Ex-Penguins Update: 2024 All-Star Break
With the NHL All-Star break upon us, I thought it would be an ideal time to check in on former Penguins around the league and see how they’re performing.
Usually I’ll go down the list and highlight certain players and performances. Today, I thought I’d focus on a handful of key expatriates jettisoned during the Ron Hextall era. Not to pick on a guy when he’s down…I honestly believe our former GM did the best he could…but I guess you might call this the pick-on-Hexy edition.
It goes without saying that some of Hextall’s castoffs would look mighty nice sporting the black-and-gold. Seattle’s Jared McCann, for one. We sure could use him (and those 20 goals of his) skating alongside Evgeni Malkin in place of Reilly Smith, currently injured and struggling to embrace his trade from Vegas. To say nothing of Jared’s seven power-play goals.
How different might we look today had GMRH not elected to protect Jeff Carter, productive though he was, over McCann in the 2021 Expansion Draft? A mistake compounded by trading the soon-to-be 40-goal-man to Toronto for middling (and ultimately failed) prospect Filip Hållander.
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