The Penguins just got ROBBED...

The Penguins just got absolutely robbed as they trade Philip Hollander for Spencer Stasny. In this video, we're going to break down the trade and talk about why it's so bad for the Pittsburgh Penguins. You're not going to miss this episode of Penguins Digest, but before we dive into everything here, I just want to say we're on the road for 3,000 subscribers here on the channel. So if you're new here, you want to stay up to date on the latest news around the Pittsburgh Penguins, we're here on YouTube. So down below, hit that subscribe button. It's completely free to do so. But yes, today we are unfortunately talking about the departure of Philip Hollander to the Edmonton Oilers for Spencer Stasny. I don't like this trade at all. I think Philip Hollander was a guy who was showing a lot of promise early on in this season. Stepped up in some big absences from, you know, obviously guys like Rust and Kindle. And he stepped up to the plate and showed the Penguins that he could go out and be a solid offensive threat for this team this season. unfortunately Kyle Dubas and the Penguins have other plans and they ship them off to the Oilers for a depth defenseman so let's dive into this thing and just talk about the trade and how it all looks so let's dive into it here uh as we see here uh Philip Hollander starts hot and then leaves the Pittsburgh Penguins obviously he had a big first game where I believe it was he put up three points on the board and it was just a one-for-one trade uh for Spencer Stasny and Philip Hollander we do have to take on some cap here he does have a more expensive contract than Hollander which we're going to talk about in just a bit but it's basically a depth for depth piece and I just kind of like the depth piece of Hollander more than I do like the depth piece of Stasny and we're going to try to explain that to you in this video so let's get right into it here it's obviously his hot start you know was kind of halted by getting trade to Edmonton maybe that's why Edmonton kind of liked him is because he had that big game stepped up in those big moments when people were missing and obviously he delivered three points in the opening season of the game then he was scratched for a coven in in that second game with the return of Kindle but you know I think this guy was a better player to have in this lineup to be honest with you Stasny is a guy who I don't think is going to get into the lineup very often but Hollander is a guy who has been proven you know he's proven in this organization to have big games when it matters and i don't think you give up early on a guy like that and that's just my way of looking at and i hope you guys kind of see it the same because you know obviously hollander moves on now and he's going to go to edmonton edmonton's going to love this guy they need depth scoring they need offense for sure in their bottom six and that's what they're getting here with with hollander and i really hope he does i continue his hot streak over in edmonton because i think this is a player who's going to come back to bite us he's only 26 years old he's in the prime of his career this is a guy who could have been a great bottom to middle six score for us uh going forward and unfortunately we trade him away for a defenseman so uh you know obviously we did see you know hollander in his time saying he's happy to contribute uh with the penguins and you know he was happy to be here and you know he gets traded away uh and for basically nothing i mean it is the way i'm looking at and i really don't like it we kind of just want to look at why they did they rush their decision to move him opening night production deserved attention obviously more eyes were on him after what he did on opening night and that's probably why they were taking calls on him is because he had that big three-point night and stepped up with some injuries that the Penguins were dealing with obviously a longer addition could clarify his role obviously like if we kept him you know longer maybe he could have been a player on this team I definitely think he would have but obviously you know they kind of figured they didn't have a role for him right now so may as well just ship him out for a defenseman and the return needs to justify abandoning that upside and to me I don't think the return does justify abandoning this upside just off a first look I really don't like this deal and I really hope it doesn't come back to bite us in the end because I think Hollander is going to turn into a very solid bottom six scorer in this league and we've seen it early on this season we see it with our own eyes it's like we're not trading for him we're trading away which makes no sense and obviously we see here Spencer Stadsney offers limited offense for this Pittsburgh Penguins team going forward obviously as a defenseman he's not really a big offensive guy but his block shots a game have been up his uh take take uh takeaways have been up as well as points have gone down his shots have gone down as well so he's more of that stay at home kind of defenseman in a depth role uh you know you know you know we can welcome him into Pittsburgh and I really hope that he does prove me wrong and really uh gain a role within this lineup but right now looking on it looking at it I would rather have Hollander over this guy to be honest with you and yeah his offense does come with limits obviously he's limited scoring contribution in his career is a low shot volume and an offensive upgrade is difficult to argue obviously it isn't an argument at all because Hollander has proven to be a better scorer than him in his career obviously it's two different positions so we can't really judge the roles based on you know forwards and defensemen but points alone do not measure defending at all forward and defenseman roles are different like we just said and a modest score can still help a third pair right so if he can come in produce points you know randomly like but every you know every so often get some points up on the board i do think that it would be a contribution to this lineup obviously we're going to talk about in a bit is defense is obviously the big the biggest uh you know part of his game right but you know his his block shot totals his uh his uh obviously his uh his hits don't really jump off the board at you as like those stay-at-home defensemen's do obviously his blocks are solid but it doesn't really like jump off the page with like you know 60 or 70 blocks every year