You can’t plan for everything as a general manager running a professional sports teams. Sometimes the unexpected happens. This is the case with today’s news about Michael Bunting.

Mike Sullivan said Michael Bunting had surgery on Wednesday to remove his appendix, “so he’ll be out here for the next little while. I don’t know the timeframe at this point.”

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) February 27, 2025

First and foremost, wishing the best for Bunting’s healthy recovery. It’s good this was caught and handled in a timely fashion.

From a hockey perspective it is less than ideal as we barrel towards the trade deadline. Bunting was one of the potential players Dubas could have chosen to move. He still can, this just complicates things. Bunting still has another season left on his contract at 4.5M.

Bunting has been decent as far as not being a liability in how the ice is tilted when he’s out there. He carries an xGF% of 51.54. He has nine power play goals on the season which is good for the team lead, three more than Sidney Crosby. This has helped mask how ineffective he has been in creating offense at 5v5. He has a woeful 1.07 5v5 points per 60 this season which is clearly unacceptable. His most common linemate is Evgeni Malkin and while 38 year old Malkin isn’t who he has been for close to 20 years he isn’t washed. For reference Malkin is at 1.79 which is, not great, but fine.

I would have definitely shopped Bunting at the deadline, who knows, they still might. This certainly complicates the matter.

Thanks for reading!

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