Blues Trade Maxim Lapierre To Penguins for Marcel Goc

In a swap of centers, the Blues have traded Maxim Lapierre to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Marcel Goc. Goc has played in 42 games for the Pens, posting four penalty minutes as well as two goals, three assists. As our fearless leader Brad Lee put it:

Pittsburgh selling high on Goc. Has six points on season, but half those in his last five games.

— St Louis Game Time (@StLouisGameTime) January 28, 2015

Hey, keep lighting it up. Maybe this'll motivate Steve Ott. Probably not.

Lapierre this season has two goals and seven assists.

The Blues are also on the hook for a bit more with Goc.

Wish I could say per CapGeek but Marcel Goc salary cap hit is actually $100,000 more than Max Lapierre. Both UFA after the season. #stlblues

— STL Blues History (@STLBlueshistory) January 28, 2015

Is this an upgrade? A lateral move? Just a shake-up to the fourth line for fun? Goc really can't play anything but fourth-line center. He's a solid guy who won't be disappointing, I suppose, because no one's really sure what to expect out of this.

If you're a fancystats person, though, this may help you see that Armstrong pulled off an upgrade (click the images for the full graph):

Marcel Goc vs. Maxim Lapierre (oof) pic.twitter.com/geJyBhZ5jT

— Domenic Galamini (@MimicoHero) January 28, 2015