Assessing the trade itself is academic.
The Penguins acquired Rickard Rakell from the Ducks at the NHL's deadline Monday afternoon and, in doing so, might've emerged a plus on every conceivable category: They added a 16-goal, top-six winger who's fast, finds ways to get open and can finish. They addressed their most glaring need in secondary scoring. The two roster players they gave up, Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon, were primary culprits within that very problem. They might've finally found a winger for Evgeni Malkin. In turn, they'll be able to bump Bryan Rust back with Sidney Crosby and Kasperi Kapanen to the depth chart's dungeon.