The Penguins released their Protection List for the upcoming Expansion Draft.
Opting to protect eight skaters and a goalie, the black and gold shielded forwards Sidney Crosby, Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin, defensemen Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Olli Maatta and Justin Schultz, and goalie Matt Murray.
Players in the first and second year of their initial pro contract, including Jake Guentzel, Conor Sheary and Daniel Sprong, are exempt from Wednesday’s draft.
Among the prominent players left unprotected are goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, forwards Carl Hagelin, Tom Kuhnhackl, Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson, and gritty defenseman Ian Cole.
The Pens eschewed an option that would’ve allowed them to protect two extra skaters overall but one less defenseman.
My take? GM Jim Rutherford and his staff must feel fairly assured that Las Vegas plans to select Fleury. How else do you explain leaving a sparkplug and clutch goal scorer like Rust unprotected?
Western Exposure
A number of high-profile players were left unprotected by their respective teams, including former Pens sniper James Neal. Here’s a quick glance at some of the notable players exposed:
| Eastern Conference | Western Conference | ||
| Player (Pos) | Team | Players (Pos) | Team |
| Josh Bailey (F) | Islanders | Pontus Aberg (F) | Predators |
| Zach Bogosian (D) | Sabres | Troy Brouwer (F) | Flames |
| Marc-Andre Fleury (G) | Penguins | Dustin Brown (F) | Kings |
| Philipp Grubauer (G) | Capitals | Cody Eakin (F) | Stars |
| Roberto Luongo (G) | Panthers | Dan Hamhuis (D) | Stars |
| Marc Methot (D) | Senators | James Neal (F) | Predators |
| Petr Mrazek (G) | Red Wings | Colton Sissons (F) | Predators |
| Brock Nelson (F) | Islanders | Eric Staal (F) | Wild |
| Michal Neuvirth (G) | Flyers | Semyon Varlamov (G) | Avalanche |
| Tomas Plekanec (F) | Canadiens | Sami Vatanen (D) | Ducks |
| Bobby Ryan (F) | Senators | Joel Ward (F) | Sharks |
| Nate Schmidt (D) | Capitals | ||
| Ryan Strome (F) | Islanders | ||
Around the League
There were several trades yesterday as teams positioned themselves for the upcoming Expansion Draft.
Calgary, rumored to have interest in Fleury, filled its goaltending void by acquiring Mike Smith from Arizona. The Flames sent goalie Chad Johnson, prospect Brandon Hickey, and a conditional second- or third-round draft pick in either the 2018 or 2019 draft to the Coyotes.
Buffalo acquired defenseman Nathan Beaulieu from Montreal for a third-round pick in 2017 draft. Devils GM Ray Shero was active as well, acquiring defenseman Mirco Mueller and a 2017 fifth-round draft pick from San Jose Sharks in exchange for 2017 second-round and fourth-round draft picks.
On June 14, Washington acquired hulking center Tyler Graovac from Minnesota for a fifth-round pick in 2018 draft.
Without question Montreal and Tampa Bay hooked up on the splashiest pre-draft deal. The Canadiens acquired talented left wing Jonathan Drouin and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2018 draft from the Lightning. In return, the Bolts received promising 18-year-old defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional second-round pick in 2018 draft.
Among other noteworthy news, the Rangers are buying out the contract of long-time stalwart and assistant captain, Dan Girardi. The veteran defender had three years remaining on a contract that paid him $5.5 million/season.
In similar moves involving defensemen, Anaheim plans to buy out the contract of former Pens prospect Simon Despres, who is suffering from post-concussion syndrome. Colorado bought out Francois Beauchemin.
This ‘n’ That
The Buffalo Sabres named Phil Housley as their new head coach on Thursday. A first-round pick of the Sabres back in 1982, the former Hall-of-Fame defenseman replaces ex-Pens skipper Dan Bylsma, who was fired on April 20 following two seasons at the helm.
That’s good news for the Pens. Assistant Rick Tocchet, widely rumored to be a front-runner for the Buffalo job, remains with the black and gold, at least for now.
Inside the organization, Mike Buckley replaces Mike Bales as goaltender coach. Bales, credited with helping Fleury solidify his game, accepted a similar position with Carolina.
