A Trade I Simply Don't Understand

To Pittsburgh

F- Chris Kunitz

F- Eric Tangradi

To Anaheim

D- Ryan Whitney

Well to start I must state I am a fan of the Pittsburgh Penguins and, from that point of view, am a fan of this trade. What I don't understand primarily is why Anaheim would pick up Ryan Whitney and trade away a top 6 forward, and a top forward prospect. Since Anaheim's Stanley Cup in 2007, Anaheim has continuously lost or got rid of their top forwards, have spent lots of money on defence, and have had cap trouble. Anaheim has traded away Andy McDonald for Doug Weight last season (and then chose to not re-sign Weight), traded Chris Kunitz this season, and allowed Dustin Penner to go to Edmonton for draft picks when he was signed as a Restricted Free Agent. In that time they have gone from have 6 quality scoring forwards (Kunitz, Selanne, McDonald, Getzlaf, Perry, and Penner) to 4 (Selanne, Perry, Getzlaf, and Bobby Ryan, a rookie this season). What made Anaheim such a tough team in the playoffs was that they had three lines contributing, but currently it looks like Anaheim only really has four forwards contributing rather than 7 or 8 during their cup run.

Anaheim has a lot of money spent on their defence, which leads us to assume that either Chris Pronger or Scott Neidermayer won't be playing for Anaheim next season. Now if they traded Pronger (which has been highly rumored) perhaps Anaheim would be able to pick up some young or inexpensive forwards in return. If so, maybe this trade makes sense but I don't understand it for right now. Ducks fan have to hope that their current roster will get a change because their is simply not enough scoring available and too much money invested in their defence.

On Pittsburgh's side of the equation this trade seems to be exactly what they needed. Pittsburgh had a significant need (top 6 winger) and was trading from a significant area of strength strength (offensive defenceman). Often trades like this are hard to make because other GM's know that Pittsburgh needs help at forward and would love to trade one of their defenceman to do it but in the end Pittsburgh was able to get a solid winger to play alongside Crosby and in the process create greater cap flexibility. Realistically, Pittsburgh may be forced to trade Crosby or Malkin at some time in the next few years because of the mammoth side of their contracts. But if Pittsburgh is able to stay young but still be productive, they may be able to keep both of them. This deal did exactly that, it allowed for Alex Goligoski to be recalled from the minors to replace Ryan Whitney (not a significant drop off the way both players were playing earlier this season) and in doing so, Pittsburgh is able to spend more money on their forwards (i.e. Kunitz). The Penguins are working the delicate balance of cap management...spending less money on their defence (while not losing on performance) but also improving their scoring.

So I understand Pittsburgh's desire to get a top quality forward, but what i simply don't understand is why Anaheim needs another defenceman, especially another defenceman who costs 4 million a season. Also I don't understand, why Anaheim simply would be willing to give up a top 6 forward, and also a top forward prospect because of their lack of depth at forward. Why would you deal for a defenceman, an area where you are quite strong, for a top 6 forward and a forward prospect, two areas that your club is decidely weak in.

As a fan of Pittsburgh, I am a big fan of the trade, I simply don't understand why Anaheim was willing to make it.