Trade grades: Penguins overhaul blue line, but are they better?

Ron Hextall was wheeling and dealing Saturday. The Pittsburgh Penguins general manager made a series of trades that drastically shook up his team's defensive core.

First, the Penguins sent John Marino to the New Jersey Devils for Ty Smith and a third-round pick. Then, they shipped Mike Matheson and a fourth-rounder to the Montreal Canadiens for Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling.

Below, we hand out grades to all three teams involved in these deals.

Penguins Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Here's a better visual of exactly what the Penguins just did:

In	Out
D Ty Smith	D John Marino
D Jeff Petry	D Mike Matheson
F Ryan Poehling	4th-round pick
3rd-round pick

Also of importance: Pittsburgh saved about $2 million in cap space with the transactions. But was it worth it? Here's the team's current projected blue-line depth chart:

LD	RD
Brian Dumoulin	Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson	Jeff Petry
P.O. Joseph	Jan Rutta
Ty Smith	Chad Ruhwedel

Since the Penguins swapped Marino for Petry, who'll be on the second pairing behind Letang, let's compare the two right-handed defensemen:

Evolving-Hockey.com

Right now, Petry is better than Marino - especially offensively. But Petry is also 34 years old, signed for three more years at a $6.25-million cap hit, and is coming off his worst season in recent years.

Marino is 25, signed to a cap hit of $4.4 million for the next five seasons, and has proven himself as a defensive-minded top-four blue-liner who can handle tough assignments.

It's entirely possible Marino is better than Petry by next season. While joining a contender may help Petry, Marino could take a step offensively to round out his game.

The Penguins are clearly in win-now mode, but they may regret replacing Marino with a player who's trending in the wrong direction.

As for the remaining parts of the trades, Matheson is no slouch, either. He's a solid two-way defender with size (6-foot-2) and skating ability. The 28-year-old is signed for four more years at a $4.875-million cap hit. Between him, Pettersson, and Dumoulin, someone likely had to go with Joseph knocking on the door. Matheson is arguably the best of the three veterans, so him being dealt does sting a bit.

Smith and Poehling are both former first-round picks, but neither has lived up to the hype so far. Despite already having two NHL seasons under his belt, Smith may be destined for the minors so he can further develop his game. He's still just 22, after all. Poehling, 23, projects to play on the fourth line.

Grade: C+
In a nutshell: We understand the Penguins are going for it, but there's no guarantee these moves make them better. Plus, there were likely other ways to alleviate their left-defense logjam and cap crunch.

Devils Andy Marlin / National Hockey League / Getty

This was a no-brainer for Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald. Marino is just three years older than Smith, who's struggled while primarily playing sheltered, third-pairing minutes in his first two NHL seasons.

Evolving-Hockey.com

Again, he's still young, and defensemen can take longer to develop, but Smith may always have difficulty defending given his small stature (5-foot-11, 180 pounds).

Getting a sure thing in Marino for an unknown in Smith is a huge win for New Jersey. Here's the Devils' projected blue-line depth chart:

LD	RD
Ryan Graves	Dougie Hamilton
Jonas Siegenthaler	Damon Severson
Brendan Smith	John Marino
	Simon Nemec

Nemec clearly won't be the seventh defenseman - he'll either be a lineup regular or in the AHL. But his presence does create a logjam on the right side. With Hamilton and Marino both locked up, and Nemec a clear part of the future, where does Severson stand?

Severson has just one year left on his contract, and it now seems unlikely he re-signs since the future of the blue line's right side is essentially set in stone. Losing Severson for nothing would be unacceptable since the Devils' chances of winning the Cup are still very low, even though they're trying to make the playoffs this season. Trading him now for a package that includes a lesser defenseman with more team control would be very logical.

Grade: A
In a nutshell: Marino is a clear upgrade over Smith, and with a deep prospect pipeline, a third-round pick is not a big loss. However, this move may ultimately be judged by what happens with Severson.

Canadiens Bruce Bennett / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The Habs are undergoing a rebuild under new GM Kent Hughes, so their outlook is affected far less than the other two teams. Petry's name had been out there for quite some time, but there was always the possibility they'd have to eat a portion of his cap hit to move him. That wasn't the case, so that's a win in itself.

Matheson is seven years younger than Petry, he has an additional year of term on his contract, and he's paid $1.4 million less per season. He's a good player, although he may get exposed as an ill-suited No. 1 blue-liner on Montreal's roster. But Matheson could still be in the fold when the Canadiens are ready to compete again. If not, they can likely flip him for assets.

Poehling, meanwhile, needed a change of scenery. He could become a good depth player, but the Habs likely don't have to worry about him turning into a star.

Grade: B
In a nutshell: It doesn't change a whole lot for Montr eal moving forward, but it's a good deal.

(Cap source: CapFriendly)

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