Buckley worked extensively with youngsters Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry in his former role as goaltending development coach, making the Massachusetts native a natural to succeed Bales.
On Friday, Bill Guerin was named general manager of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Guerin, who served as the Pens’ assistant general manager the past three seasons, replaces Jason Botterill, who was named GM of the Sabres on May 11.
Torts wins Coach of the Year.
Yes and I am a Rocket Scientist.
How does that S.Twain song go ” that don’t impress me much”….
Although the results will not be known until later, the Expansion in Draft is done.. So I want to move forward and change the subjuect. The regular Draf tis now up. Who do you think the Pens will draft/
The Pundits on the NHL web site are suggesting that the Pens need a skilled forward. Although that may not hurt, considering that Malkin and Crosby have been around a long time, howver, having been the highest scoring team in the league during both the regular season and the playoffs, I am not so sure that is their most pressing need.
The players the pundits are throwing around as good fits are; Aleksei Heponiemi, C, Swift Current (WHL); Nick Henry, RW, Regina (WHL); Nikita Popugaev, LW, Prince George (WHL)
Any thoughts, anyone?
Hey Guys,
The final draft rankings for the entry draft were released yesterday.
For the first time this season,Nolan Patrick is not # 1. Nico Hischier is.
( at the combine)
1. Nico Hischier Center 6’2″ 176 #
2.Nolan Patrick Center 6’2″ 198 #
3.Miro Heiskanen Defense 6′ 170 #
4.Cale Maker Defense 5’11” 180 #
5.Gabe Vilardi Center 6’3″ 201 #
6.Casey Mittelstadt Center 6’1″ 201 #
7.Ellias Pettersson Center 6’2″ 161 #
8.Cody Glass Center 6’2″ 178 #
9.Micheal Rasmussen Center 6’6″ 215 #
10.Owen Tippett L. Wing 6′ 200 #
11.Martin Necas Center 6′ 167 #
12.Nick Suzuki R. Wing 5’11” 183 #
13.Lias Andersson Center 5’11” 198 #
14. Juuso Valimaki Defense 6’2″ 204 #
15. Kristian Vesalainen L. Wing 6’3″ 207 #
16.Timothy Lilijegren Defense 6′ 191 # ( rated 5 th Dec.31st )
17. Eeli Tolvanen R. Wing 5’10” 170 #
18.Klim Kostin R. Wing 6’3″ 196 # ( top Russian player )
19. Ryan Poehling Center 6’2″ 183 #
20. Cal Foote Defense 6’4″ 210 #
25. Nicolas Hague Defense 6’6″ 215 #
27. Issac Ratcliffe L. Wing 6’6″ 200 #
30. Jason Robertson L. Wing 6’2″ 194 #
It would be nice to draft in the top 10…only in my dreams.
Cheers
If the Pens could get down to top 3 pick that would be great but I am still liking what I read about Foote and Hague.
Hey Jim,
Thanks for posting this, my friend. Great job!
And great comments, all.
Rick
Hey Guys,
There was a comment from media sources below saying that JR had to give something ELSE to Vegas to insure Vegas would take MAF and his large contract. I hope it was not our 1st round pick ?? It goes to show show you if true……that although we all love MAF, according to management his time is up and they need him and his 5.75 million salary gone now.
That is the cold business of Hockey . What is that old saying,
” If you can trade Wayne Gretzky in his prime, EVERYBODY HAS A PRICE”.
The new Vegas Team will be announced tomorrow.
Hey Jim,
I don’t know if I would believe that source. It may be right, but at 5.75 mil MAF isn’t over paid and Vegas can surround him with a couple of really good on the cheap kids, looking down that exposed players list.
I am not saying that the media source is wrong, but it is very hard to believe, particularly with how the Fans in Vegas are already trying to find Vegas Jerseys with Fleury’s name on it. If they don’t take him it would be a PR nightmare.
Also, if JR didn’t trade Fleury last year when the rumors had Clagary on offering a 2nd Rnd pick, I think JR believes too much in MAF to give anything else up. I would think JR would say go ahead take someone else.
