Ex-Penguins Update: Halloween Special

I thought I’d take a break from the relentlessly grim news surrounding our skidding Penguins and offer some lighter fare. Hence, my first Ex-Penguins Update of the young season. Stats include games played up through October 30.

Seattle’s Jared McCann leads the expatriates with 14 points (5+9). Trading the speedy winger with the sizzling shot for nondescript Filip Hållander (take a bow, Ron Hextall) may well be the greatest blunder by a Pens exec since Craig Patrick swapped super Swede Markus Naslund for Alek Stojanov back in 1996.

However, the player who really jumps off the page? Sharks center Mikael Granlund. (Yes, that Mikael Granlund.) “Granny’s” tallied five goals and 13 points in 11 games. This on the heels of a 60-point season in ’23-24.

Granted, he’s the Sharks’ No. 1 center, a role he wouldn’t be filling if he were still in the ‘Burgh. But raise your hand if you’d gladly undo the Erik Karlsson deal and take Granlund and Jan Rutta back in exchange for EK65. 

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