The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded a 4th round pick in 2027 to the Nashville Predators in exchange for forward Philip Tomasino. Tomasino was the 24th overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft, and has 23 goals and 48 assists in 159 career games.
How did each team make out in this trade? Here are my grades:
Pittsburgh’s Grade: A
The Penguins are looking to get younger and go through something of a retool on the fly. Tomasino perfectly fits into that plan. He’s just 23 and struggling to establish himself as a consistent NHL regular, and in Pittsburgh he’ll have a better opportunity to do so because there’s less competition for a spot on the roster. He’s an excellent skater, and a smart player. Tomasino only makes $825,000, and will become a Restricted Free Agent at the end of this season.
For Pittsburgh, this is a low-risk, high-reward trade. They acquired a former first-round talent, and sent away a 4th round pick in 2027 that formerly belonged to the New York Rangers. Less than 50% of 4th round picks go on to play in an NHL game, and just 21.8% of 4th round draft picks play more than 100 NHL games. For Pittsburgh, this is a good trade.
Nashville’s Grade: D
This trade doesn’t make much sense for Nashville. Sure, Tomasino is off to a slow start this season– he has only one assist in 11 games played– but Nashville has scored the least amount of goals this year in the entire league, and are averaging just 1.38 goals per game. This just feels like a very lopsided trade.
Tomasino has only been in the league since the 2021-22 season, and has played just 159 games. To give up on him so soon is one thing, but to only get a 4th round pick in 2027 is another. On the other hand, Nashville has gained a reputation for giving up on first round picks and losing them to waivers– Eeli Tolvanen and Dante Fabbro, for example– so to get anything back for a former first-round pick instead of losing him for nothing is… progress?