And you know what I wouldn’t blame him. I wouldn’t give away any picks or prospects to free up salary cap space. I wouldn’t mortgage the future like CBJ is doing.
The time is ticking down until the Shoe drops and the first Penguin will officially be gone.
How about a major shout out for MAF. Just saw a report, even though odds are against him being in Pgh next year he just funded a playground for kids in the McKees Rocks area of the city. What a class act!!!!
Hey Other Rick,
I couldn’t agree more.
A little side story. A friend of mine, Dave, took his son to a Pirates game last week, not knowing the Pens would be at PNC Park with the Cup.
Dave and Max happened to cross paths with Ian Cole, who posed with them and let them touch the Cup.
Seconds later Dave took a photo of Max and some other kids with the Cup, and Fleury appeared out of nowhere and stood behind them. Imagine how thrilled they were!
God bless Flower. Hope he has a second part of his career similar to John Vanbiesbrouck after “Beezer” went to the expansion Florida Panthers.
Rick
Amen to that Rick. the Flower deserves many more highlights.
Hey tOR,
He truly is a great guy. He lives close to me and has been to my home. He is the type of guy who refuses to leave his shoes on when entering a house even if everyone else is. I always remember watching the NHL channel with him while my dog chewed on his sock. I hope he gets the starting job he deserves!
He once told me that Stamkos has the best deceptive shot in the NHL and is the guy that scares him the most. I imagine that is the same with many goaltenders.
That is really cool. Watching and hearing him speak in interviews and other media sources, it all just fits. He always appears to be a down to earth guy. As much as I like Murray, I would love to see him return and retire a Penguin.
It is also interesting that he said Stamkos scared him the most, with the number of shots guys like Crosby and Malkin, and dare I say Lemieux (beginning of his career) have taken on him in practice, that says a lot about Stamkos.
Unless this is some sort of ploy to get Mcphee to take Rust over Fleury then I am 100% lost on this whole Rust thing. If Vegas takes Rust the Penguins have a huge trade value in Fleury. Maybe think about it like this, if the Penguins tried to trade Rust at most they get a third round draft pick.
In a follow up to my huge comment I just posted on Rick’s last post, Rust is not bad, but he’s not great either. His problem is he lacks any semblance of play making ability. Two assists total in 23 games playing a whole lot of time on a line with the top goal scorer in the playoffs and some other guy named Crosby. He gets insane feeds from the top play makers in the league. He missed a ridiculous amount of great chances. On top of that he has put up lackluster numbers at every level he has played at. I like Rust on the team, he hustles and plays hard, but seriously, what am I missing? If he was all the Penguins lost to Vegas it would be a huge win.
Hey Phil,
I am not suggesting that losing Rust is a mortal blow but consider this, over the last 2 regular seasons his P60 ranks 61 out of 185 RWs, that puts him in the top 1/3 of the RW in the league. There are a lot of players around him with big names or at least causing pundits to suggest that they will thrive in Vegas. Furthermore he is tied for the league lead over the last 2 post-season in WGs for RWs.
I must also confess though that your constant defense of and questioning me has me now possibly changing my mind more about Maatta; looking at the stats, he ranks 2nd in the league among D in +/- over the last 2 seasons and his +44 over that span is 4 times better than Letang’s +11. So, I am re-evaluating my opinion of Maatta. Maatta also is tied for the second best +/- in post season play of the last 2 years.
Domoulin also rates fairly well over that time frame as well.
I think both are still very inconsistent, but then again they are both very young and have had to endure near constant change with their pairings over these 2 years.
So I now must confess I understand JRs strategy, give his limitations due to NMCs. The Pens had no choice with Letang, they had to protect him, but over the past 2-season, regular and play-offs, Maatta and Domoulin have outplayed him from a +/-. I am now wondering, considering Letang’s damaged status, if the Pens at least considered asking him to waive his NMC to gamble that coming off of surgery teams Vegas would be shy of taking him, considering MAF also would be exposed? When healthy Letang’s P60 is still tied for the top 4 among D, but his +/- of +11 and coming off of neck surgery may be a turn off.
