First-place Caps land Beauvillier from Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday shipped veteran forward Anthony Beauvillier to the Washington Capitals for a 2025 second-round draft pick, the teams announced.

With some injuries up front in Pittsburgh this season, Beauvillier, 27, took advantage, and sharpened his trade résumé along the way. At the 4 Nations Face-Off break in February, he had 12 goals and 18 points, which was a vast improvement from a season before.

In 2023-24, Beauvillier, a 2015 first-round pick of the New York Islanders, skated for three teams -- the Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks and Nashville Predators -- and combined for just five goals.

He comes to the Capitals with very little risk. He's on the back end of a one-year deal with a modest $1.25 million salary cap hit. Anything he can rack up in the postseason run he has just entered will help him at the free agent bargaining table in July.

Washington, in first place in the Metropolitan Division most of the season, is competing for the No. 1 overall seed in the Stanley Cup playoffs and has an Eastern Conference-leading 88 points headed into Friday's action.

Meanwhile, the Penguins stayed busy Friday afternoon, next dealing defenseman Luke Schenn to the Winnipeg Jets for second-round and fourth-round selections. Schenn was traded for the second time this week after being moved from the Nashville Predators with Tommy Novak on Wednesday in exchange for Michael Bunting and a 2026 fourth-round pick. The veteran blueliner was looking to play for a contending team and with the Penguins sitting outside the postseason picture now, they flipped Schenn to the league-leading Jets instead.

He'll provide Winnipeg with a true stay-at-home defenseman as a second or third pairing option down the stretch. And Schenn can contribute on the penalty kill and provide veteran leadership in the Jets' room.

Winnipeg didn't stop with just Schenn. The Jets also added Seattle Kraken veteran Brandon Tanev to their forward group for a 2026 second-round draft pick. The physical winger combines speed and good forechecking ability to be a solid add to the Jets' bottom-six. And, like Schenn, he can chip in on the penalty kill.