Well, it appears I have the answer to the question I posed in my previous article. Could Calgary’s Sam Bennett be the Penguins’ answer at third-line center?
It ain’t too likely. That’s because Pens general manager Jim Rutherford re-signed restricted free agent forward Jared McCann today to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $2.94 million.
“Jared is a good offensive player who can play center or wing,” said Rutherford when he announced the signing. “We saw improvement in his play this year and feel that there is more upside to his game.”
Had the McCann signing occurred on January 15? I would’ve been thrilled. At the time Stratford, Ontario native was piping hot, notching goals in three-straight games and four of his last five and looking every bit a legit top-six forward in the process. His scoring binge gave him 25 goals in his first 76 games wearing the black-and-gold. Very impressive.
Then…pfft.
Indeed, McCann’s 2019-20 campaign could be summed up as a tale of two seasons. Through his first 44 games he was darn-near exemplary…14 goals and 28 points to go with a gaudy plus-15. Along with Bryan Rust and Tristan Jarry, he was among the team’s most pleasant surprises.
However, over his last 22 games he went cold. We’re talkin’ polar gale cold. McCann failed to tally a single goal during that span while registering a paltry seven assists and a minus-9. His lackluster play carried into the postseason, when he was scratched in Game 3 of the qualifying round.
It’s widely believed the dip in McCann’s play coincided with a shift from wing to center, his natural position. However, during the productive portion of his season he averaged over 11 faceoffs per game. During the final icy stretch…a little over 3.
I guess the question remains. Is McCann the promising player he showed himself to be when he first arrived in the ‘burgh? And, to go a step further, is he capable of anchoring the third line, where he’ll almost certainly be slotted in the wake of the Kasperi Kapanen deal?
The tools are certainly there. He’s fast, possesses an excellent shot with a lightning quick release and even has a modicum of sand in his game. At 6’1” and 185 pounds, he’s got size…at least by our Pens Smurfish standards. And he’s only 24.
However, faceoffs are an issue…46.7 percent with the Pens (a ghastly 41.6 percent for his NHL career). Not exactly what you’re looking for from your third-line center. At least to my eye, he was more effective on wing, where he got more opportunities to shoot the puck.
For now, McCann remains somewhat of an enigma…an unknown quantity. Let’s hope he proves to be otherwise.
Hey all,
A blanket response, but great comments all. Other Rick, great work to identify who McCann fit well with (the “Good” Dominik…Kahun) and who didn’t work so well with him (the “Bad” Dominik…Simon).
Mike, I agree. I sure wish we could somehow shed Simon. Strong Corsi aside, just about ever other metric seems to indicate that he really doesn’t help out as much as it would appear. And even his very good career Corsi (54.4) pales a bit in light of his o-zone starts (56.1 percent).
Is he really driving possession as much as the numbers indicate? Or is it just a function of him being placed in very favorable situations (skating on Sid’s line, etc.)?
I’m still waiting for Other Rick to do his statistical Simon expose.
Would much rather that roster spot go to a character guy with some sand. I know he plays the wrong side (left wing), but Kyle Clifford intrigues me as a depth guy. Surprisingly strong career Corsi numbers (53.0), very tough, has won two Cups with the Kings. Could probably be signed for a song.
Yeah…I know. I’m dreaming…
Rick
Hey Rick,
Congrats all Penguin Poopers on making the top 50 list! You do a great job.
First, the Bjugstad trade. A conditional seventh round pick? Really? That may be the first conditional seventh in league history, and if it is, it’s for a good reason. It was stupid. It is the proverbial bag of pucks trade.
As for McCann, I’m glad they signed him. I’m thinking there’s an upside there provided they move him to wing.
Of course, I’m still concerned with this teams lack of grit. Plus, I’m concerned about the defense. All the teams that made the final rounds of the playoffs are all good defensive teams, and they all play a heavy game. The pendulum is swinging back toward defense and away from the small, fast, offensive teams. Most of the playoff games this year have been low scoring affairs.
That, for my money, leaves our Penguins in no mans land. They need to get heavier and badder on defense. Bennett, if they get him, may bring some grit to the offense, but they still need a gnarly d-man.
I assume there still will be more moves, especially Murray. I’m still hoping they get rid of Letang, maybe for a big, young d-man. Where’s Oleksiak when you need him? Oh, yeah, he’s in the finals as a VALUED part of the Stars. And as I’m writing this, Oleksiak just scored in game one of the finals.
— 55
Rick
I like McCann and I don’t think JR could pass up the opportunity to
extend him. Because he’s spent 4yrs in the league its hard not to
think of him as a seasoned player but in reality he’s the 2nd youngest
player on the Pen’s with only Marino being younger. McCann is a full
year younger than Jarry and Lafferty.
I feel like his best days are ahead of him – I do think the Pen’s need to
slide him over to the wing and continue to look for a 3rd line Center
(named Bennett).
Suggestion to JR, Sully and Pen’s management – Have McCann work out
with Sid during the off-season. I saw an interview with Marchand and
McKinnon and both players talked about working out with Crosby and how
much it helped their growth as players – Just a thought.
Hey Rick,
I still would like to think McCann will come around but I also don’t think his signing precludes trading for a 3rd line Center (Bennett maybe). The team could still run a 3rd line with say Bennett pivoting McCann and Hornqvist.
