First of all, I want to apologize for the title of this article and my opting to delve deep into my lexicon for that arcane word “surfeit”. Among my many quirks is a predilection for old time TV and there was an old BBC TV series called the Avengers that used that sesquipedalian word, “A Surfeit of H2O”. I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up, if that is what you were about to do, surfeit simply means an excess of; in this case an excess of Goalies.
Thinking back to the 2016 NHL draft, our Pittsburgh Penguins drafted a highly touted Swedish Goalie Filip Gustavsson. At that time, the Black and Gold still boasted Marc-Andre Feury and Matt Murray on the big club. In Wilkes Barre – Scranton (WBS) Tristan Jarry honed his trade. Casey DeSmith was Jarry’s partner in crime on the Penguins affiliate, but was only signed to an AHL contract.
Roughly a year later (June 21, 2017), GM Jim Rutherford paid the Vegas Golden Knights a draft pick to take Fleury in the Expansion draft rather than risk losing luminaries like Connor Sheary, Scott Wilson, or Tom Kuhnhackl.
Only 8 months later (February 23, 2018), Rutherford traded Gustavsson to the Ottawa Senators in what some consider one of the worst trades the team has made in recent years. Now the team was reduced to only Murray, Jarry, and DeSmith.
Over this past off season, Rutherford started to try and restock a severely depleted cupboard. He signed Finnish prospect standout Emil Larmi (June 2, 2019). Larmi is possessed of top athleticism and quickness. He posted good numbers for 3 seasons for HPK of the Finnish league Liiga. Last season he finished with a Goals Against Average (GAA) of
1.94 in the regular season and 1.72 in the playoffs with Save Percentages (Sv%) of 0.909 and 0.932 over that time, respectively.
As this regular season approached the major discussion around the Penguins’ Goaltending situation center on whether or not the team should trade Jarry or DeSmith to get in under the Cap, since Murray, Jarry, and DeSmith all had to clear waivers to be sent down to WBS. The Rationale that the team trade either Jarry or DeSmith was that it would be better to trade one of them rather than lose one of them without compensation to the waiver wire. Rutherford gambled and was able to sneak DeSmith through waivers.
Most recently I have been thinking about the next looming Expansion Draft. Part of the problem with the last Expansion Draft that cost the team Fleury (and stupidly a draft pick) was that each team was required to make at least one Goalie with some professional experience available to the draft. Now that Rutherford has gotten away with sending DeSmith down to WBS, I would think that it is best not to tinker with the position. That is to say, it may be best not to add a Goalie, as a sweetener to any trade, to entice teams to take a bad contract.
With Jarry and DeSmith both available to leave exposed, the Penguins would still have at least have 1 quality back-up.
It may also be best not to bring up DeSmith and then have to risk putting him on waivers to send back down unless it becomes extremely critical. Unless Murray or Jarry incur a long term injury, it may be best to call Larmi (he is waivers exempt) up to serve as the emergency, 1 or 2 game, back-up rather than ending up next season with only 1 experienced NHL goalie in the organization.
June 21, 2017 and the headiness of thinking we had more than enough goalies wasn’t that long ago. I miss those days.
Hi TOR!
This going to be a little puck pourri today!
Sam Poulin, the Pens’ 2019 first-round draft pick, is on fire!! This weekend, against the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL, Sam scored 2 goals, got 6 assists for 8 points. This is the first time in 10 years that such a thing happened. Sam really wants to make the Pens’ team next year. When I saw him play two weeks ago, he was flying out there! Very dedicated and intelligent young man!
Well, Flower got a shootout against the Pens. I must confess, TOR, that I really miss Flower. No offense for Murray, but I feel that the type of goalie the Pens need right now is someone like Flower: play big, very athletic and make efficient use of poke check. I think that Flower feels rejuvenated since he has been playing in Vegas.
Any latest injury report for Rust and Malkin?
Hey Jorenz,
Imagine both Poulin and Legare living up to their potantial next season; 2 young natural NHL calibre Wings.
I did see that Rust and Bjugstad skated with the team in non-contact jerseys yesterday. I would think that means they are getting close. The blurb I read said Rust was stickhandling without any apparent difficulty.
The same article stated that Malkin and Galchenyuk skated hard but by themselves. On the good side, it said that the pair skated until they were chased off by the Zamboni.
