The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded Rob Scuderi for Trevor Daley of the Chicago Blackhawks. Both of these defensemen have had their struggles this season, but it's safe to say that the Penguins are getting the better player. However, the Penguins will be retaining 33 percent of Scuderi's salary while taking on Daley's full salary and cap hit. The result of this is the Blackhawks are creating about $1 million in cap room while the Penguins are spending over $4 million on Daley.
Penguins fans are going to be pleased with the trade. They have not been happy with Scuderi's performance, and it's been for good reason. Despite his resume, which carries two Stanley Cup Championships, one in 2009 with the Penguins and the other in 2012 with the Los Angeles Kings, he has been a liability on the ice this season. Scuderi has a 39.82 Corsi-for percentage that is terrible. As a defenseman, you are going to want a Corsi-for no lower than 45 percent, but preferably always above 50 percent. Scuderi has four points in 25 games this season to go with his reputation of giving the puck away constantly.
Daley didn't pan out the way that Chicago wanted him to. They were expecting him to be a solid top-four defenseman, but he's been playing mostly third-pairing minutes. He is the much better player in this trade and should be able to bounce back in Pittsburgh. Daley has only six points in 29 games for the Blackhawks, but he has a Corsi-for of 59.03 percent. On top of these obvious improvements over Scuderi, he is four years younger.
It remains to be seen who ends up being the winner of this trade, but at first glance it appears that the Penguins got the better player, despite paying a bit more in cap space. It is very uncommon for players to start getting better at the age of 36, so Scuderi seems like he is making a fast decline to retirement. At 32-years-old, Daley still has some good years of hockey left, and he is only one season removed from scoring 16 goals and 38 points in 68 games. He will be given a top-four role immediately, and it's his spot to lose.