The Pittsburgh Penguins and Anaheim Ducks came together for an early Saturday morning trade involving three players.
The Penguins are sending forward David Perron and defenceman Adam Clendening to the Ducks for forward Carl Hagelin.
Perron, 27, has scored four goals and 16 points in 43 games this season. The 6-foot, 200-pound Sherbrooke, Que., native is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Hagelin, also 27, gives the Penguins a speedy winger under contract through the 2018-19 season with a $4 million cap hit. However, he has also struggled this season, his first in Anaheim, with just four goals and 12 points in 43 games.
Clendening, 23, had difficulty getting into the Penguins lineup this season. He played nine sporadic games in the NHL and six in the AHL with Wilkes-Barre Scranton.
Neither Perron nor Hagelin spent a full season with the teams they’re being traded from. Perron was first brought to Pittsburgh from the Edmonton Oilers on Jan. 2, 2015, for Rob Klinkhammer and a 2015 first round pick, and recorded 22 points in 43 games to close out 2014-15. Hagelin was acquired by the Ducks at the 2015 NHL draft in a deal that sent Emerson Etem to the New York Rangers. Hagelin and Perron have both failed to produce to expected levels this season.
The Penguins and Ducks both hope to kick start their lineups, which have under-performed on offence. Anaheim is last in the NHL in scoring, averaging just 1.95 goals per game, and are 11th in the Western Conference standings. The Penguins, 10th in the East, are 24th in league scoring, averaging 2.37 goals per game.
Hagelin scored 17 goals in each of the past two seasons, while Perron has reached the 20-goal plateau three times and scored a career-best 28 in 2013-14.
