Soon after trading defenseman Vincent Desharnais to the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager/president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas made a more substantial deal, shipping winger Michael Bunting and a fourth-round 2026 draft pick to the Nashville Predators.
In return, the Penguins acquired defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Tommy Novak.
Schenn, 35, is a 17-year NHL veteran of 1,057 contests and has one goal with four assists in 61 games this season. A 6-foot-2 right-handed shot, he is signed through 2025-26 at $2.75 million annually.
Schenn, who won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2020 and 2021, spent the first four years of his career (2008-2012) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who chose him fifth overall in the 2008 NHL Draft.
The Penguins are his ninth NHL club.
The 27-year-old Novak has played the entirety of his four-year NHL career with Nashville.
A left-shooting center, he has scored 13 goals with nine assists in 52 games this season. His best season came in 2023-24, when he set career highs in goals (18), assists (27) and games played (71).
Novak is in the first year of a three-year contract through 2026-27 worth $3.5 million annually.
Bunting, the centerpiece of last season’s Jake Guentzel trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, departs Pittsburgh after a total of 79 games played.
Of late, he’d been sidelined indefinitely after having his appendix removed.
He has 14 goals and 15 assists in 58 games this season, leading the Penguins in power-play goals (nine).
In 21 games with the Penguins last season, he scored six goals with 13 assists, helping the team make a late but unsuccessful push for the playoffs.
The 29-year-old Bunting, currently designated to injured reserve, carries a salary-cap hit of $4.5 million through 2025-26.
The additions of Schenn and Novak put the Penguins at 49 NHL contracts on the books for 2024-25, one under the league maximum.