Pens believe that they will make changes
The National Hockey League trade deadline arrives in exactly one month.
Penguins general manager Ray Shero believes that, by the time the cutoff for making deals arrives at 3 p.m., a lot of players will have new employers.
“I think there will be a good number of trades,” he said. “Every year, there’s activity, because every team needs something.
“Or wants to do something.”
Shero said a few days ago that there is “nothing imminent” for the Penguins and — the recent flaws that have surfaced in their game aside — there is not a specific hole on their depth chart they are known to be trying to fill.
It’s possible that a top-six winger will make it onto their shopping list, although Beau Bennett has looked capable of growing into that role.
And it would not be shocking to see them go shopping for a little more veteran muscle in the defense corp.
Although there have been a few significant deals during the past couple of weeks, like the one that sent Michael Ryder back to Montreal and Erik Cole to Dallas Tuesday, teams still are largely in the process of identifying their most pressing needs and the best way of addressing them.