Rob Blake and Jim Rutherford had both seen enough.

The general managers completed the first meaningful trade of the 2018-19 NHL regular season Wednesday, swapping underachieving left wingers to jolt their respective clubs back to life.

Carl Hagelin, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Pittsburgh Penguins, is off to Los Angeles in exchange for Tanner Pearson, who earned a ring with the Kings.

“Our team is obviously not in a position that we are comfortable with in terms of how we are playing,” Blake said in a press release announcing the one-for-one swap.

"This could be the start of more changes,” Rutherford warned in a post-trade briefing with reporters. “We'll see how it goes.”

What this means for the Penguins

Pearson, 26, is the younger player in the deal. He’s probably a better finisher than Hagelin, and he's under contract for two more years at a digestible $3.75-million cap hit.

That's the good news.

The bad?

Pearson has struggled mightily through the opening stretch of the season, recording just a single assist - in the Oct. 5 home opener - in 17 games. For the first time in his six-year career, Pearson’s 5-on-5 shot metrics sit below 50 percent, and the Kings were outscored 10-1 with him on the ice over 198 even-strength minutes.

Yet Rutherford seems to believe Pearson can reinvigorate the Penguins, who have lost six of their past seven games and face the conference-leading Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.

"He was able to play with their top guys (in L.A.),” Rutherford said, referring to Pearson’s past experience skating alongside Anze Kopitar and Jeff Carter. “I believe that a change will be good for him. He will be a good fit for us.”

Pearson bagged 24 goals in 80 games at his peak in 2016-17. The 6-foot-1, 201-pounder contributed solid top-nine value in his other two seasons with the Kings, registering 36 and 40 points.

The talent is there and if he slides into Hagelin’s old spot on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist there will be no excuses. Over to you, Tanner.

What this means for the Kings

By acquiring Hagelin, the Kings - arguably the slowest team in the NHL - have gained one of the sport's premier speedsters. Hagelin is a dynamite penalty killer, too, which should help L.A.’s 21st-ranked unit.

Hagelin’s best NHL season was way back in 2011-12 when he posted 14 goals and 24 assists in 64 games as a rookie for the New York Rangers. Through 16 games this season, the 30-year-old has just one goal and two assists.

Given the direction the Kings' season is trending (see: down, way down) and Hagelin's contract situation (pending unrestricted free agent), is this a rent-to-sell situation? It's not a crazy thought.

The last-place Kings are spiraling right now; they've lost three straight, including a 5-1 defeat on home ice Tuesday against the Maple Leafs. The league’s second-oldest roster just got older and, although they could use a boost of some kind and Hagelin’s tantalizing wheels fit the short-term bill, a second deal around the Feb. 25 trade deadline may be the right long-term play.

Suitors surely haven’t forgotten about Hagelin’s performance in the 2016 playoffs, when he starred on the vaunted HBK Line with six goals and 10 assists in 24 postseason games.

(Side note: The Penguins retained $250,000 of Hagelin’s $4-million salary in the trade, eliminating any financial discrepancy between the two contracts.)

The main takeaway

In the grand scheme of things, the Hagelin-for-Pearson deal will not lose or win another Cup for either of these franchises. The players involved, even at their absolute best, are secondary contributors.

But this trade does serve a purpose. L.A. and Pittsburgh both need a kick in the rear end and found their targets in a pair of underperforming vets.

The Kings are in a state of flux under a new, interim head coach. Blake and Co. are navigating the waters between relevant and irrelevant, seemingly unsure of which side of the tide they will ultimately end up on.

Is this the beginning of the end for a core that won two Cups in three years at the start of the decade? Maybe. The departure of John Stevens last week certainly got the ball rolling. Is a full tear-down coming? Perhaps.

The Penguins, while on stronger footing overall, are also feeling the heat, albeit in a subtler fashion. Rutherford, who signed a three-year contract extension hours before announcing the trade, has voiced his displeasure with the current supporting cast around Malkin, Sidney Crosby, and other untouchables, according to The Athletic's Josh Yohe.

Is this a one-off move or a start of a furious shopping spree from Rutherford? It sounds like the former.

"I just think we're in a funk now," Rutherford said. "We're a fragile team. We're struggling. But for the most part, I still believe in this team."

