TRADE: Pierre-Olivier Joseph Heads Back to Pittsburgh Penguins

After just 23 games with his new club, Pierre-Olivier Joseph is heading back to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a swap with the St. Louis Blues.

Blues D Pierre-Olivier Joseph is being traded to the Penguins, per @FriedgeHNIC pic.twitter.com/JJDW0FoeCq
— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) December 19, 2024

The well-traveled "future considerations" heads back to St. Louis.

Joseph spent the first four years of his NHL career with the Penguins, but didn't receive a qualifying offer after last season and signed a one-year, $950,000 free agent deal with the Blues.

The teams got the trade in just over 24 hours before the holiday roster freeze kicks in, and it was necessitated by two factors:

1) The Penguins just lost top-four D-man Marcus Pettersson for an extended period due to a lower-body injury. He's out week-to-week, leaving a void on the blueline.

2) The Blues just acquired Cam Fowler from the Anaheim Ducks to play a prominent role on their backline, while Philip Broberg recently returned from injury, leaving the team with an excess of defensemen.

Joseph, 25, is a depth offensive D-man, who was playing 13:06 a night for St. Louis. He averaged over 15 minutes of ice time in his 147 games played with the Penguins his first time around, along with a plus-4 rating.

P.O. was able to spend the last 23 games as a teammate of his older brother Mathieu, who the Blues also acquired this past summer.