The Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks have agreed to a trade involving four depth players. The Penguins have sent defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Ty Glover to the Canucks in exchange for defenseman Jack Rathbone and forward Karel Plasek, the teams announced on Tuesday.
Of all four players in this deal, Friedman has the most NHL experience. The former third-round pick has 12 points in 65 games, and he will give Vancouver some organizational depth on the blue line as the team navigates around a tight salary cap situation. The Canucks have not said whether Friedman will report to the NHL club or the AHL.
Rathbone, the No. 95 overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, has spent the majority of his professional career with the AHL's Abbotsford Canucks. He has played 28 games at the NHL level, tallying two goals and three assists in that time. The Penguins announced that Rathbone will report to their minor-league affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Plasek was a sixth-round pick by the Canucks in the 2017 draft and has yet to make his NHL debut. For the past several years, Plasek has played the majority of his games in the Czech league. He is being sent to the ECHL's Wheeling Nailers following this deal.
Glover, a native of England, played college hockey at Western Michigan and went undrafted before signing with the Penguins. In 51 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Glover totaled seven goals and five assists.