MAF certainly played out of his mind Saturday. He singlehandedly beat his former teammates. If the Penguins have to lose, I don’t mind losing to him. After a performance like that, believe me, I understand your sentiments.
However, considering his salary, $7 mil, almost 2 x Murray’s salary and Cap Hit, I am not sure the team could be competeting right now with hm. But then again, now that I am thinking about it, if they still had him, it would have forced the team to ssome dead wood veterans for younger players – which they need to do.
Also, for his sake, I am glad MAF is on a team that doesn’t consider defense a Naughty Word!
BTW Jorenz,
Time to play Arm-Chair GM – What do you do when Rust and Bjugstad come back?
Who do you send down? or who do you trade?
It may be getting close to the time for JR to pay the check. The time he bought with IR moves et al looks like it is running out.
Hi TOR!
Oh, man, the $1,000,000 question!!
If I were an Arm-Chair GM, I would keep Marino, Lafferty and Adam Johnson. I would send down Blandisi and Aston-Reese. ZAR hasn’t been able so far to establish himself as an NHLer. He has to clear waivers though. But Lafferty, Marino and Adam Johnson are waivers exempt. So from a financial standpoint, it would be easier to send them down.
As an Arm-Chair GM, I would try to trade Jack Johnson, Riikola (the Montreal Canadiens are apparently interested, they need a left defenseman) and Ruhwedel. Rudy needs a change of scenery. He’ll turn 30 next year and he deserves to play as a 6D elsewhere.
Bjugstad’s contract is an issue. He hasn’t shown so far that he is worth $4,100,000. I would try to move him. Simon and Blueger are movable too. I would also keep an eye on Hornqvist, McCann and Kahun. Lots of the players mentioned are RFA next year.
As for goalies, DeSmith is the oldest of the three. Jarry and Murray are both RFA eligible for arbitration. We must have a pretty good return if Murray is traded. But I guess Jarry will be the one traded, since he is earning $675,000.
Well, I wouldn’t want to be GMJR!! It is going to be very difficult for him because of some really bad contracts.
That was my 2 cents!!
Hey Jorenz,
Simon is bombing on Crosby’s wing. I keep hearing that Crosby likes him, but, particularly after Simon missed 2 open shots in that Jets game, I have noticed Crosby opting to pass to someone else even when Simon is open. I would have already bumped him off the top line, especially when I wanted to prevent a shutout. When the forwads start coming back I would definitely pull the trigger.
Things change but this is what I am thinking right now.
Line 1: Guentzel – Crosby – McCann (he s starting to skate hard again)
Line 2: Galchenyuk – Malkin – Tanev (Like what they were doing earlier, like to see if they can get back to it)
Line 3: Johnson – Lafferty – Hornqvist
Line 4: Kahun – Blueger – Rust
I have nothing against Bjugstad but I would start looking to trade him – mainly because of money. If it was just a question of player I would keep him and ZAR as my reserves and waive Simon for reassignment. I am willing to bet Simon could pass thru waivers easier than DeSmith. Even with all the TOI he has had with Crosby his Pnts/60 is only 15th on the club.
JR missed his best opportunity to get value for him. There may have been someone who would have bit on him after the IIHF Tournament beating up France, Italy, and Great Britain.
For D assuming we get Dumo healthy
1st D: Dumoulin – Letang (Still don’t like his Defensive skills or absolute lack of them but with Schultz poised to go UFA and Addison rather disappointing so far, it looks like at the moment there is no better option)
2nd D: Pettersson – Schultz
3rd D: Riikola – Gudbranson/Marino
With all due respect to Mike, J Johnson would be odd man out here for me. I am not sure what is going on behind the scenes, but I would rather JR be working on luring Pedan back across the pond. His 2 yr contract will be up before the NHL playoffs and I haven’t seen if he was offered and/or accepted an extension from his KHL team. He has 8 Pnts in 14 GP right now, 25 Hits, 12 Blks, 16 PIM and is a +8.
In Goal, I keep status quo as I wrote above, using Larmi as my emergency until playoffs, then bring DeSmith back up as needed.
I don’t really want to get ahead of myself in planning for next season. The team can’t keep Jarry in a backup role next year, so depending on $$$$, trading the rights to one of the 2 RFA goalies could ensure some draft picks if Jarry keeps playing well.