right it doesn't really jump off the page like that i think he's around like 30 30 plus blocks a year so uh you know it doesn't really you know it doesn't really you know i'm like oh that trade was awesome like i'm just like oh that's bad why are we giving up on hollander when he just had a big night for us in a key situation so i you know i don't quite get this And just kind of looking at the Penguins lineup right now, Stasny doesn't even crack the defense. And to make it even worse, he's not even a right shot defense. He's a left shot defense. A right shot defense, we could have maybe made the case for him making it into the lineup. But right now, I would rather have Declan Carlisle in there. I'd rather have TVR in there. I'd rather have Sam Gerrard in there. So, you know, I don't see a spot for Stasny at all. I think maybe he does get moved down to the AHL at this point. I really don't think that he could fit into this team. I'd rather have TVR there. I'd rather have Gerrard there who had a big goal in the last game against Montreal. I'd rather have Carlisle in there who had a big game against Montreal as well. So I don't really get this signing. You're kind of just giving up a guy who had a tremendous line combo with Koivunen and Lapierre. And that line looks terrific in that game. It was like one of the biggest upsides of the season to start the year. And I was like so excited to see his line going forward. And unfortunately, we're going to give up on it, which I don't really agree with at all. but obviously you know to make even matters worse Pittsburgh does pay more for Stasny than what they were paying Hollander if we just take a look here they're paying Hollander 850k a year and now Stasny comes in at 1.52 million dollars a year both guys on expiring deals so you're gonna have to give them extension if you want to keep them as well uh so you know I don't really like adding this as well like I mean we see here on Twitter uh from Bob Stouffer uh he's a Oilers guy he said uh the Oilers add depth forward in Hollander, who just had 53 points in 24-25 in the SHL. You can play multiple forward positions, and the Oilers save money on this. So they get a guy who's a highly touted guy coming over from Sweden, and, you know, we get basically a guy who's going to put some blocks up on occasion, right? So I don't like this at all, obviously. Eminence case is clear. They add a versatile forward. They get another chance to test his scoring upside, and he frees cap space, you know, to make some more moves for the Oilers to go on and have a good season. But to make it worthwhile for us, Stasny needs to earn a useful defensive minutes. He needs to add costs that needs a practical benefit. And he needs a depth need does not settle a value question. Yeah, basically. So basically saying like bringing in him as a depth defenseman doesn't really meet the cost of giving up a guy like Hollander, who's at a cheaper cap it is producing more at the minutes and has a lot more upside than Stasny in my personal opinion so let's just kind of see what Pittsburgh must justify losing Hollander so basically this is what needs to happen for this trade uh to be successful in the end right now I can't see those meat needs being met but it's depth for depth basically here essentially wanted to see Hollander fully healthy but not gnashing my teeth about it by any means Stasny's actually fine results wise for depth defenseman yeah he's not a guy who's going to get into the night every night, but he's a guy who's going to draw in and be a 7 defense for this team. If we kind of just look at the defensive case, his shot blocking is above average. His takeaways provided another positive. Pittsburgh needed options behind his regular defenseman for sure, but you know, obviously this is an add for this team that if an injury does occur, obviously with their aging defense, he can kind of step in, play this third pairing role, and play it, you know, kind of solid. Just be a stay-at-home guy. Get the block shots. He can move the puck generally well and get points on the board sporadically as well. So it's not a guy who's going to jump off the page again, but he's a guy who's just going to fill a hole in this lineup if need be, right? So, you know, and that's not kind of what I want. I kind of want a guy like Hollander who can jump into this lineup and get a few points every night. Hollander showed immediate scoring upside. Pittsburgh ended the edition early, and Stasny must offer more than spare body insurance, and that's for sure. The way to win this trade and the way to not make it, like I said, them being robbed, is for Stasny to improve, become a better defender for this team and be an every night guy and if he can do that okay we maybe win this trade in the end but right now the Oilers have all the upside in Hollander and I think this is a guy who could easily put some points up for them this season in the bottom six and it's a move that I really like for the Oilers but I really hate for us here in the Penguins and obviously you know Watt decides the verdict here and Watt decides who wins Watt it's does Stasny earn a dependable role and if he does then you know we obviously win this trade does Hollander sustain his impact in Edmonton I think he will because I think he's a tremendous player, but a tremendous bottom six player. But, you know, who knows? You know, he could not. He could go over there and the production could just completely drop off. Maybe the Koivunen, Lapierre, and Hollander line was his only way to success. And for us breaking that up, I'm very saddened by it, to be honest with you. And does Pittsburgh actually improve on defense? I don't think so. I think they could have brought somebody up from the AHL and they would have filled the role of Stasny here, in my opinion. But I want to hear your guys' thoughts. are you as low on this trade as are as i am are you more excited than i am and like i said i don't want to sit here and rip on spencer stasny but you know i really hope that he does turn into the player we hope he does but at this point of way i'm looking at it through my through my glasses through my you know hollander colored glasses uh you know i don't really like it at all so uh hopefully it does turn out better for us let me know in the comment section what's your guys thoughts on the trader are you upset by do you think we got robbed let me know in the comments while you're down there leave a like subscribe to the channel as always i've been oskc keep sticking