Tim Benz: Biggest issue with Mikael Granlund trade? Apparently, it's that he's not Jakob Chychrun

In theory, newly acquired Pittsburgh Penguin center Mikael Granlund meets the description of what Penguins fans have been asking for over the last few weeks in a pre-deadline trade by general manager Ron Hextall.

• Granlund is a third-line forward that can play center or wing.

• He had 64 points last year.

• He may help make Jeff Carter slightly better.

• He can be used on the penalty kill (56 seconds of ice time per game) or the power play (averaging 3:03 of ice time per game).

• He’s not a rental. He has two years remaining at $5 million each.

• He didn’t cost any first round picks.

• He and Jason Zucker played well together as teammates in Minnesota if Hextall is also thinking about acquiring a winger for Evgeni Malkin’s line.

Here’s one more description you can make about Granlund, though.

• He’s not Jakob Chychrun.

He’s the Arizona Coyotes defenseman a lot of Penguins fans had seized on as their top target at the deadline. Instead, the Pens got Granlund, and Chychrun went to Ottawa. The Senators are a rising team in the Eastern Conference. They have 64 points, just five behind the Pens for the last wild-card spot. And, like Granlund, Chychrun has two years of term left as well at $4.6 million per year.

The difference between Chychrun and Granlund is that Granlund is already 31. Chychrun is only 24. He has a chance to improve. Granlund’s analytics appear to be on the decline.

Of course, Chychrun ended up costing more. Ottawa gave up a conditional first-round draft pick in 2023, a conditional second-round selection in 2024 (from the Washington Capitals) and a second-round pick in 2026. All it took to get Granlund was a 2023 second-round pick.

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That said, a lot of the chatter was that since Chychrun was expected to yield two first-rounders, that cost seems a lot more manageable.

It especially would have been worthwhile for a Penguins blue line that lacks an offensive threat from anyone besides Kris Letang. Chychrun last year totaled 18 goals and 41 points.

Another angle to bring up about the Granlund move is that Teddy Blueger was shipped to Las Vegas as a way to help cap space. Blueger has had a disappointing year. But his penalty kill usage will be missed.

Plus, Kasperi Kapanen is now in St. Louis, and Brock McGinn was placed on waivers.

You can assert that all of those players qualify as addition by subtraction. You may be right.

But their ice time still needs to be filled by players who — based on coach Mike Sullivan’s unwillingness to play them more often despite the circumstances — may not be much better. Granlund may barely be good enough to be better than one of those guys. He can’t fill the void of two or three.

Also at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, Granlund doesn’t advance the hope of the Penguins getting bigger, tougher and more difficult to play against. Nor does his age do anything to get the oldest team in hockey any younger with the 28-year-old Blueger leaving for Vegas in exchange.

The acquisition of Granlund reminds me of that song “Paper” by Kenzie.

“She looks good on paper, but I look good on you.”

Believe me, it’s not exactly in my musical wheelhouse. But I’ve been streaming a lot on Hulu lately, and I can’t seem to escape the ads for it there.

Granlund is the guy who — on paper — we’ve been talking about the Penguins needing to bolster the sagging bottom six.

But Chychrun sure would look good on the Penguins defensive depth chart.

Kenzie is from Murrysville. I bet she agrees.

Maybe Hextall isn’t done. Maybe this move was a precursor for another one and Hextall is saving his first-round picks for something bigger. But given how many trade targets have come off the board and how little cap space Hextall has to play with, I’m having a hard time envisioning what that move may be.

Granlund, alone, is nothing but a middle-of-the-road acquisition for a middle-of-the-road hockey team. Pittsburgh hockey fans better just hope Granlund pans out for the bottom six.

Otherwise, that road may take the Penguins away from the playoffs for the first time since 2006.

Greg Linnelli of the Lightning Radio Network joins me on Thursday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast to discuss the Penguins-Lightning game Thursday night and trades both teams made with Nashville recently. They also get into the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

Listen: Tim Benz and Greg Linnelli preview the Penguins-Lightning matchup