The common thread: Winning is fleeting in professional sports and both GMs seem willing to do everything in their power to keep another championship within reach.

John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.

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The Vegas Golden Knights have lost another forward to a long-term injury.

Erik Haula is now on a month-to-month timetable, head coach Gerard Gallant told reporters on Wednesday.

Haula had to be stretchered off the ice during a loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Nov. 6 after falling awkwardly on his leg following a hit by Patrick Marleau.

He's missed the Knights' last three games and was placed on injured reserve Tuesday.

Vegas is already without center Paul Stastny, who was hurt during the third game of the season and ruled out for up to two months in mid-October.

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Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby wasn't at practice Wednesday as he's being evaluated for an upper-body injury, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters.

The circumstances surrounding the injury weren't disclosed, and Crosby's status for Thursday's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning is unknown.

He played 21:32 in Tuesday's game against the New Jersey Devils, second among Penguins forwards behind Evgeni Malkin.

The 31-year-old superstar hasn't missed a regular-season game since the 2016-17 campaign.

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The Los Angeles Kings and the Pittsburgh Penguins are swapping forwards.

Los Angeles sent Tanner Pearson to the Penguins in exchange for Carl Hagelin, the Kings confirmed Wednesday.

Pittsburgh reportedly retained $250,000 of Hagelin's $3,666,000 salary in the deal, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

Pearson managed only one point in 17 contests with the Kings in 2018-19, while Hagelin mustered a goal and two assists in 16 games.

Hagelin was a member of the Penguins' Stanley Cup championship squads in 2015-16 and 2016-17. Pearson helped the Kings win the title in 2013-14.

After sweeping a four-game Canadian road trip in October, the Penguins have won only one of their last seven games. The Kings have lost three of their last four since firing head coach John Stevens and replacing him with interim bench boss Willie Desjardins.

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The Pittsburgh Penguins inked general manager Jim Rutherford to a three-year contract extension Wednesday that will keep him with the team through the 2021-22 season.

The 69-year-old is in his 25th year as an NHL general manager and his fifth with the Penguins.

During his tenure with Pittsburgh, he's helped build the team into a perennial contender, with four 100-plus-point seasons and back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

"We think Jim Rutherford is one of the best general managers in all of sports and, during his tenure in Pittsburgh, arguably the best GM in the NHL," Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a statement. "His goal every year is to win the Stanley Cup and that kind of commitment to excellence is what drives us all."

Rutherford won his first Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Stan Bowman of the Chicago Blackhawks is the only other GM to win three championships in the salary-cap era. Rutherford ranks eighth all time among general managers in both wins (850) and games managed (1,834).

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The Edmonton Oilers entered Tuesday on a four-game losing streak, scoring just six goals during that stretch. In an attempt to spark the slumping offense, head coach Todd McLellan reunited Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the top line, and it paid off.

Edmonton's dynamic duo combined for six points in the Oilers' 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. McDavid had three helpers, while Draisaitl notched a goal and two assists - all of which came at even strength.

Drake Caggiula, the third member of Edmonton's revamped top line, shouldn't go without mention. He picked up a goal on three shots, added three hits, and was plus-3 in the contest.

McDavid and Draisaitl have had plenty of success playing together in the past - most notably during the 2016-17 season - but the Oilers split them up this season with the intention of rolling out a more balanced offense.

It's safe to assume the Oilers will line up the same way Saturday against the provincial rival Calgary Flames. From there, the recipe to keeping McDavid and Draisaitl on the same line is probably quite simple: win.

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TORONTO - For once, a win for the status quo.

As general managers filed out of the NHL's Canadian headquarters on Tuesday, wrapping up a five-hour meeting, it became abundantly clear that homework - not new rule recommendations - had been doled out by the league's bigwigs.

"What you do is take it home and digest a lot of it," Los Angeles Kings GM Rob Blake said, before adding that "other things will be added to the agenda for March" when the meetings commence again in Florida.

While no major rule changes were discussed (a rarity for a league known for its nitpicking), a number of less pressing matters were broached before and after Tuesday's meeting.

