Kovacevic: Granlund trade adds dollars, makes terribly little sense

TAMPA, Fla. -- It's not exactly ... inspiring, is it?

Look, I'm not here to bury Mikael Granlund. Business-like NHL career over a decade and change, skilled enough to serve on both special teams, slide-able enough to stick at center or wing, savvy enough to have the letter 'A' stitched onto his sweater, and seen as having enough value by his prior employers to have earned his ongoing $5 million annual payday.

Nice player, as I've spoken of him for years.

And in the correct context, I'm sure, a nice addition to any of the league's 32 lineups.

But this, my friends, ain't the answer.

Because when I think of the trade in which the Penguins acquired Granlund from the Predators on this Wednesday evening, when I think that two full days remained until the NHL's trade deadline, when I think of giving up a second-round draft pick while not asking Nashville to pick up a penny of that $5 million annual payday over this year plus two more, when I think of all the painstaking clearing out of cap space that'd occurred on the Pittsburgh end -- Kasperi Kapanen, Brock McGinn, Teddy Blueger, Mark Friedman, all gone poof within a few days -- I'm left with but a single thought.

What in heck were they thinking?

Meaning, of course, Ron Hextall and Brian Burke and anyone else who might've been involved, arguably including Mike Sullivan.

I get the moving of the figurative mountains. As I wrote less than 24 hours earlier from Nashville, these Penguins have earned an upgrade. They're worth it. And that'd be the case even if weren't for any sentiment specifically aimed at the iconic trio of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. There's enough support, enough camaraderie, enough to-date contention that, for all their flaws, they're worth it.

But this cumulative scenario -- not just the Granlund trade itself, but all that led into it -- comes with a zero logic factor.

A refresher: The main need was a third-line center to replace Jeff Carter. And from there, it was to find further bottom-six upgrades over Kapanen, McGinn and Blueger. And if there were any remaining flexibility, it'd be to add mobility to the defense or a replacement for Casey DeSmith.

Well ...

• Granlund might replace Carter. He also might not. As our Danny Shirey details in his Drive to the Net this week, Granlund's got some legit pluses, but he isn't big, he struggles to finish, he doesn't struggle nearly hard enough when defending, he's dismal on draws, and he's 31 years old, so the chance all that'll change is slim. That's hardly encouraging as related to this alone: If Carter doesn't get bumped from his position, if not all the way to the press box, then this team's No. 1 problem at ice level will remain precisely that.

• As a centerman, Granlund does offer welcome top-six insurance if Sid/Geno were to get hurt -- though I'd see that as a catastrophic event regardless -- and, for what it's worth, he's markedly better than any of the four players who just went poof. Both are pluses. But, for as awful as the bottom-six mix has been all season, it's hard to tell how it's better now that three players have been replaced by one and, oh, by the way, there's now again barely enough cap space to call up more than one Drake Caggiula at a time.

• So there's no flexibility. Which means that all of Hextall's talk about giving chances to Valtteri Puustinen or Alex Nylander or Filip Hallander was nothing more than that. All concerned will hope that Ryan Poehling's season-long lingering injury will magically heal itself and that he can center one of the third or fourth lines, or they'll hope that Carter will magically resurrect his career, or they'll hope that Granlund will magically revert to his form from two years ago ... but it'll all be based on hope. Without much wiggle room if/when it goes awry.

• There was a superlative mobile defenseman available in Jakob Chychrun, a 24-year-old lefty who'd have had a 180-degree impact on the transition game, one of the Penguins' ugliest shortcomings. But the Coyotes traded Chychrun earlier Wednesday to the Senators for a first-round pick and two second-rounders. While Hextall instead holds onto all of his picks, presumably so he'll be better equipped to surround a 42-year-old Sid with a ton of teenagers.

• The goaltending ... I never took seriously upon being told from within the team two weeks ago that management would stick by the tandem of Tristan Jarry and DeSmith. But there were options on that front, as well.

All of what's above was affordable. 

So, for that matter, were the pieces I'd really hoped to see in Pittsburgh, chiefly Ryan O'Reilly, who might as well have had business cards embossed as to what a fine fit he'd have been here. Big, bullish, elite 200-foot talent at center who'd have been ... oh, man, I don't want to take this any further. He'd wind up with the Leafs as part of a three-team deal that netted the Blues an NHL player in Adam Gaudette, a prospect, a first-round pick, a second-rounder and a third-rounder. Also, the Blues ate half of the prorated portion of O'Reilly's $7.5 million salary.

Imagine the impact. Go right ahead and do that, even if it hurts. Which it should.

Where was Hextall?

Waiting until he heard fans at PPG Paints Arena chanting for his firing?

Waiting, from there, until the next player from an opposing team that he'd see and like, only to be reminded that Granlund exists Tuesday night?

My goodness.

Is it too much to ask Mario Lemieux to come back and save the franchise a third time?

• What's above is a player card of one interpretation of Granlund's worth by @JFreshHockey, and it's very much making the rounds on Twitter. Read into it whatever one will, but the same account lists McGinn as a 72% WAR and Friedman as an 84%, so let's also remember that hockey analytics, in general, remain light-years behind those of baseball and now football, as well.

• People in Nashville really like Granlund. Like, a lot. Popular player, popular person.

• Granlund had several golden opportunities Tuesday night, but Jarry stoned him twice on breakaways, again on a redirect right in front, and he was highly visible all over the rink. Hockey coaches at all levels teach, including to children, that they're playing well if they're getting opportunities.

• There. That's as far as I go.

• Jim Rutherford would've landed O'Reilly if he had to offer his very soul. And he'd have done it several weeks ago.

• No cap space means no more moves. At least not any that'll matter. Besides, would anyone really want to see what Hextall would achieve in a pure hockey trade? As in, Marcus Pettersson for someone? Because that's where it'd have to go. Someone who's already into a seven-figure cap hit would have to be sent out.

• Other component to this that's a bummer: The standard pickup that a team -- and its fan base -- gets from a win-now trade ... that won't exist at all, if I'm reading the base itself the right way. And this group needed that.

• There's a game here Thursday night against the Lightning. It'll be fascinating to see the reaction to the trade on the ice, far more than anything they'd say off it.

• Blueger being tossed out for a third-rounder, as if an afterthought, feels lousy in light of what a wonderful story his was in Pittsburgh. Refused to be outworked. Turned himself into an NHL regular. Developed each individual skill right in front of everyone's eyes on a daily basis. Exemplary young man, to boot. He'll be missed.

• Thanks for reading my hockey coverage. I'll have a column following this game, too, after which I'll drive down I-75 for a weekend of the Pirates' spring training.