Penguins: To Market, To Market….. (Part I)

Now with the NHL Entry Draft in the rear-view mirror and the Penguins having done little to nothing yet to improve the team for the upcoming season (or perhaps anytime in the near future for that matter), we Penguin’ fans now must look to the open market to pin our hopes for an improved Penguins’ team.

It is not that the team needs a major overhaul, they aren’t the Buffalo Sabres (sorry, Sabre fans but you did finish at the bottom last season) but since the Penguins didn’t win the Stanley Cup, they need some adjustments.

Unfortunately, before the Penguins try to add any pieces to their puzzle, they need to free up Cap space. Now everyone has an opinion and you know what they say about opinions. So, without further ado, here are mine.

I came across an article on the NHL website saying that the Edmonton Oilers were in the market for a Quarterback (QB) for their Power Play (PP). Hmm… It seems to me to be the perfect marriage here. Kris Letang is still one of the better PP QBs in the league. Looking at his numbers from last season, even though he was a train wreck defensively, he actually was slightly more efficient on the PP than Justin Schultz (10.9 team goals for per 60 minutes ice time GF/60 compared to 8.8 GF/60) In fact, Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman was even lower than Schultz on the PP (8.2 GF/60). This could be the perfect time to off load his $7+ million salary. Some planets would definitely need to align. First of which would be the Penguins’ Organization willingness to acknowledge the obvious, Letang really isn’t the teams number 1 Defenseman anymore. Second, Edmonton would have to not be 1 of the 8 teams on Letang’s no trade list. Then and only then could Jim Rutherford try to work a little magic.

Personally, if the Penguins would look into this idea, I would rather the team try and get a draft pick as the central part of the deal and then take whatever else they had to take to get the deal done. However, although a draft pick would be my opening asking price, I would be willing to deal down to off load that contract. In the Howard Baldwin era, paying Letang to be a second pairing could happen, but in modern, Cap era hockey, it is tantamount to suicide.

I have already mentioned some ideas that now drop to plan B to get this accomplished (removing Letang’s contract from the Cap) so I won’t go over them again. I will just say that if Edmonton is serious about a PP QB, they may not get a better deal. Letang was good enough to get to the All Star game on his PP talent. It could be a Win-Win-Win (Pittsburgh-Edmonton-Letang). A change of scenery could be a huge bounce to his career.

Another player that keeps coming up is Jeff Skinner and although I wouldn’t mind seeing the Penguins get Skinner, given the choice, I would really rather have Justin Faulk. The only Penguins’ Defenseman that really has anything resembling a heavy shot from the point is Jamie Oleksiak. Opposing forward can and do drop down low to support their Defensemen and Center, knowing that the Penguins’ point men really aren’t all that much of a concern. They either take to long to shoot and/or don’t have that hard of a shot. Opponents can wait that extra second before getting out in front of the shot, if at all.

Furthermore, I have read another article suggesting that Montreal is seriously interested in Derick Brassard. If that is true, then I go out and try to make that happen. I do think that Brassard could prove to be a much better Center for the Penguins than he showed last year in the playoffs but if I can deal him to Montreal for Max Pacioretty (which is the name of a player that Montreal may be willing to deal), I would do my best to make that happen. With both Pacioretty and Brassard entering contract years it becomes a gamble for both teams but one that would give the team their top 6 Left Wing (LW) to compliment Geuntzel, with minimal effect on the long term health of the team. And if Montreal is that serious about Brassard, it would seem to be another Win-Win. This potential trade may be the best way to salvage something from the Cole – Reaves – Gustavsson – First Round Pick fiasco.

Like the above deal for Letang that I suggest, I would try and go straight up on that deal but would negotiate down, I would possibly try and add Conor Sheary into that deal to off load his salary or even Carl Hagelin. (Hagelin would be a last ditch offer, he still has value for the team)

If after working the above 2 trades I still had Conor Sheary on my roster, I would talk to New Jersey. They traded for Michael Grabner at the trade deadline, but he was a rent-a-player. Hopefully they may still think they need a speedy player. If New Jersey still wants a speedy winger, I would try and deal Sheary to the Devils for the rights to Vojtech Mozik.

From what I am reading the Devils still have NHL rights to Mozik. He appears to be similar to a right handed Andrey Pedan. He is making about $600,000 in US dollars to play in the KHL. Even if the Penguins can’t lure him to the NHL, they would be out from under another $3 million.

I have also read in places that some Media sources suggest Hagelin as a possible candidate for contract dumping and I would include him any of the above deals but if I considered trading Hagelin, I definitely would go after Grabner but I will go into that in later installments.

If I could make those 3 deals I would dump over $13 million in Cap space ($17+ million if Hagelin is included) while taking on $4.5 million for Pacioretty and then whatever other incidentals I had to take on to make the deals. My biggest concern would be length of contract for any other players in the above deals. (1 year contracts).

More importantly, losing Letang, Sheary, Brassard, and/or Hagelin would not hurt the team much if at all, and freed up Cap space could only help the team.

I haven’t mentioned Matt Hunwick. Yes, I still would try and deal him, but I can’t think of a way out from under this contract yet. But, if it were up to me (and it isn’t) I would get out from under this contract too.

(Next up, after trying to free up Cap space, what would I do with that space?)

Go Pens!