The NHL is in the midst of one of its slowest months of the offseason, but that doesn’t mean teams like the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blues are on vacation. The Penguins and Blues have agreed to a trade that only involves future draft picks.

The Penguins sent the Blues a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fifth-round pick in exchange for a 2025 third-round pick and a 2026 second-round pick.

This 2025 second-round pick is the pick the Penguins acquired from the Blues in the Kevin Hayes trade.

This pick swap caused the Penguins and Blues to switch positions in the next two drafts, but opened up new opportunities for the Blues.

With certain draft picks in hand, the Blues were able to make offers to Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway, both of the Edmonton Oilers. According to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the trade with the Penguins helped make the offers possible.

Seravalli also pointed out that the offer term for Broberg is two years and $4,580,917. Broberg’s compensation is a third-round pick.

Holloway’s offer documents include a two-year, $2,290,457 deal, with compensation being a second-round pick they just received from the Penguins.

If each player had earned just one dollar more on average per year, the compensation would have been higher.

Overall, it was a good deal for the Blues, which forced the Oilers to make a decision about their players. They have seven days to match the offer documents and keep their players or lose them to the Blues.

The Penguins do not need to take any further action, but their commitment to the Blues could prove crucial.

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