Left winger requested trade before being dealt

When General Managers are trying to facilitate a trade for a big-name star, it's commonly understood that some players who become involved in it didn't necessarily want to leave where they were playing, this however wasn't the case when Erik Karlsson was traded earlier this offseason in a blockbuster trade that required a third team in order to get it done.

According to reports, before the Penguins swung for the fences to acquire the 33-year-old defenceman from the Sharks, left-winger Rem Pitlick requested a trade out of Montreal. This appeared to make a trade easier to facilitate as the third team (Montreal) flipped the 26-year-old Ottawa Native to Pittsburgh.


Although trades of this magnitude is rare, it does happen and usually requires more than two teams to get it done. For whatever reason that may never be shared Pitlick wanted to move on from the Canadiens and General Manager Kent Hughes did his due diligence to honour his request.


It has been reported that the Penguins would be interested in flipping Pitlick for a draft pick and although speculation is just that, Kyle Dubas has been known to pull a rabbit out of his hat. The only question that should be asked as the GM continues to make moves, based on his tenure in Toronto; Is that rabbit alive, or dead?