Waterfowl Start The Dance: Penguins Trade Ryan Whitney to Anaheim -- Reaction/Analysis

First of all, I'm sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. Although I heard the news a little after mid-day when it was quite fresh, I was out of town and not able to post.

The Penguins and Anaheim Ducks made an early splash and probably opened the trade floodgates 6 days before the deadline yesterday in a fairly notable deal that had the Pens' send 26-year old offensive defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim for Ducks' do-it-all LW Ryan Kunitz and top RW american prospect, Eric Tangradi.

Kunitz, 29, has 16 goals and 19 assists this season and is an impressive +9. He has had years of 50 and 60 points recently, and potted 25 goals in the 2006-07 season when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup.

Tangradi, 20, is in his 3rd year with Belleville of the Ontario Hockey League. He currently is 2nd in league scoring with 38 goals and 49 assists for 87 points in just 52 games.

Meanwhile, Whitney, 26, put up 2 goals and 13 points this year in 29 games. He's in the 2nd year of a 6 year, $24 million dollar deal Penguins' GM Ray Shero had him sign in the summer of 2007. He was away from the Penguins in Boston with his mother following her surgery on a brain tumor when notified of the deal, and he joined the Ducks for their game in Boston last night, a 6-0 loss to the Bruins.

I feel pretty good about this deal for the Penguins, all things considered. It's hard not to recognize Whitney as one of the better -- and younger -- offensive defenseman in the game. The Ducks' are brining him in to play with young forwards Cory Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, as well as help run the power play, and adding him to their team gives Anaheim GM Bob Murray the flexibility to move either name defensemen Chris Pronger or Scott Neidermayer before next Wednesday.

I, for one, am anxious to see whether Whitney has the chutzpa to run a power play. He didn't really have to do that in Pittsburgh very often because of the presence of Sergei Gonchar. Whitney can definitely bring the puck up ice and distribute it well once in the offensive zone, but he's not nearly as savvy as Gonchar at the point, and he doesn't have the same shot.

While Whitney is on the short list of top offensive defenseman in the game, the Penguins acquired 2 players who should be pretty important parts of their forward corps for several years.

Kunitz is a little un-appreciated around the league. He can score and dish the biscuit, and he works hard around the net to get goals. He's also physical, at 6'1 and 200 pounds. He has 148 hits this year, which puts him 19th in the league (and third on the Penguins behind Brooks Orpik and Matt Cooke, who are 2nd and 4th in the league, respectively, in that category). He has more hits than a guy many were fond of in Pittsburgh last season, Ryan Malone.

The Penguins needed a guy like Kunitz to be physical in the offensive zone and create space for center Sidney Crosby, who should be expected to see Kunitz on his flank on the top line. Ideally, Kunitz pegs as a 2nd line winger, but he has the ability to produce 25-30 goals with a top center, and that's what the Penguins are looking for out of him. He'll probably also get power play time.

Kunitz is signed for the next 3 seasons, I believe, at a cap hit of 3.75 million per, just under the 4 million cap hit Whitney had.

Tangradi is, by all accounts, a top offensive prospect. He was the 2nd best young player in the Ducks' system and many around NHL scouting and management circles see him as a stud impact player when he makes it to the league. He is big at 6'4" and 220, but can skate and score. Although many junior players need seasoning in the American Hockey League before making it to the NHL, Tangradi has the skill set to potentially make the jump without any kind of minor-league professional apprenticeship.

The Penguins didn't have a young player like him in their system and needed one. He instantly becomes the Penguins top prospect (ahead of Luca Caputi) and gives fans the salivating prospect of seeing him on Crosby's other wing sometime soon. Apparently, getting Tangradi -- a Philadelphia native -- was what sealed the deal for Shero.

Let's face it. Whitney was going to be moved. Although they'll miss what he brought to the dressing room, the Penguins have a glut of offensive defensemen and, in a salary cap world, they couldn't afford that luxury -- especially when they had other needs up front. Letang and Goligoski both have the potential, if not ability, to produce at the big league level and, as Whitney himself put it, the Penguins "have two defensemen in Alex and Kris who are good players, make less money than me, and are younger than me".

Whitney also had his weaknesses. He was an awful -15 this season, and had a penchant for giveaways in his own zone. He had a strong run, like the rest of the team, to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but a change of scenery is probably best for him.

Moving Whitney also will make it very interesting to watch what the Penguins do with defenseman Sergei Gonchar next season. 2009/2010 is the final year of the 5-year deal he signed with the Penguins coming out of the lockout.

Overall, observers seem to be split on who got the better of the deal. In the short term, the trade fills needs of both clubs, but it's hard to say who really won the deal because of the fact that only time will pass judgment on how good Tangradi may be.

Although I would love to see a top tier winger with Crosby, it was doubtful that Whitney was going to bring that return. But getting Kunitz for him should not be regarded as poor value. To the contrary, Kuntiz is a decent player in this league -- and he fits in better with the Penguins needs right now. I'm anxious to see him play more regularly.

The big question that remains for the Penguins and their fans is whether Ray Shero is finished dealing. Most observers -- this one included -- think not. The Penguins could still use some physicality on the back end, and it's still possible that Shero will add another forward. If he's willing to part with center Jordan Staal -- the player who probably has the most value among Penguins said to be potentially on the move -- he still could get that top of the line wing.

I peg the chances of Staal being dealt at about 25%.

More likely, you'll see and hear names like Hal Gill and even Ruslan Fedotenko, the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent who, maybe surprisingly, is garnering a lot of interest around the league. Other players who are getting interest are Max Talbot and even Rob Scuderi.

This is one of the more exciting times of the year for fans. Let's hope the Penguin players aren't getting caught up in it because, despite how difficult it is for them, they have a key 5-game road trip starting tonight with a tough game in Chicago against the Blackhawks. This trip could make or break the Penguins season (especially if they crash and burn on it), and it's important they stay focused on putting a good little run together. They have earned 7 of a possible 10 points under interim coach Dan Bylmsa so far and need to keep pace with the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, who beat the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres last night, respectively. The Pens' are 4 points back of 6th place, and 3 points back of 7th and 8th.

Recap tomorrow.