As trade deadline nears, the Hall of Shame provides a needed reality check

No general manager goes into trade talks hoping to be the guy who deals away Zdeno Chara and the No. 2 pick in the draft for Alexei Yashin and his bloated contract, or negotiates to swap Cam Neely and a No. 1 choice for Barry Pederson. It happens, though, which underscores the element of risk in any personnel exchange, no matter how promising it looks at the time.

That's something Penguins general manager Ray Shero might want to keep in mind as he ponders potential moves between now and the Feb. 27 trade deadline. And if he needs specific reminders of what can happen, he can consult this list of what might well be the half-dozen worst deals in Penguins history. They are:

6. Tom Roulston from Edmonton for Kevin McCelland and a No. 6 draft choice. The Penguins needed goals, and Roulston had produced them at every level. Except, it turned out, the NHL. He scored 11 in 58 games before being cut loose, while McClelland went on to be a valuable contributor to the Oilers' dynasty.

5. Kris Beech, Ross Lupaschuk and Michel Sivek from Washington for Jaromir Jagr and Frantisek Kucera. The Penguins couldn't afford to keep Jagr, and dealing him for three young players who came cheap and had the potential to develop into NHL regulars seemed like the way to make the best of a bad situation. Might have been, too, if any of the three had even a token impact with the Penguins. It should be scant consolation for them that Jagr didn't live up to the Capitals' overblown expectations for him, either, and subsequently was dealt to New York.

4. Rod Schutt from Montreal for a No. 1 draft choice. Local lore has long held that then-GM Baz Bastien had the mistaken impression he was getting all-star winger Steve Shutt, not unproven prospect Rod Schutt, from the Canadiens. Oops.

3. Ron Meighan and Anders Hakanson from Minnesota for George Ferguson and a No. 1 draft choice. The key element was the draft choice, which ended up being the first overall in 1983 after the Penguins plunged to the bottom of the overall standings. Had they kept it, the Penguins could have drafted Steve Yzerman or Pat LaFontaine or Cam Neely. Of course, the North Stars could have, too, but they passed on those guys in favor of Brian Lawton.

2. Hartland Monahan from Washington for a No. 1 draft choice. Monahan played seven -- count 'em, seven -- games before being traded to Los Angeles with Syl Apps for Dave Schultz, Gene Carr and a fourth-round draft choice. The Capitals eventually sent the pick, which ended up being the 10th overall in the 1979 draft, to the North Stars, who spent it on Tom McCarthy.

1. Alek Stojanov from Vancouver for Markus Naslund. It doesn't matter that the Penguins needed the toughness Stojanov provided before his NHL career was aborted by an auto accident or that Naslund was intimidated by the strong personalities in the Penguins' locker room during the mid-1990s and probably never would have lived up to his enormous potential if he had stayed here.

Pondering the power of John LeClair's 'Mini Me'

It has been more than two months since the Penguins severed ties with left winger John LeClair, but he continues to be a presence in their locker room.

Just not a very large one.

A LeClair action figure, sporting Team USA colors, is propped on a shelf in the locker room at Mellon Arena.

Asked recently what the point of the figure was, one player responded simply, "He helps us."

He didn't elaborate, but this much is certain: Any contribution LeClair makes now will be strictly intangible because, at roughly 8 inches tall, he couldn't be nearly as imposing in front of the net as he once was.

To what was, what is ... and what should be again

Vladislav Tretiak, head of the Russian hockey federation and a Hall of Fame goaltender, has gone public with his desire for a sequel to the legendary 1972 Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union.

That eight-game series, which Canada won on a goal by Paul Henderson in the final minute of the last game, established Tretiak as a world-class talent and the Soviets as worthy adversaries for NHL players.

How viable Tretiak's idea is remains to be seen -- until Russia agrees to participate in the NHL-International Ice Hockey Federation transfer agreement, the chances of such an event being held are nil -- but two Penguins who would be candidates to participate heartily endorsed it.

"Don't you think everybody would love it?" Russian defenseman Sergei Gonchar asked. "It would be great."

Sidney Crosby of Canada agreed. "I think everyone would be interested in that."

Although neither Gonchar nor Crosby had been born when the Summit Series was contested, both are well-versed in its finer points. Crosby picked up insights from Team Canada forward J.P. Parise, director of hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota when he attended school there, and Gonchar has seen tapes of some of the games.

"It was such a big thing at that time," Gonchar said. "Everybody watched those games. I remember people talking about how great the games were."

And now they're talking about how great it would be to play them again.