Pittsburgh Penguins Trade 28 Year Old Defensemen to the Western Conference

In the deal to send Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor to the Vancouver Canucks, the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired 28-year old Vincent Desharnais, a deal that was spoken highly of by Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.

Now, with the Penguins looking to get every future asset they possibly can ahead of the trade deadline, they've moved Desharnais back to the Western Conference in a surprising deal.

As announced on social media, the team are getting a 2028 fifth-round pick from the San Jose Sharks for the former Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks blue liner, who is clearly yet to live up to his potential at the NHL level.

After just being acquired, Desharnais played in a total of 10 games with Pittsburgh, tallying no goals and a -4 differential, taking his season total to 0 goals and 3 assists in 44 total games.

For the Sharks, it's a very head-scratching move to acquire a 28-year old who hasn't produced much at the NHL level, but with a $2 million AAV cap hit for the remainder of this season and next year, the team seemingly just wanted to add a physical presence to their blue line as they continue to rebuild moving forward.

For the Penguins, a 2028 draft pick may not mean much right now, but given that he was a throw in with another deal and wasn't going to play a long-term role, it's a good deal for them, but we will now have to wait and see if this buy-low move for the Sharks works out in the long run.