Penguins Rumors: 3 Early Season Trade Candidates

The Pittsburgh Penguins are off to a mediocre start as the team sits at 4-4-1 to open the 2022-23 campaign. It appears it's taken a few of the fresh faces to get acclimated to head coach Mike Sullivan's system and the team has lost four games in a row heading into action this week. Let's examine a few players who could be on the way out if things don't change quickly in Pittsburgh:

Brock McGinn

The crash-and-bang winger has got off to a rough start this season and has only one goal in nine games. While McGinn doesn't dress to light up the score sheet, he isn't necessarily impacting the game in any way and appears to just be 'out there' at times. With two more seasons at $2.75 million, it would be tough for the Penguins to ship McGinn out, unless he's package with another player or prospect. 

Pierre-Olivier Joseph

Speaking of another play, P.O Joseph has heard his name in trade rumors to start this season as it was reported the Penguins were shopping the young defenseman. So far, no takers, as the team has managed to get Joseph into eight games and he's put up three assists in the process. With the Penguins depth on defense and their need for another bottom-six forward, look for the trade chatter to continue early on this season as Joseph will continue to be offered to other teams.

Casey DeSmith

With the Penguins having Filip Lindberg who looks like a solid goaltending prospect, the team could move on from Casey DeSmith. Some teams around the league are growing desperate for goaltending depth and DeSmith isn't anything to write home about, however his play has been solid for the past few seasons. So far in three appearances in 2022-23, the 31-year-old has posted a .913 save percentage. Keep an eye on these three Penguins as management may pull the trigger on a early move and one of these three could very well be included.

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