Penguins have options to fill Pascal Dupuis void

Pittsburgh Penguins winger Pascal Dupuis will be out six months with a blood clot and general manager Jim Rutherford's cell phone usage will go up precipitously.

History tells us that Rutherford will aggressively explore all trade options. This is the guy that dealt for both Doug Weight and Mark Recchi when his Carolina Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in 2005-06. This is the guy who traded away James Neal for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling last summer to give the Penguins a different look.

But making a trade isn't his first priority.

"The first thing I want to do is make sure Pascal is OK," Rutherford told Paste BN Sports on Wednesday. "I'm going to meet with him (Thursday) because I want him to be heavily involved with the team. I don't want him sitting aside as an injured player because he is an important part of our team on and off (the ice)."

Rutherford was in the midst of an unplanned winter driving adventure when news of Dupuis' blood clot was made public.

On Monday Rutherford decided to drive to the NHL's annual fall GM meeting and was delayed by snow. When he tried to head back to Pittsburgh through Buffalo, he couldn't because the highway was closed. He tried again this morning, but it was still closed. He decided to drive through Detroit, and encountered snow again. It took him an hour to get over the bridge from Canada to the U.S.

When he finally made it to the Ohio turnpike, he was stopped again for an hour by a tractor trailer fire.

But Rutherford's perseverance to return to Pittsburgh is symbolic of the drive he usually has in making deals. He has long owned a reputation for being able to find the common ground necessary to make deals.

Pittsburgh fans know that because when Rutherford was command in Carolina he made the deal to acquire Jordan Staal from the Penguins.

Rutherford certainly isn't making his trading plans public, but he did tell Paste BN Sports that if he were to make a trade he doesn't feel "any urgency" to make it immediately. He said he likes the team's chemistry and how the team is playing. He isn't about to do anything that jeopardizes the team's chemistry.

With Dupuis going on long-term injured reserve, the Penguins will have between $3 million and $3.5 million cap relief.

The Penguins have some good young defensive prospects, and it seems likely Rutherford would move a young defenseman in an effort to land a forward.

He undoubtedly won't move any of his top six forwards because this season's group is playing at higher level than Pittsburgh defenses have in recent seasons.

Dupuis is one of Pittsburgh's top six forwards. This would be like the Tampa Bay Lightning losing Ondrej Palat or the Boston Bruins losing Loui Eriksson or Reilly Smith or the Anaheim Ducks losing Jakob Silfverberg.

The Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers seem like logical potential trading partners because neither team looks like they will be a playoff team, but neither Buffalo's Drew Stafford nor Chris Stewart seem like Rutherford-style of players.

Edmonton's young Nail Yakupov is frequently mentioned in trade speculation. He seems intriguing as a potential linemate for fellow Russian Evgeni Malkin. There would be a nice fit there because the Oilers need quality young defenseman.

But Yakupov is about potential. And given that the Penguins are a contending team, Rutherford probably would be more attracted to a more proven player.

The Penguins undoubtedly would be very interested in Jordan Eberle. But would the Oilers really move him? If they would, it would be a complicated trade because of salary cap issues and the reality that the Oilers would want more than a young defenseman.

Even before Dupuis went down, the Penguins looked one forward short. The Penguins are hoping young Beau Bennett can step up and play an expanded offensive role. But he has only seven NHL goals in 51 NHL games.

Can't see Rutherford depending solely on a young player to fill Dupuis' void, not with his history of being an aggressive horse trader.

In that 2005-06 season, Weight was considered the big prize in the trade market and Rutherford went out and acquired him in January to beat the deadline day rush. He acquired Recchi close to the deadline.

Rutherford wanted the veteran players to help his Carolina offense, but he also wanted to send a message to his team that he believed they can win it all. My guess is he will want to send that same message to the Penguins.