Let's start with the most cynical summation possible for Jim Rutherford's performance at the NHL trade deadline today: The Penguins, a well-below-average physical team, traded away their top two hitters, Simon Despres and Robert Bortuzzo, for two other defensemen, Ben Lovejoy and Ian Cole, who skate more swiftly and make prettier plays.
Sound about right?
Well, sure, it sounds so right that it probably isn't cynical at all. Rutherford did part with his most physical defenseman -- check that, his only physical defensemen -- and he did replace them with two more of what he already held in plentiful supply. That's not opinion. That's cold, hard truth.
Oh, and what's more, in the more significant deal, he sent a 23-year-old, theoretically up-and-coming player in Despres to the Ducks for a 31-year-old thoroughly known commodity in Lovejoy.
Not even the GM himself would dispute any of the above.
Nor, apparently, will he apologize for it.
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