But then again, with MAF on that list and although there are some interesting names among Gs, MAF is clearly the cream of the unprotected crop, so none of these side discussions may have any importance.
Hey Phil,
Although it’s not a straight apples to apples comparison, I liken Bryan Rust to Max Talbot in terms of impact and versatility. Maybe even a notch above.
Rust was never projected to be anything more than a bottom-six energy guy, yet he’s developed into a decent scorer with an underrated touch. Clutch as all get-out, too.
You can’t deny he’s scored some big goals for us, especially come playoff time. In fact, they don’t get much bigger than the two he scored in Game 7 against Tampa Bay in 2016.
This postseason he had seven goals–one less than a couple of guys named Sid and Phil. Let that sink in for a moment.
Rust’s a bit of a rare bird in that you can slot him on any of your four lines and he’ll do a creditable job. Combine that with his speed, grit and energy–not to mention penchant for coming through when it matters–and you have a very effective player, especially for $665K/year.
He’s the kind of guy you win with.
Rick
Hi Rick,
The game not played on the ice…my favorite kind. I just read that teams are offering up first round draft picks to Vegas in order to protect their rosters.
Columbus was the first to do so and now others are as well. The New York Islanders have done the same. So right now Vegas will pick 6th, 15th and 24th from articles reported late yesterday.
The pundits are saying that more teams will opt to do the same instead of losing a quality player to Vegas. Incredible as it sounds but one talking head who is supposed to know says Vegas could end up with 5-6 first round picks.
Plus he added what Vegas is now doing, is trying to move up in the draft by making a deal with teams who may want a certain player for themselves.
Teams agree to trade that player and their higher draft pick for a 24 th pick. Example. The Flyers go to Vegas and say draft MAF and we will send you our second over all pick for MAF and your 24th pick.
Bad example I know, but that is what is going on.
So Vegas could end up with 2 or 3 top ten picks in the end.
Fun and games being played now.
Cheers
Sorry
Doing 2 things at once.
It should have said : ” Teams agree to trade their first round pick for the player they want and the Vegas 24th pick”.
Sorry for the screw up..
Hey Jim,
Thinking about your post. I do think it is a decent idea to try and trade for an extended protected list. I had even suggeted the Pens try and work a deal. However, at least in CBJs case, I do think they over-paid and may have harmed themselves in the long run.
The unknown can cause hysteria, but should have really ask themselves is a bottom 6 F or bottom 2 D man really worth giving up a first round pick, a prospect, and either Calvert or Karlsson.
If I was Vegas, I would very much look at deals like that and rake idiot GMs over the coals. However, I would also think that Vegas may be missing out in that department. I don’t think it would be very wise of them to put all their eggs in one basket. Snatching up first round picks is always a good idea, but I would spread those picks out over different years. From everything I have read about this years draft and its prospects, it really isn’t that strong of a draft, getting 5 – 6 picks in this draft may be a waste of trades particularly when some of these teams may find themselves bottoming themselves out soon and their picks would nsturally be higher anyway.
Hey all,
Now that I’ve had a chance to review all the teams’ Protection Lists, here are some other available players who caught my eye for one reason or another:
Anaheim—Josh Manson (d)
Arizona—Jamie McGinn (f), Radim Vrbata (f)
Buffalo—Matt Moulson (f)
Calgary—Deryk Engelland (d)
Columbus—Josh Anderson (f), Matt Calvert (f), Jack Johnson (d)
Edmonton—Benoit Pouliot (f)
Florida—Jaromir Jagr (f), Jussi Jokinen (f)
Los Angeles—Marian Gaborik (f), Jarome Iginla (f), Rob Scuderi (d)
Minnesota—Matt Dumba (d), Martin Hanzal (f), Marco Scandella (d)
New Jersey—Ben Lovejoy (d), Dalton Prout (d)
New York Rangers—Antti Raanta (g)
Philadelphia—Steve Mason (g)
San Jose—Paul Martin (d), Joe Thornton (f)
St. Louis—Robert Bortuzzo (d), David Perron (f)
Toronto—Brian Boyle (f), Eric Fehr (f), Roman Polak (d)
Vancouver—Ryan Miller (g)
Washington—Jay Beagle (f), Brooks Orpik (d), T.J. Oshie (f)
I was especially shocked to see Oshie on the list.
