Oh No…Not Another Penguin Trade Idea

There is one thing that I am pretty sure all Penguin Poop readers will agree on — and that is that I am full of it:
Full of unsolicited advice and opinions, that is.

But, then again, it seems as if every website (well maybe not every website, but a lot of them) is exercising their right to help GM Jim Rutherford understand what the Pittsburgh Penguins have to do and letting us readers share in their opinions. For me, one of the ones I find most objectionable is the idea of packaging Jack Johnson to Matt Murray in a trade with the express purpose of ridding our Penguins of a bad contract.

What!? Are you serious?

First of all, let’s face it, Johnson’s contract is not the worst on the team, that dubious distinction belongs to newly acquired Defenseman Mike Matheson. Even though the contract we traded away to get Matheson was bad, the one Rutherford got back was worse.

Second, even though Murray has struggled the last couple of regular seasons, dropping his stock a little, and now Rutherford is basically telegraphing his desire to trade Murray, the rest of the world are not like the Murray haters in Pittsburgh. There is interest in Murray. Darren Dreger recently said on TSN

“…there is interest and has been interest in Matt Murray, but obviously the asking price hasn’t been met. It doesn’t sound like Jim Rutherford and the Pittsburgh Penguins are asking for an exorbitant return here,” Dreger said. “He is on the cusp of becoming a restricted free agent. It’s no secret the Penguins have cap issues, but there’s a rumor, perhaps created by interested general managers that Jim Rutherford and the Penguins aren’t going to be able to afford to qualify Murray, that they would just walk away and he would become an unrestricted free agent.
The Penguins WILL qualify Matt Murray. They’ll take their chances, they’ll make it work after that.
You look at this guy. He’s 26-years-old. (Two) Stanley Cups. Highly, highly motivated for a change of scenery. I think there’s going to be a team that steps up between now and next Friday, and they’re going to get a goaltender with a real, solid winning history.”

(Talking with many people here in Pittsburgh, the strategy Dreger mentions about interested GMs trying to con JR is working on the fan base.)

Therefore, there is an opportunity here to really make a difference with this team. There is no need to throw Murray away just to dump Johnson’s contract.

What, pray tell, am I suggesting then, if not a Murray – Johnson package?

Trade Murray and Kris Letang to the Ottawa Senators for a 1st and a 2nd round draft pick in this year’s draft and acquire Nikita Zaitsev in the deal.

Woah, woah, hold your horses, slow down, don’t lose your religion.

There are not even rumors to this effect, substantive or otherwise; there is only idle musing. This is only yours truly exploring ways this team can not only get back to the playoffs but also set up for the post Crosby-Malkin window.

Think about it.

Letang may have sentimental value but he is expendable. The last Penguins Stanley Cup was won with him on Injured Reserve (IR) down the stretch run and the playoffs, 4 years ago. If the team could win the Cup without the younger version of Letang, then the 4-year older version of Letang is even less necessary.

John Marino has already not only shown offensive upside, but he is already more defensively responsible than Letang.

Letang costs $7.25 million for two more seasons, this year and next. However, Marino has only one more year left on his contract and the team will need to re-sign him. Next season may be too late to trade Letang and the team may then not be able to re-sign Marino.

If you really are buying into the Matheson trade, then he can not only add the puck moving/mobility skills Letang brought but by all accounts he shoots better; he has a real NHL level shot that he is not afraid to use.

So why would Ottawa give up a 1st and 2nd round pick in this year’s draft?

To start with, they have an abundance of both picks. They have three 1st round picks (their own, San Jose Shark’s and the New York Islanders’). They also have four 2nd round picks (their own, the Columbus Blue Jackets‘, Dallas Stars‘, and the New York Islander’s). What Ottawa does not have is a starting Goalie (Murray) or a marquee player to draw in fans (Letang).

Yes, the team may have to learn to be salesmen and put some lipstick, rouge, and eyeliner on Letang and Murray to sell the idea but it shouldn’t be all that hard if Rutherford has any business savvy at all.

Letang still is a huge offensive force (albeit for both teams on the ice but don’t talk about that during negotiations). His offensive skill has earned him several trips to the NHL All Star game, including last season. He averaged 0.57 Goals per 60 minutes (G/60) was good enough to tie him for 7 in the league last season among D that played more than 300 minutes. He scored 1.71 G/60 on the Powerplay (PP); still a topflight number to run a PP – 8th in the league among Defensemen playing 100 or minutes on the PP.

Pairing Letang with Ottawa’s stud Left-Handed Defenseman (LHD), Thomas Chabot could really be offensively electric for Ottawa fans.

Then — show clips of the multitude of fans wearing Letang jerseys at games with stats of the number of Letang jerseys sold. For a team hurting to generate gate-receipts and maybe merchandising, this kind of revenue and media-positive images are far more persuasive than on ice stats.

Perhaps, most importantly, unlike the Penguins buying Matheson for 6 years, Ottawa will only be buying Letang for 2 years and then they can move on if they can find younger, cheaper players, but for now, Letang will help them stay at the Cap floor.

As for Murray, he is only 26 and the reason for his poor play may really be a combination of bad Goalie coaching and lack of fan support. The kid won 2 Cups as a rookie. I repeat: 2 Cups as a rookie. He started last season out really good, but even when he was playing well the Murray haters were out in force. Therefore, there is strong reason for hope of a return to form with a change of scenery.

So how will the draft picks help this year?

Two of Ottawa’s three 1st round picks are top 5. Do your level best to get the 5th pick and grab Anton Lundell. He can be the 3rd line Center the team needs now. I have touted his skills before in previous articles, so I won’t talk about them again, but he should be able to be eased into the league as a 3rd line center, learning his craft behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, rising up through to eventually be a number 1. With Crosby and Malkin ahead of him, he will get the Jordan Staal effect of not getting the top defensive attention.

Now the Future

After grabbing Lundell in the first round, grab Joel Blomqvist, by all accounts, the second-best Goalie in the draft. Once Murray is gone, Tristan Jarry will have absolutely no NHL quality Goalies behind him. Casey DeSmith struggled most of the season last year in the AHL and neither Emil Larmi nor Alex D’Orio could rise above the ECHL last season. The pipeline is absolutely dry. Goalies are hard to gauge, so Blomqvist may not pan out at all, but the team had better start trying to find a real Goalie now.

Zaitsev can fill the veteran RHD role left by Letang’s exit and the team will almost $3 million in the exchange.

Reality Check

I know, I know, there are several hurdles that need to be passed to pull off this trade even if you like the idea.

– Ottawa needs to be on Letang’s 18 team trade list.
– Pittsburgh cannot be on Zaitsev’s no trade list (if we ask for Zaitsev – but we may need to take on his salary to balance out the money end of the trade).
– Rutherford needs to be able to sell the idea to Ottawa.

So my idea may never be able to be sold to Letang or Ottawa but logic would indicate that it should at least be tried.