The NHL Trade Deadline is 3:00 PM on February 27, just two weeks away, and now is the time when out-of-contention teams begin shopping their players to those teams with dream of playoff aspirations and championships.
SB Nation's Penguins blog PensBurgh noted several forwards Pittsburgh should target in the coming fortnight, including Ryan Malone of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ales Hemsky of the Edmonton Oilers and Travis Moen of the Montreal Canadiens. They do an excellent job breaking down the pros and cons of each player, and the possibility of such a deal even occurring. They do note that Rick Nash, sought after by many teams at this year's deadline, is an unlikely possibility, but even with that said, current Penguins GM Ray Shero has certainly not been shy in his tenure about making a major acquisition at the trade deadline.
Via Mike Colligan of The Hockey Writers:
The Pittsburgh Penguins under the guidance of GM Ray Shero have been a perennial ‘buyer' at deadline time and haven't been afraid to make a splash:
2007: Acquired Gary Roberts, Georges Laraque
2008: Acquired Marian Hossa, Pascal Dupuis, Hal Gill
2009: Acquired Bill Guerin, Craig Adams (waivers)
2010: Acquired Alexei Ponikarovsky, Jordan Leopold
2011: Acquired James Neal, Matt Niskanen, Alex Kovalev
Even if Nash is not the move Pittsburgh makes, Shero is likely to add one or two of the key pieces the Pensburgh writers have noted, fortifying Pittsburgh for a 2012 playoff run.
For all news, information and trade rumors regarding the Pittsburgh Penguins, please visit PensBurgh, or check out SB Nation Pittsburgh. For all your hockey new and notes, be sure to check out SB Nation's NHL hub.