A little follow-up to my initial post below. “Hooks Orpik” over on PensBurgh wrote an excellent article explaining why he felt it was okay to leave Rust unprotected, based in part on points/60 minutes.
He makes a lot of good points.
Rick
Hey Rick,
There was an article stating that CBJ worked a deal where Vegas would only choose from Calvert, Karlsson, and Murray, for CBJs 1st round pick this year and a prospect, although I did see Murray on their protected list.
Am I the only one that can see 32 year old Stanley Cup winning Captain Eric Staal (28 goals – 37 assists – 65pts +17 last year) available and signed for $3.5 the next two years on the unprotected list?
It’s hard to see him past Dumba, but he is there.
Hey Phil,
There are several names out there that floored me, Staal certainly among the most prominent. T.J. Oshie, Josh Anderson (my much-coveted bruiser), Brock Nelson, Nate Schmidt, Marc Methot, James Neal … wow.
It’ll be real interesting to see who Vegas selects.
Rick
With the 20 mill we should be able to get Schultz and maybe Bonino and a raise for Brian.
As for UFA’s July 1st back-up goalie Neuvirth would be great for a season to back-up Murray. His numbers as a back-up are better, and I was thinking as a forward for protection and some size how about Ryan Reaves from St. Louis??
Hi P4E
I totally agree and if we makes some trades as well we can bolster the team even more. I really liked the comment that JR made last week about adding some real size and toughness to our team moving forward.
jim
Hi Rick
Because of the increased revenues from the exciting 2017 playoffs and also due to the large amount of 7 game series in every play off round, the Cap is going up to 75.1 to 75.5 million from 73.4 million this year. Also there is a slight increase in the CDN. Dollar from 3 months ago when the league last projected the Salary Cap for next year.
If indeed MAF is taken by Vegas we will have 20 to 21 million to restock our team.
Later tonight I will be at my computer to expand upon this.
Happy Father’s Day All.
Hey Guys and Gals,
From Cap Friendly at 8 pm et
Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist, Hagelin, Guentzel, Rust, Kuhnhackl, Wilson, Rowney, Letang, Maatta, Cole, Fleury, Murray, and Jarry are under contract for next season.That is 16 players. Projected Cap hit is $ 60.1 million for next year. Based upon a $ 75 million dollar Cap. That leaves $ 14.9 million to operate with plus what ever player that Vegas takes from us. If it is MAF, as all the media reports are saying it will be, then you can add his $ 5.75 million salary to the $ 14.9 million for a total of $ 20.65 million dollars in Cap space to resign or add up to 8 players to make the final 23 man roster.
Various other Media sources are reporting that 75 million is not the final cap number.Very close they said but could be a little higher. ( 100 to 500 k.)
$ 20.65 million to $ 21.15 million to resign or add up to 8 players.!!
First issue to address. Defense men.
We have 3 currently under contract.
Letang, Maatta and Cole. None of them address the NEED to become bigger and more physical as JR now states he now wants to do. So unless we trade some or all of them it is logical the size and toughness issues has to come from the 3 OTHER defense men we need to sign.
Justin Schultz. Priority one. Good news is he wants to only play in Pittsburgh media sources are saying. Problem is he is also small and does not address the physical presence we need on defense. But his other skills are to much to over look so we need to resign him. Between 5 and 6 million and between 5 to 7 year contract is what he wants and he will get on the open market. May I remind everyone for a six week period Justin was the TOP producing d man in the league, just before he got hurt the first time. He will cost us some dollars. ( Carl Hagelin has a 4 million dollar cap hit. You do not think Justin Schultz is worth a million or 2 more than Hagy.) So we sign Schultz $ 5.4 million a year for 6 years.( illustration purposes… easy math.) Cost us four Million of the $ 20.65. Only $ 16.65 million left !
Next is Brian Dumolion. He is big. 6’4″ 220 #. Still not real physical, but his big body and size allows him to handle some of the bigger guys in the league. He will not address the physical toughness we need on the back end, but he is better than almost any one we have except Cole. So we sign him. $ 2.8 million for 5 years !! ( illustration purposes , easy math again.)
