Penguins trade Bunting to Predators for Schenn, Novak, ship Desharnais to Sharks 

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a pair of trades on Wednesday, sending forward Michael Bunting to the Nashville Predators and defenseman Vincent Desharnais to the San Jose Sharks.

In addition to Bunting, the Penguins also sent a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft to the Predators for defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Tommy Novak. The Penguins acquired a fifth-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft for Desharnais.

"We looked at the two trades in totality – Desharnais, Bunting and a pick for Novak, Schenn and a pick," Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said. "The motivation being that Tommy was younger, under team control for an additional season over (Bunting), carried a lower cap charge and is primarily a center – we felt that carried a large amount of value as we move ahead here with our plans.

"As for Luke, his experience, leadership, toughness, and spirit will be a major benefit to helping the Penguins maintain standards and support our existing core as they help to lead us through this phase in our program’s evolution."

Bunting has 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists) in 58 games this season and has 210 points (90 goals, 120 assists) in 326 games for the Arizona Coyotes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Carolina Hurricanes and the Penguins. He’s in the second year of a three-year, $13.5 million contract ($4.5 million average annual value) he signed with Hurricanes on July 3, 2023.

He was placed on injured reserve on Feb. 27 by the Penguins, who said he is out indefinitely after having surgery to remove his appendix.

Schenn has five points (one goal, four assists) in 61 games for the Predators this season and 203 points (44 goals, 159 assists) in 1,057 NHL games with the Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning and Predators. The 35-year-old is in the second year of the three-year, $8.25 million contract ($2.75 AAV) he signed with Nashville on July 1, 2023.

Novak has 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 52 games this season and 117 points (49 goals, 68 assists) in 201 NHL games, all with the Predators. He’s in the first year of a three-year, $10.5 million ($3.5 million AAV) contract he signed on March 4, 2024.

"We like Tommy’s ability to control play, generate scoring chances for himself and others, and produce at even strength," Dubas said. "Nashville did a great job with his development over the years and he blossomed into a very solid player for them. He has been on our priority list for a few years now here and we feel his mobility, playmaking and production as a center provides us a great option in the years ahead."

Desharnais, a 28-year-old defenseman, had three points, all assists, in 34 games for the Vancouver Canucks before he was traded to Pittsburgh with Danton Heinen, Melvin Fernstrom and a first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor on Feb. 1. He had no points in 10 games for the Penguins this season.

He has 19 points (one goal, 18 assists) in 158 career NHL games with the Edmonton Oilers, Canucks and Penguins.

Selected by Edmonton with in the seventh round (No. 183) of the 2016 NHL Draft, Desharnais had an NHL career high 11 points (one goal, 10 assists) for the 2023-24 Oilers.

"This is one of the more unique markets that I’ve encountered leading up to the trade deadline," Dubas said. "There’s a lot of parity and different strategies that contending teams have deployed, combined with teams that are out of the race being very clear that with the salary cap going up in in 2025-2026 and the two years beyond, that they plan to be aggressive with their acquisitions come July. Overall, I think we are positioned well over the next few days – but especially heading into the summer and beyond – to continue to execute our plan as we have been for the last 12 months and continue to work to return the Penguins back into contention as soon as possible."

NHL.com independent correspondent Wes Crosby contributed to this report