The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired defenseman Jack Rathbone and forward Karel Plasek in exchange for Mark Friedman and Ty Glover from the Canucks. The trade was announced by the President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Kyle Dubas.
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Jack Rathbone is heading to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. His contract runs until the end of the 2024-24 season and is worth an average of $850,000 per year in the NHL. As for Plasek, he’s joining the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL. His contract is also valid through the ’23-24 season and has an average annual value of $846,667 in the NHL.
Rathbone, 24, has been with the Vancouver Canucks from 2020 to 2024. In the current season, he played two games with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL, scoring one goal. In his NHL career of 28 games, this 5-foot-10, 177-pound defenseman has managed two goals, three assists, and five points. He earned a spot on the AHL All-Rookie Team in 2021-22 after leading all team defensemen in goals (10), assists (30), and points (40) in 39 games. Vancouver originally drafted Rathbone in the fourth round (95th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft while Plasek in the sixth round (175th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.
Karel Plasek, 23, spent the 2022-23 season with HC Olomouc in Czechia, where he recorded six goals, nine assists, and 15 points in 31 games. In his career, which includes 142 Czechia games with HC Olomouc and HC Kometa Brno, he has tallied 17 goals, 20 assists, and 37 points. He also played eight AHL games with Abbotsford during the 2021-22 season.
On the other hand, Friedman, aged 27, had a split season in 2022-23, dividing his time between the Pittsburgh Penguins and their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In his 23 NHL games, he managed to contribute three points. At the AHL level, this right-shot defenseman produced six points.
Throughout his career, spanning 65 regular season NHL games between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, he has amassed 12 points (4 goals, 8 assists). He’s also made appearances in six playoff games with the Penguins, notching one point. 23-year-old Ty Glover played in 49 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the previous season with 12 points to his name. Before his AHL career, he spent two seasons at Western Michigan University in the NCAA, where he recorded 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) and 58 penalty minutes across 63 games.
Philadelphia Flyers drafted Friedman 86th overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft while Glover joined the Penguins as an Undrafted Free Agent.