That is a two million dollar annual raise. He will get that easily on the open market.
NOW WE HAVE $ 14.65 million left. 6 more players to go. 1 more BIG d man needed to accomplish JR’s wishes. This will not be cheap. Shultz and Dumolion are my 3 and 4 d man combo. Letang needs a big, fast , talented physical d man to play with.If we can not draft one, meaning getting a top 5 draft pick, we have to trade for one or thru free agency.
It will cost $ 5 million a year very easily.
Now we are down to $ 9.65 million cap space left.
I am not satisfied with just one new big d man on the team.We need two.
On my team we need to make a big trade on defense. Cole or Maatta needs to be upgraded. Olli is the logical choice to be traded based on past performance. I love his 5 years , $ 4.1 million dollar cap hit.
I would package him,Daley while we still have his rights and Pouliot up and make a trade to get that final physical d man we need to help defend our star players.
My proposed D corps
New Big D man Letang
Dumolion Schultz
Cole New big D man
Now we have $ 9.65 million left to spend to address the issues at forward.
Fun to be an armchair GM…I did all the forwards but erased them for it was to much to digest and comment on.
What is your team look like Guys?
Hey Jim,
I am not all that sure if JR is truly commited to getting bigger D men and not posturing to make a point to the league on how bad the officiating is with their laissez faire attitude toward dangerous play. Again that is why if I were Anaheim I would be sueing Tyson B, the officials who worked the game that Despres suffered his career ending concussion, and the league itself and would be setting the punitive price of the lawsuit at the remainder of Despres contract and all lost revenues that could result from not making the Stanley Cup Finals for a the number of the years of Despres contract, The league and its refs have to grow up. We shouldn’t still be talking about this problem after all the years since it was highlighted by Lindros’ injuries. This has gone beyond a caricaturization and a farce.
Even though we still have the rights to Daley, I don’t think we will have any takers since he is UFA and Pouliot’s stock is non-existent. We may not even get a bag of pucks from anyone except Shero.
However, to answer your question, if I have my pick in a perfect world, I sign Girardi on the cheap since he doesn’t need the money for the next couple of years with his bought out contract. I talk him into making history in a 3-peat and I use him and Cole late in close games as defensive insurance for the win; so my three R D are Schultz, Letang, and Girardi. (I really am not sure about how effective Letang will be after neck surgery so I am not counting on him to be a top pairing). I then flip D with Colorado to get my physical presence on the blue line. I get the rights to Zadorov (he is RFA) I deal either Maatta or Domoulin. I would prefere to deal Maatta, maybe not from a talent perspective he and Domoulin are pretty even, but from a salary dumping perspective, I don’t think he is currently worth $4 mil a year. Maybe there is something to what Phil said, I did see some evidence to suggest that some of his Maatta’s playoff issues were related to his pairing, but I don’t see him as good as others see hm. If he was signed in the $3 mil range I may feel different. I think he was too young and unproven to give $4mil. Then in the draft I take one of the big D, Foote or Hague, I am still thinking Hague based on what I have read of the D, but I understand that what I have read is only the opinions of the writers of the articles and I may disagree once I see him. I also resign Ruhwedel and Gaunce mainly for WBS and maybe some spot duty in Pgh.
Upfront, I would still try and have a three headed monster. I give Sprong every opportunity to take the RW spot on Crosby’s line. However, give me a minute to look at my forwards to see what I want to do there. I am still thinking. I haven’t decided on how I handle Hagelin or Bonino in particular. I am leaning toward a serious try at resigning Bonino but losing Hagelin. I still would love to trade up in the draft if possible.
Hey Jim,
Defense is a tough call for the Penguins. I like a lot of what you are saying with values. I also like your idea of longer term contracts to lower the amount. The Penguins will have money available to sign a bunch of these guys. Before I lay out my amounts I want to say that the Penguins defense is way better and way more physical than anyone is giving them credit for.
