Former Pittsburgh Penguins center Derrick Brassard retires

PITTSBURGH — This article originally appeared on PittsburghHockeyNOW.com.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ trade in 2018 was supposed to lead to a three-peat championship. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford worked a trade for Ottawa Senators center Derrick Brassard that was so complex that it was first refused by the NHL central registry and had to be reworked.

The Vegas Golden Knights even helped the Penguins acquire Brassard to keep him away from Vegas’s chief competition, the Winnipeg Jets. The deal got done, but it never worked. Brassard was not happy with this third-line role, and the Penguins lost in Round Two to the Washington Capitals. About one year later, the Penguins gave up and traded Brassard to the Florida Panthers.