fine. But Hextall shouldn’t make any major trade for the benefit of right now, because right now doesn’t offer enough promise.

That holds even if injury seems to dictate, like if Evgeni Malkin and Teddy Blueger are both out long-term. The Penguins have little depth. Significant man-games lost could devastate. But future can’t be sacrificed to salvage a first-round elimination.

Joseph did OK this season in his first 16 NHL games when injuries ravaged the Penguins defense corps. But he is in the minors because Hextall thinks that’s what’s best for his development. When a GM talks about development, he is playing the long game.

Rutherford likely would make a trade for right now. Not Hextall. His patience will serve the Penguins well.

The fans won’t be happy if Hextall stands pat. The locker room might be annoyed.

But it’s the right thing to do. To take risk, reward must be a more realistic possibility.