It was around the 10 minute mark of the 2nd period of Game 4 against Nashville when I saw Malkin racing Subban to a puck that was on the boards. Subban had the race easily won but chickened out at the last second afraid to get hit. Malkin grabbed the puck the Penguins almost scored. I was thinking “wow”, a guy who is paid $9 million a year to play defense just wussed out and I’ve seen Dumoulin take that hit numerous times so far in the playoffs to make the play.
The Penguins defense play way more physical, but in a different way. They take the hits to make the plays.
Dumoulin is the most important to me for the Penguins to sign. The Dumoulin/Hainsey combo became Sullivan’s go to pair in the finals against Nashville and they rose to the occasion. I Think Dumo fetches five years at $3.5 to $4 mil a year, very similar to Maatta’s contract. I would be very surprised/happy if he signs for less.
Shultz got injured taking a hit to make a play. He is solid and I actually think he is better at the PP point than Letang ever was. He throws great passes that the Pens snipers can one time into the net. That is something Letang never got the hang of. I would sign him to $5 mil for four years.
That would give the Penguins a very solid top four defenseman signed for four years.
Hainsey I offer $2 mil two year contract and like Jim said, try to extend Cole’s contract same amount for maybe 3-4 more years.
From there, I’m not opposed to making trades on defense. Letang to me is a conundrum. I have never thought he was that great, but then Sullivan used him in a completely different way than the other coaches and I saw value. At the same time, the Pens just won the Cup without him and his value could bring in a skilled bigger guy. Conundrum.
Daley is going to get way more on the open market than the Penguins should ever pay him. He was in no way included in my statement about Penguins physical defenders taking a hit to make a play. I saw a guy in a contract year play selfishly trying to force the offense for a big play while hanging his defensive partner out to dry. The offense never materialized either.
I truly believe that one of the Penguins biggest team problems after their cup runs of the ’90’s was the went too big on defense and the guys all stopped playing solid defense and went more for flashy big hits.
Keep the solid defense, try find one big skilled big guy. Shattenkirk is a good possibility, he looked good to me but was bogged down by Orpik being out of position while trying to make the big hit I spoke of above.
Hey Phil,
Great observations and thoughts regarding our ‘d.’
Rick
Hey Jim, Phil,
After looking a little deeper at Maatta and Domoulin, thanks to Phil’s prodding, I am in the process of revamping my ideas about the Pens D going forward.
Phil, I agree with you about what you say about Letang. I have felt very similar, (my brother is very opinionated on him to the negative). I wouldn’t object to investigating ways of getting out from under his $7mil, but I don’t see it happening, at least not until maybe the trade deadline. I am not sure anyone will want to trade until they see how well he is able to play after neck surgery and how well he responds to getting hit (does he miss a lot of games?).
I also agree with what you say about Shattenkirk, he still could be a good fit on this club, but the Pens would have to clear either Schultz or Letang to afford Shattenkirk. Combining that with what I said above about Letang, I don’t think they could clear Letang, so that leaves Schultz.
As Robert Plant says in the live version of Stairway to Heaven, “I have some good news now”, the Salary Cap actually is going up to $75 mil!
I think that means the Pens should have around $20mil if Vegas take Fleury. Roughly $14mil if they take Rust.
Hey Rick,
I agree with you in that JR must feel sure Vegas will take Fleury.
So here is the question to you and anyone else who wants to play, what is your projected players selected? It may be too complicated to worry about salaries, since we really aren’t Vegas. Just make it your wish list if you were Vegas.
Hey all,
A quick thought. Those who wanted Rutherford to trade Fleury in order to reap a return may yet get their wish.
In reviewing some of the goaltenders available, it isn’t an absolute lock that the Golden Knights will take Fleury.
Lord, how I hate exposing Bryan Rust. If I were Vegas GM George McPhee, he’d be exactly the type of player I’m looking for. Maybe not a potential star, but a really clutch, solid gamer who gives you everything he’s got night-in and night-out. Inexpensive, too.
I almost wish the Pens had exposed Maatta instead (sorry Phil) until I’m reminded of how thin we are on ‘d’ and how comparatively deep we are on the wing.
I may have even dangled Hornqvist ahead of Rust.
Oh well, no use in crying over it. No matter how you slice it, we’re going to lose a good hockey player.
Rick