Penguins deal Derick Brassard to Panthers in four-player trade

The Florida Panthers and Pittsburgh Penguins made a sizable shakeup to their rosters on Friday.

Florida dealt forwards Nick Bjugstad and Jared McCann to Pittsburgh in exchange for forwards Derick Brassard, Riley Sheahan, a second-round pick and two fourth-round picks in 2019.

Brassard has struggled to make his mark during his short time in Pittsburgh after being acquired ahead of the trade deadline last season in a three-team deal with Ottawa and Vegas. The 31-year-old, who is currently nursing an upper body injury, has just nine goals and 15 points in 40 games this season to go along with some ugly underlying numbers. Brassard is in the final year of his contract that carries a cap hit of $5 million.

Sheahan, also in the final year of his deal, has seven goals and nine points — also with ugly underlyings — in 49 games playing a fourth-line role. Besides the impending cap space, the Panthers also picked up a decent haul of lottery tickets for the draft.

In return the Penguins added a big body in Bjugstad and a young centre with some upside in McCann. Bjugstad, 26, has struggled this season with only five goals and 12 points in 32 games after putting up 19 and 49 a season ago. The 6-foot-6 winger who can also play some center has two more years remaining on his contract that carries an annual cap hit of $4.1 million. McCann, who should slot into the third-line centre role in Pittsburgh, has eight goals and 18 points in 46 games. The 22-year-old has two more years at $1.25 million before he becomes a restricted free agent.

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