On goalie equipment:

Colin Campbell, the league's senior executive vice-president of hockey operations, opened his media availability by joking about making the goalie equipment larger and the nets smaller in an effort to counteract the uptick in goal scoring through the first month of the 2018-19 season.

In reality, despite several goaltenders raising a stink about an increase in bruising due to a decrease in the size of their equipment, the NHL remains satisfied with its offseason adjustments.

"We did discuss the fact that some goalies were complaining. In some instances, the complaints went with their performances too," Campbell said, not naming names. "There are forwards and there are defensemen that get bruises when they get hit with 100-mile-an-hour shots. We brought that to the GMs' attention. They had no concern with it."

Year after year, the increase in goals has been minor, with this year's NHL featuring one extra goal every five games. Still, the perpetual tweaking of rules and regulations, coupled with a seismic shift toward skill and speed, has affected the game on a grander scale.

Heading into Tuesday's schedule, the average game has featured 6.14 goals, up from 5.44 in 2012-13.

"The players' association is totally on board with it," Campbell said, referring to the remodeled goalie equipment, namely the much-maligned chest protector. "I think that (alteration) and a lot of the rule changes have opened the game up quite a bit."

On European expansion:

Deputy commissioner Bill Daly energized the NHL news cycle last week when he told TSN that the NHL may one day house franchises - ideally, a whole division - in Europe.

"The number of our players who are born and trained in Europe and add to the talent level of the National Hockey League, the interest in the sport - in a number of countries in Europe - make it almost inevitable that at some point the National Hockey League will have teams in Europe," Daly said, with NHLPA executive director Donald Fehr basically echoing Daly's optimism in a press briefing on Monday.

There's a lot to unpack here. The idea of expanding to another continent would be no small task. (By the way, this is just an idea at this point, so don't expect the unveiling of the Helsinki Huskies any time soon.)

Some surface-level questions to consider: Would the NHL's quality of play diminish with the integration of additional teams and players? Would the impact and cost of travel outweigh the benefits of expansion? And would the logical landing spots - Helsinki, Prague, and Stockholm, to name a few - be able to support NHL arenas and clubs?

"I don't foresee any huge issues," Capitals GM Brian MacLellan told theScore, referring to the travel aspect. "I mean, teams will go over and play a few games, come back, and play on the East Coast. It could probably work … There's a good balance between all of the European players (and non-Europeans). And there are cities that are following their guys passionately. I think it makes sense, big picture-wise."

It's not a completely foreign concept, of course. For years, the NHL's held exhibition and regular-season games overseas, including matches this fall in China, Switzerland, Germany, Sweden, and Finland.

Actually stationing a division in Europe someday would be an entirely different animal. If the NHL can act quick enough, though, it could capture something incredibly unique.

"We're the first team in pro sports in Vegas," Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin said. "I wouldn't be shocked if the NHL's the first (league) that goes to Europe."

On another draft:

Speaking of expansion, the NHL's almost certainly off to Seattle. It's expected that a vote at an early-December board of governors meeting in Georgia will seal the deal.

Campbell noted that the 30 teams eligible to participate in another expansion draft - Vegas would be exempt from the process - will be given a year's notice of the date. It may be the summer of 2020, or the summer of 2021, depending on the progress of arena construction in Seattle.

Whether it's ultimately 17 or 29 months away, teams are already mapping out possible scenarios that may unfold. The rule book for the Seattle draft, after all, projects to be just as advantageous as the one that gifted Vegas a roster full of contributors.

"You always look at it, but we're here to win hockey games also," Bergevin said of keeping tabs on which players might quality for exposure down the road. "We have to manage winning hockey games and exposing young players. At the end of the day, I'm not going to hold (rookie Jesperi) Kotkaniemi back because of an expansion draft.”

Blake admitted that the Kings are viewing the next expansion draft through a different lens simply because it's Round 2. It's familiar. MacLellan shares a similar mindset.

"I think it's important to look at what happened last time. We'll go over the decisions that were made by everybody and how Vegas used their leverage," said the Stanley Cup-winning GM who lost Nate Schmidt to the Golden Knights. "I think you learn from some of the decisions that were made and maybe some new stuff comes up on this one, you don't know."

John Matisz is theScore's National Hockey Writer. You can find him on Twitter @matiszjohn.

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