CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- This is all starting to feel like setting the stage, isn't it?
Meaning for a significant Jim Rutherford move.
That was my overwhelming sense all through the Penguins' practice Thursday at the Lemieux Sports Complex, where Patric Hornqvist was back on the ice, where Conor Sheary was bumped down to fourth-line alternate, where rookies Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon were shuffled into more appropriate spots for their experience and skill sets ... and yet where at least one hole, maybe two, looked more exposed than ever:
1. Fourth-line center, still manned by Carter Rowney.
2. Sidney Crosby's left winger, still Simon.
Here, look for yourself:
Simon - Crosby - Rust
Hagelin - Malkin - Hornqvist
Guentzel - Sheahan - Kessel
Aston-Reese - Rowney - Reaves/Sheary
Dumoulin - Letang
Maatta - Schultz
Cole - Oleksiak
Hunwick - Ruhwedel
Really, what's missing up there?
To this eye, it's just the two items I cited.
The forwards are deep, diverse and flexible enough that Bryan Rust could be pried from the potent Evgeni Malkin line without so much as a shrug. Because he'll be replaced by Hornqvist and, more important, because Crosby will regain a winger who can keep pace.
The defense is so deep that the Nos. 7 and 8 could be a bona fide bottom pair on probably two-thirds of the NHL's rosters.
The goaltending ... you know.
But I guess if I had any viewpoint modified by this scene, it was this: Maybe the winger, of all positions, would be a greater get at the deadline than the depth center. If only because the winger, for a variety of reasons, would almost surely be a much, much better hockey player.
Think about it: All concerned will acknowledge the NHL's current trade market is terribly light on centers. There's Derick Brassard in Ottawa, then a plummet down to the Mark Letestu level, with not much in between. In contrast, there are wingers galore, being offered up by pretty much every team out of the playoff picture.
The headliner, at least for me, was Michael Grabner. And I do mean was, since Ray Shero and the Devils snapped him up late Thursday night.
That said, I'm staying stubborn: I'm Team Brassard to the core. He'd be beyond perfect, and he'd buttress the center position to the point that even an injury to Crosby or Malkin could be weathered for a spell. That would be quite the luxury.
Why not a first-line luxury?
That's what Grabner would have been. If Carl Hagelin isn't the world's fastest human on skates, then Grabner is. And having both, especially in Sullivan's warp-speed system, could have brought the Penguins a wholly renewed, reinvigorated forecheck circa 2016-17. Never mind Grabner's 25 goals, his five-on-five excellence or the constant threat he presents short-handed.
But support at center remains paramount. And one towers above the rest.
• The price for Brassard continues to be blown out of proportion. Just because Pierre Dorion and the Senators are asking for a first-round pick, a top prospect and a third component doesn't mean they'll get it.
• If looking for proof on this, know that the Rangers' initial ask on Grabner was a first-round pick, a top prospect and a B-level prospect. Shero sent them a second-rounder and the rights to defense prospect Yegor Rykov, a fifth-rounder in 2016.
The Penguins can do the pick, and they can do Daniel Sprong. I'll remind that this isn't about winning the trade but about winning a third consecutive Cup. But I wonder about that third component because I wonder if the Senators would have use for Sheary or the additional two years on his contract totaling $6 million.
That might be why I heard there isn't an easy match between these parties, this from a team exec when the Senators were in town last week.
• What the existing Penguins can control is their improved-of-late road performance, beginning with the Dallas/St. Louis trip and extending through this past weekend in Columbus.
I asked the captain about that Thursday:
• Are the Flyers annoying anyone yet?
If not, maybe they should be. Their 2-1 edging of the Blue Jackets on Thursday night in Philly ran their recent tear to 8-0-2, and they tied the Penguins for second in the Metro with 74 points and the same number of games played. What's more, they're growing up before everyone's eyes with a bunch of younger talent that Ron Hextall's been building for a good while now.
If only Hextall could still play goal for them.
• There's nothing not to like about the Pirates' acquisition of Corey Dickerson. It's a zero-risk move that eliminates a terrible mistake in Daniel Hudson's two-year, $11 million contract, even as it offers Dickerson a chance to show his All-Star first half in 2017 (.326/.369/.570, 17 home runs) was more meaningful than his second half (.232/.273/.397, 10 home runs).
The body of work is worth it, too, even with the obligatory Colorado asterisks:
Maybe Neal Huntington will be right. And even if he isn't, the only loss of face would remain the Hudson signing itself.
But know this: The people running the Rays are really smart, and the Pirates only think they are.
Dickerson's first-half numbers included an outrageous .374 BABIP, meaning batting average on balls in play. For anyone unfamiliar with that vital advanced metric, it measures, plain and simple, the number of balls put in play that don't result in outs. The primary purpose is to illustrate what percentage of a batter's contact amounts to luck, or finding a soft spot on the field. In a short term, the figures can get skewed. In the long run, as with everything in baseball, water finds its level.
Well, Dickerson sure found his: In the second half, he not only ran out of luck but also stopped making contact, his strikeout rate soaring by 29 percent to 82 Ks against 16 walks.
That's why Tampa's been trying to trade him for months and, frustrated by no takers, designated him for assignment.
Maybe the Rays will be wrong. I'm not betting against the smart guys just yet.
• Uncertainty about Dickerson would explain the Pirates piling up refugee minor-league outfielders earlier in the week. Or heck, maybe it was uncertainty over Gregory Polanco's hamstring. Or Starling Marte's sanity.
Whatever the case, it's immensely welcome to have an actual baseball conversation relating to the local team, isn't it?
• Jeff Locke was an All-Star. Means a player had a strong first half. Which is why I've long professed that All-Star consideration should cover a full calendar year, including the player's previous second half.
• My reporting on Kevin Stallings' future at Pitt leads Friday Insider this morning, and I'll let that speak for itself. But I'll also share a few words on how this basketball program got where it did and what can be learned:
• Can't help but chime in on this: Ryan Shazier has every right to take every step possible toward his desired return to football. It's the steps that count.