Penguins Pull Off Major Trade Involving Former Top-5 Pick

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the most active teams in the NHL on the trade market this season, and now they've officially pulled off their second trade on Wednesday.

After plenty of speculation, the team are pulling off their second trade with the Nashville Predators this season, with the Western Conference team set to acquire two-way forward Michael Bunting.

According to top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, the return involves both Luke Schenn and Tommy Novak, but with both players in the return being in their late 20's or early 30's, this must be part of a much bigger deal or a prelude to something else.

After acquiring Bunting a year ago, the Penguins have been fairly happy with the returns for the talented forward, but ultimately it became clear that he wasn't part of their future plans, and now he is on the way out to his fourth NHL team in his career.

As for Pittsburgh, they acquire both Schenn and Novak in the deal, with the 27-year old Novak the clear best piece in the deal coming back as he has posted 45 and 43 points in back-to-back seasons before a down year this season, which appears to be a major issue in Nashville.

Ultimately, this one appears to be a deal that leads to something much bigger for Pittsburgh, a team looking to build for the future and a potential contender around Sidney Crosby, so we will have to wait and see what Kyle Dubas has up his sleeve, as this one was a very intriguing deal.