Again, don’t want to think too far ahead but Poulin and Legare could seriousy challenge for roster spots next season making other players expendable.
Hi TOR,
All of your arguments made sense. For Poulin and Legare, my only concern is how HCMS will use them. Will those two be a perfect match with Sully? That remains to be seen.
To lure Nick Pedan is not a bad idea. He has good hockey skills and won’t cost an arm and a leg.
Hey Jorenz,
Honestly, I have a hard time thinking they will mesh with HCMS, especially Poulin. Whether it is subconscious or not, Sully has a bias against big, physical players, even when they are skilled.
Poulin isn’t really all that big at 6′-1″, for most people, but he is already bigger than Sully likes.
tOR,
It’s a real interesting year for goalies and the Pens. I haven’t heard any talk about an extension for Murray. Have you?
My guess is that if Jarry shows remarkable improvement and Murray stays the same it will come down to how much Murray wants. If Murray is looking for over $5 a year they will show him the door or trade his RFA rights for a draft pick or something.
If Jarry craps the bed then Murray is more valuable and could get more. I really don’t think that Murray has put up big time goalie numbers to deserve more than $5. On top of that he is very injury prone. As I said, it will be very interesting to watch.
Hey Phil,
I haven’t heard anything about a Murray extension yet, but listening to the Mears and Errey, I would have to say that you may be fairly close to the truth with the teams thinking.
Watching the game I found their attitude odd but I hadn’t thought it through. Now after reading your comment, you have me thinking.
In years past, the pens anouncers used language that put Murray in a good light; accidental saves were always describe as Murray playing great. Weak goals were often blamed on someone else.
Last night, late in a game, the replay clearly shows an increadible skate blade save. Murray’s momentum was carrying him to his right but he split his legs out and back to his left to push a possible tying goal off the net into the post. Even in real time I could see that Murray had made the save, but Mears & crew didn’t. it wasn’t until the 4th or 5th replay that they aknowledge Murray had made the save. They tried explaining it as a missed shot or deflction.
I probably still would have elided over that play had Mears et al kept saying things like Murray was playing adequate.
I know you have never been a Murray fan but an MAF. On the other hand I have been a fan of both. I found the disrespet paid toward MAF when Rutherford stupidly paid Vegas to take Fleury extremely problematic. I find Mears et al just as problematic.
If Jarry can play and his price to play puts the team in a better position then of course I would hope the team opts for the better choice. However, in a strange twist of fate, not only is there going to be an expansion draft but both Murray and Jarry are going RFA this summer.
One, the Other, or both may price themselves above their true value. This coming summer will be interesting. But the ridiculousness of Mears and Errey suggesting that Murray is simply adequate makes me wonder if the team is already thinking dump Murray and keep Jarry.
Hey tOR,
That skate save was a great save. He only had a split second to react.
I think the announcers are victims of the tiny tv’s they watch the replays on. Mears raved on and on about a great save sequence Murray had when the first shot rang off the post, the second was a huge miss of a wide open net that was shot right into Murrays pad, then Murray made a good shoulder save.
I do believe the announcers won’t talk about great plays of players they don’t personally like. They may even know better than to talk up players as much during contract years or that are in tough contract negotiations as they are hired by the Penguins. I don’t have a big problem with that.
I would have to believe that Murray and Rutherford are so far apart on numbers that there hasn’t even been talk of them talking. Jarry may be looking for a change of scenery to somewhere where he will get a chance, or Rutherford won’t talk to him until Murray is done.
Your idea of leaving Desmith down until next year is the way to go. He probably wouldn’t get taken anyway with the amount of quality players the Pens will have available for the draft, but if Murray wants too much Jarry and Desmith will have to handle goalie duties next year.
Phil,
Although, in the back of my head I keep the draft in mind, but I haven’t really done my arm chair GMing yet, outside of the goaltending situation.
My first thought is that Rust will be left unprotected if he isn’t traded. So, I would suspect, unless Jarry has a big season Rust may be the top of the list for Seattle. JR seems to have soured on Rust.
I do understand the benefit of team announcers not talkin up players in contract negotiations. I would simply think saying nothing about that player would be better than down playing them with “adequate” comments. I did hear one of them, don’t remember which one, talk about Murray’s saves on Seguin but more often than not I heard them use language to the affect that Murray was just good enough to get the win – not like in the past.