Penguins trade for Cody Glass from Nashville

The Pens continue on an active Tuesday by striking a trade with Nashville to pick up a forward and free draft picks

The Pittsburgh Penguins are having quite the active August Tuesday for themselves. In what is usually the quiet time of the year, the Pens made a trade of draft picks today that carried major significance for St. Louis, who re-acquired their second round pick from Pittsburgh to be necessary compensation for the Philip Broberg.

Now, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has said the Pens have added Nashville Predators forward Cody Glass.

The good news about Glass is that at 25-years old, he could possibly be the youngest forward on the team next season (Valtteri Puustinen is two months younger). Glass also had a 14-goal, 35-point season in 2022-23 for the Predators. Like many of the players Pittsburgh has acquired this summer, Glass is a natural center. He only has one year remaining with a manageable $2.5 million cap hit and his rights could be retained next summer.

The bad news about Glass is that he was not very good in 2023-24 and in need of a fresh start on what will be his third organization after being drafted seventh overall by Vegas in 2017.

There is some good and some bad on his career already, but it’s nice to see a younger player with some sort of offensive profile in the fold instead of the 30-somethings that litter the roster with limited upside. Glass offers some size at 6’3” 205 pounds and found moderate success playing a net-front role on the power play in Nashville in 2022-23 (scoring six goals that season on the PP). If nothing else he could add an option for Pittsburgh to consider for their power play for at least a change up to their normal structure.

The return from Pittsburgh to Nashville is yet unknown and the trade has not yet been announced. Nashville does not have much cap space ($595k per PuckPedia on a team that only has 18 skaters), so the contractual situation will likely be either even or slanted to free up space for the Predators - who also still need to re-sign RFA Phillip Tomasino.

UPDATE: the full trade is out, the Pens pick up Glass virtually for free. And to continue their theme of the off-season, they pick up draft picks for their troubles, Pittsburgh gets a third rounder in 2025 and a future sixth in the deal. Fresca, 23, spent most of last season on Wheeling and the main purpose of his inclusion was to clear out his contract against the 50 the team can carry. Another tidy piece of business to continue and stockpile draft picks for the future while giving a young player a chance at a new start.