The Pittsburgh Penguins kicked off trade deadline day with a trade that many expected was brewing. They sent maligned left wing Sergei Plotnikov to the Arizona Coyotes in return for winger Matthias Plachta and a conditional draft pick.
Plotnikov had faced scrutiny from the Penguins’ front office for requesting to go back to the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) based in Russia. He hasn’t suited up in 19 straight games – about two months! – and wanted to be somewhere where he could actually play.
Because he had turned into nothing but dead weight for the Penguins, they were doing whatever they could just to get him out of the organization.