Confirmed Trade: [PIT/NSH] Michael Bunting, 2026 4th for Luke Schenn, Tommy Novak

[Le Magnifique 66]

I'm good with the move, I think it's a win to have Novak over Bunting, bigger need for us, a little younger and signed an extra year.

Hopefully they flip Schenn and acquire a decent prospect or pick!

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I think Schenn gets flipped and Pittsburgh retains 50%. Or, they extend him.

 

[Soundgarden]

Preds are a disaster. Their roster configuration makes no sense whatsoever

We're tanking.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I think Schenn gets flipped and Pittsburgh retains 50%. Or, they extend him.

He is under contract for next season already

 

[JD86]

So far in his career, Novak has played very, very sheltered minutes and produced pretty darn well in them. He might also be the softest guy in the entire NHL and he's pretty bad defensively. Maybe there's more there with him, maybe he gets wrecked in more/more difficult minutes. At minimum, he should produce at a good rate If you spoon feed him easy minutes.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

So far in his career, Novak has played very, very sheltered minutes and produced pretty darn well in them. He might also be the softest guy in the entire NHL and he's pretty bad defensively. Maybe there's more there with him, maybe he gets wrecked in more/more difficult minutes. At minimum, he should produce at a good rate If you spoon feed him easy minutes.

Mike Sullivan will love him!!

 

[Johnny HFBOARDS]

Pitts forgot who they were flipping him to?

 

[Iwishihadaspacebar]

If Schenn gets traded by the Pens for a pick / picks this makes a bit of sense.

Nashville don't really want picks now as they expected to be much better, they want someone who can slot into their roster this season and next. Bunting is a useful player.

 

[David71]

maybe schenn back to toronto and if toronto can find a way to land his brother brayden

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Nashville want to send any other early to mid 20yr old talent the Pens way and have it look bad soon after for them?

How's that Evangelista fella doing?

Dubas be like...

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I think Schenn is definitely a possibility to come to Toronto with Pittsburgh retaining. Believe, they'd be interested in Grebenkin as Dubas drafted him and had good things to say about him while he was GM here.

Given the amount of forwards he is gonna move or dump in the off season and try to add younger nhl ready talent, he could flip Schenn with 50% retained for Robertson. He also drafted him.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think Schenn is definitely a possibility to come to Toronto with Pittsburgh retaining. Believe, they'd be interested in Grebenkin as Dubas drafted him and had good things to say about him while he was GM here.

I’ve seen twitter speculation about Niemela as a target Dubas might like. Just speculation though.

I think Schenn falls in a category of “we’ll trade him if you offer a good deal for him”. He would almost definitely bring back a 3rd as a rental next year, so if they’re not getting better than that now (especially with them ideally using a retention slot to maximize his value), what’s really the point in trading him? He does bring usefulness to the Penguins.

If they can’t get a 2nd or better in value, I’d probably just hold onto Schenn and let him be a mentor/physical presence for their 3rd pair. The Penguins could run with Kolyachonok-Schenn as the 3rd pair for the next year and then flip Schenn at the 2026 deadline.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

At first I thought this was a weird trade for the Penguins, but I guess the logic was that it makes sense to hoard centers in a trade market where they're in high demand.
Then I looked up Tommy Novak and saw that while he's overpaid relative to his production this season, he does have 13 goals. On a team that can't score. Novak has personally scored over 8% of Nashville's goals this season. So he might score more on a team that scores more.
For Schenn, I'm not overly enthused about getting older, so he should be flippable. On the other hand, I can see the point about him being a good mentor for the younglings, and we do have a couple of defensive prospects coming up who deserve a chance and a good mentor.

Dreger tweeted this out, which just seems like posturing and basically saying "we'll move him if we get a good offer for him".

That said, I can see the appeal of the Penguins keeping Schenn. Their defense is butter soft and they can still likely get a 3rd+ for him next year if they wanted to trade him then.

Makes sense. If you make it obvious that you don't want to keep him, teams will just send you lowball offers. Being willing to keep him helps to make sure the offers are fair.

Man, the perception of Bunting has really fallen. From seemingly being able to play alongside Matthews and Marner, to getting the boot from Carolina because he can’t learn a system, and now he bounces between bad teams. Dude’s numbers aren’t awful, no interest from playoff teams?

I wonder if his salary is an issue. Bunting makes $4.5M next season; playoff teams might be hesitant to trade for a middle-six winger making that much, even if he is a gritty winger.

 

[Stealth JD]

I wonder if anyone has told these two GM’s that they’re nowhere near making the playoffs this year…

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Garbage in for garbage out. Novak for Bunting is pretty much a wash and I'm happy with Schenn for a 4th. Meh...

 

[JPT]

If Schenn gets traded by the Pens for a pick / picks this makes a bit of sense.

Nashville don't really want picks now as they expected to be much better, they want someone who can slot into their roster this season and next. Bunting is a useful player.

Nashville doesn't want picks?

 

[Cancuks]

Preds probably making room for a Mittelstadt trade.

 

[Porter Stoutheart]

Nashville doesn't want picks?

Not preferably, no. They've had tons of picks lately. I'm sure Trotz would rather have established NHL players. He has liquidated almost all of the Preds' NHL-ready younger players, so he has an immediate void to fill on the roster. Bunting is a great example here... he wants players. Older, established players.

(heaven help us! )

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Bunting is the best player in the deal, sucks to see him leave the Penguins as he was a solid second line winger in Pittsburgh.

Dubas likely loses this trade, as is his MO.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Bunting is the best player in the deal, sucks to see him leave the Penguins as he was a solid second line winger in Pittsburgh.

Dubas likely loses this trade, as is his MO.

No he factually wasn't.

He was a great net front guy on the powerplay, that's it. At 5v5, he had the same exact production as Drew O'Connor:

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Novak is obviously the best player in this trade

Nah, Bunting is at 0.50 points per game, Novak at 0.42. Bunting also goes to all the dirty areas, wins puck battles, and agitates quite well.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Bunting is the best player in the deal, sucks to see him leave the Penguins as he was a solid second line winger in Pittsburgh.

Dubas likely loses this trade, as is his MO.

Wrong on both accounts.

Dubas typically does well in trades (minus Karlsson), and struggles with contracts.

Bunting, best player? No.

 

[Jacob]

So far in his career, Novak has played very, very sheltered minutes and produced pretty darn well in them. He might also be the softest guy in the entire NHL and he's pretty bad defensively. Maybe there's more there with him, maybe he gets wrecked in more/more difficult minutes. At minimum, he should produce at a good rate If you spoon feed him easy minutes.

Sullivan just roles the lines over so that won't work.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

Does Pittsburgh trading Desharnais mean they basically flipped him for Schenn?