In a move designed to help extricate the Penguins from salary-cap hell, general manager Jim Rutherford traded forward Nick Bjugstad to Minnesota yesterday for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2021 Entry Draft. As part of the deal, the Pens agreed to retain half of Bjugstad’s $4.1 salary during the coming season.
Once upon a time a 24-goal man with Florida, the Minneapolis native initially showed well with the Pens. In 32 games down the 2018-19 stretch run, the hulking 6’6” forward tallied nine goals and 14 points…roughly a 23-goal pace over a full season. He also used his frame to full advantage, dishing out 89 hits.
While there was some question as to where he belonged…center or wing…he did a decent enough job. He was particularly effective centering for Dominik Simon and Patric Hornqvist, a trio that drove possession.
Unfortunately, this past season Bjugstad morphed into a latter day version of brittle former first-round pick Beau Bennett. He played in 10 games before undergoing surgery to repair a hernia. After sitting out 48 games to recuperate, he returned to the lineup for three games, only to succumb to a neck injury.
To say it was a lost season for the blonde-haired forward was akin to calling Attila the Hun a nasty guy.
Thanks to the $2.05 million in savings, the Pens now have roughly $8.9 million left to sign RFAs Tristan Jarry, Jared McCann, Sam Lafferty and…much to my consternation…Simon. (Yes, it appears the team wants him back.) Maybe Anthony Angello, too, although that’s murky.
Say, Jarry comes in at $3 mil, McCann $2 mil and Angello, Lafferty and Simon somewhere in the $800,000 range. That chews up about $7.4 million.
Barring a high-profile move involving, say, Hornqvist or Kris Letang…perhaps even Evgeni Malkin? You’re looking at chump change to throw at a needed right-side defenseman while keeping a little in reserve for a rainy day. And that’s if the team spends up to the cap limit.
The fact that Simon and Zach Aston-Reese will start the upcoming season on IR will provide a little wiggle room. But not for long.
First-Round Pick for Murray?
Rutherford is said to be asking for a first-round pick in exchange for RFA netminder Matt Murray, a price that has already scared off one potential suitor (Edmonton).
Is it just me, or does that seem a bit steep? Yes, Murray’s won two Cups and dazzled early in his career. Since then? He’s been ordinary at best.
How ordinary you ask?
Over the past three seasons, he’s posted a bloated 2.82 goals against average and a pedestrian .909 save percentage. And that includes a hot second half in 2018-19 when his save percentage soared to .930.
About the only thing consistent about Murray has been his inconsistency, along with a penchant for giving up back-breaking goals.
But, hey, if JR can wrangle a first-round pick from someone, more power to him. Let’s just hope he’s not pricing himself out of a soon-to-be crowded goalie market.
Baby Pens Staff in Place
The Penguins announced that assistant general manager Jason Karmanos will assume the GM duties for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Karmanos, 46, also oversees the Pens’ scouting and player development staff.
J.D. Forrest, who coached the Baby Pens’ defensemen and penalty kill the past four seasons, will take over behind the bench. Forest, 39, has previous head coaching experience, albeit in Austria with the Red Bull Salzburg farm club.
Hey Rick,
Do you really think the Bjugstad trade was an attempt to get room under the Cap? or was it a salary dump?
Why do I ask? A buyout of Bjugstad’s contract would have opened up $1.75 million more Cap space than retaining half Bjugstad’s salary. Where JR saves money is in actual cash paid out, The Pens save about $600k in real dollars.
So, now the Penguins have $9 million less $4,000 in Cap space, but they only have 10 Forwards and 1 Goalie under contract for next season. They can save another $853,333 sending Maniscalco down to WBS (Capfriendly is currently listing him as on the Big League roster.
So reality is the team has about $10 million in Cap space under the League rules but let’s remember that unless the owners change their minds they are only going to let JR spend in the mid $70 million (apparently most league execs are banking on Mario and Buerkle holding that line – unlike what some Pens fans are hoping for.
However, from what everything I have read, unless McCann and Jarry avoid arbitration, your estimates of $5 million are about $2 million shy of what these two RFAs will be awarded. So we are looking more like having about $2 million to sign another forward and up to 2 reserves. Angello and Lafferty are still waivers exempt but Simon is not.
Complicating matters more is the fact that most teams want to shed salary just like the Pens so any Murray trade will require the Pens to take on salary in return.
Example – Colorado, from what I understand wants to send Grubhauer back in return. Grubhauer is $3,333,333
Furthermore, I still say trading Murray at this point is acknowledging the window is closed. DeSmith had a horrible AHL season last year, he can only be the back up on a rebuilding team not a contender and Murray is better than Grubhauer or pretty much anything the team could sign to replace him.
There still a lot of time left before the season starts, but as Hooks Orpik mused the other day, the Bjugstad trade smells more like a return to the early 2000s rather than an attempt to get maneuver room.
I still don’t discount completely a Letang trade or a Hornqvist trade. However, more than likely I think we will see a McCann trade. He plays better on the Wing. He was pretty much a zero as a third line Center last season and with the Kapanen trade Kapanen may be a $3.2 million Cap hit but his contract was front loaded so his real money cost is only $2.86 million, so he may cost less than McCann.
Personally I would rather dish Zucker than McCann and save the difference between Zucker’s $5.5 million and what ever McCann signs for. Zucker never seemed to click with Crosby or Malkin last year and the team didn’t look like it could win with him, He himself didn’t look all that bad but the team didn’t look good after the trade. And I wouldn’t want 2 player making over $5 million on my 3rd line and Zucker only has a modified NTC while Hornqvist has a full blown NTC. Regardless of what JR does to get in under the Cap, I won’t be shocked if Zucker gets traded during the season like Perron was.
Maybe try and flip Zucker for Sam Bennett, get a legit 3rd line Center and save $3 million and then have McCann – Bennett – Hornqvist as my 3rd line. Then give Poulin a legit shot at making the team on Malkin’s line.
Unfortunately, the D will still be a problem so long as Letang is back there and Sullivan gets his way and has all the same type of D man.
Hey Other Rick,
Excellent ideas and thoughts. Thanks for pointing out that they can save on Maniscalco by sending him to the minors…I overlooked that. And you’re probably right that I low-balled what Jarry and McCann are likely to get.
But the bottom line is, it sure doesn’t leave us much to fill our two most pressing needs…a right-side defenseman and a third-line center.
Would love to get a player of Sam Bennett’s ilk. I think a guy like that could really make a difference for us. Just don’t know how we’d swing it.
Rick
Just a little add-on about Bennett.
In addition to being tough and gritty, he’s one of those guys who elevates his game come playoff time. He scored eight goals in 52 regular-season games…nothing to write home about…but five in 11 postseason contests.
For his career, he has 11 goals in 30 career playoff games. Combined with his sand, the kind of guy we desperately need.
Rick
Hey Rick,
I am really liking the idea of Sam Bennett as our 3rd line Center, but I am having other ideas concerning Zucker, read some interesting things recently that is spurring my thoughts – think I will save it for a full post.
No, we really don’t have much Cap room yet, but it is still early. There has to be more trades to come and I am not just talking about Murray.
It will be interesting to see how it all develops. Will JR make more moves to open up Cap space or will they be more on the lines of salary dumping like Bjugstad.