With the NHL roster freeze going into effect at 11:59 PM EST tomorrow, trades just keep pouring in. Less than an hour after the New York Rangers traded Kaapo Kakko, a second trade hit the news cycle. The Pittsburgh Penguins re-acquired a former first-round pick in P.O Joseph from the St. Louis Blues for future considerations.
Joseph was selected by the Arizona Coyotes with the 23rd overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft, but got his NHL start with the Pittsburgh Penguins after the Coyotes traded him in 2021. Joseph had 37 points through 147 games in a Penguins sweater. He signed a one year deal with the St. Louis Blues this offseason, but now he’s back in Pittsburgh.
Here are my grades for how each team fared in this trade:
Pittsburgh’s Grade: B
While the Penguins hardly need another offensive-minded defenseman– they already have Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, and Matt Grzelcyk to fill that role– they do have a vacancy on the left side after an injury to Marcus Pettersson. This trade makes complete sense for the Penguins. They’re not contending, so there’s no reason for them to chase a better defenseman where they would have to give up assets to acquire. So, they didn’t. Instead, they got Joseph for free.
St. Louis’ Grade: C-
There are two ways to look at this. On one hand, the Blues just didn’t have a slot in the lineup for P.O Joseph. He played in just 23 out of 33 games for St. Louis, and was a healthy scratch for the other ten games. On the other hand, the Blues signed him just over five months ago, and now they’re giving him away for free. Even with Joseph’s defensive deficiencies, that blows my mind. Were there no other interested teams that could’ve offered at least a seventh-round pick or so?
