Two sources claim a “Jack Johnson trade is likely to happen in the next 48 hours.”

A trade is coming and by the sounds of things we can expect it to happen very soon indeed.

According to a breaking news report this morning from Pittsburgh Penguins insider Josh Yohe of The Athletic, it appears as though the Pittsburgh Penguins are on the verge of trading veteran defenseman Jack Johnson. Yohe claims that his information comes from two independent sources, one from within the Penguins organization and another from elsewhere in the National Hockey League, and furthermore he claims that this trade is set to happen within the next 48 hours. 

From Yohe:

A source within the Penguins organization and an independent league source both confirmed that Johnson was told over the weekend that many potential deals are on the table for general manager Jim Rutherford, and that Johnson is involved in the majority of them. Although a trade isn’t certain, Rutherford, according to sources, wanted to be transparent with Johnson about the situation and warned him that a trade within the next 48 hours is quite possible. Rutherford and Johnson have long enjoyed a warm relationship and, according to sources, the general manager wants to keep the 32-year-old defenseman.

Now to be clear this is still only a rumor at this time and that does mean that the trade could still fail to materialize in the time frame put forward by Yohe. However one of his sources has informed him that there is a 75 to 80% chance that this deal gets done prior to the start of the regular season, which makes it sound like this one is pretty close to being a sure thing. The Penguins have often made Johnson the subject of trade rumors, he was previously linked to a trade with the Minnesota Wild that would have included both Phil Kessel and Jason Zucker, but that deal never materialized in the end. 

The Penguins decision will likely also be influenced by the two injuries they suffered last night when both Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and forward Bryan Rust were forced to leave the final game of the preseason. And speaking of the preseason, Johnson likely didn't do himself any favors as earlier during the preseason he managed to score a goal in his own net, ending a shutout for Penguins backup Tristan Jarry in the process.

If you like this story you can check out more headlines from the NHL last night:

Scott Sabourin destroys Max Domi in preseason scrap.

Carey Price makes one of the worst mistakes of his career... and he knows it.

Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust injured in the final game of the preseason.