There is still dead wood in Letang that probably won’t be shed but should be pruned as well as an over paid Pettersson that some other team may pay for. (Sorry but Pettersson isn’t worth the same money the team is paying Dumoulin – at least not right now and it is going to hurt them).
But back to McCann, just like I wrote about Bennett on your last post and how he played with bad players, the same is true of McCann. The good Dominic, the one JR traded away, was the most frequent line mate of McCann during those first torrid 44 games that you mention.
During those first 44 games McCann played 286:06 with Kahun piling up a +9 (18-9). 6 games into that 22 game slump Kahun was traded.
Conversely, during the first 44 golden games for McCann he was only saddled with the Pylon Dominik (Simon) for 2:51 per game, during the dark days of the last 22 games Simon’s TOI with McCann more than doubled to 5:33 per game. Simon proved to be a serious millstone, McCann was a -5 anchored to Simon (4-9).
The Other Rick
I’m praying the signing of McCann pushes Simon further down on
JR’s priority list for players to sign. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I’m also optimistic that JR can package a couple of players with
Murray (Simon, ZAR) and begin to revamped our 4th line.
“There is still dead wood in Letang that probably won’t be shed but should be pruned as well as an over paid Pettersson that some other team may pay for. (Sorry but Pettersson isn’t worth the same money the team is paying Dumoulin – at least not right now and it is going to hurt them).”
Petterson isn’t getting the same money as Doumolin. Do have to explain it again? I guess so. Coming off his ELC, he signed a bargain $874,125 contract. Normally, he would have gotten several million. Then the Pens sign him to a 5 year $20,125,875 contract. Now lets see if can do addition. How much is $874,125 + $20,125,875? That right boys and girls It is *exactly* $21,000,000. So the contract is de factor 6 years at exactly $3,500,000 that has been broken into two parts. Add to this the fact that it was signed 2 years later when the cap was higher. He’s getting paid about what he could be expected. Just like…
On McCann
As far as McCann is concerned, dump him if possible even though he was signed relatively cheap. Two teams before the Pens gave up on him even through he has great skills. There had to be a reason. The Pens are finding that out that reason now. He is just the latest in a long history players mesmerize you their skill but don’t know how to play the game. He seems like the type of player who is always going to set you up for disappointment. Better to trade him now before the bloom is off. The Pens are desperate for a third pairing right defenseman. His money would be better spent there. Or I’d have kept Bjugstad for 3C and traded McCann for futures.
On Simon
Prediction: the Pens won’t qualify him because that won’t risk arbitration. They will then sign him as a UFA for 800K-1meg.
On Letang
The notion that Letang is deadwood is so absurd that it does warrant a response.
Stratton
Let’s see if you understand math. Pettersson will be paid $4,025,125 this season and his Cap hit will be $4,025,125, not the $3,500,000 of your verbal, mathematical legerdemain used to obfuscate the fact that Pettersson will be paid 74,975 less than Brian Dumoulin.
League average for the coming season so far is $3,712,520. The average Defenseman who played within a standard deviation of the mean scored 4 Goals. So Pettersson will be paid $312,605 more to score half as much.
Defensively, 5 on 5 Pettersson’s GA/60 is statistically equal to the Average D-man so the over-charge is less significant but still really there.
Pettersson is still young for a Defensman and could conceivably grow into his contract but as of now, the $4,025,125 he will be paid is a drain on a Cap and real Dollar strapped team. He is a luxury the team could do without. The difference between Pettersson and $2.5 million or possibly less Defenseman is insignificant.
Any mathematical chopping up of Pettersson contract to try and make it sound more palatable is what con men do when they are trying to sell you swamp land in Fla.
As for McCann, I could take him or leave him. His contract is more in line with his skill than Pettersson’s; McCann will not be overpaid like Pettersson. However, Stratton, you probably should be pulling for the team to keep McCann or at least trade him for a significant return since you are a JR defender. If McCann is traded in a similar manner as Bjugstad then the whole Cole/Reaves completely goes up in smoke, leaving JR to pray Marino is the real deal, so that he has at least one post – Botrell trade to his name. There are no assets left in the Organization from the Reaves half and if McCann goes quietly away, there will be no assets left from the Cole side of the trade either; a complete wash.
Simon? I don’t doubt you. I have a feeling that Simon will be a passenger here next season and possibly longer and that is just one more reason for a change at the top. I am always an advocate to try younger players over veterans – so I beat the drum to give Simon a chance.He muffed it. He is given prime ice time and his O-Zone/D-Zone starts is significantly, favorably tilted. His career 5 on 5 numbers show a -2 GF/GA despite the rarity of his D-Zone starts. At least 1/2 of WBS should be able to out perform him.
Furthermore, Simon’s vaunted CORSI is built in runaway games where the team is either up or down but a significant number of goals. Last season his CORSI drops to very pedestrian 50.25% despite a 69.19% O-Zone/D-Zone ratio when the Game is in the Balance, when the score is within 1 either way. What is worse is Simon’s GF/60 drops to 2.16, his production is nearly non-existent when the Game is on the line. However, his GA/60 bloats to 3.14.
Letang? His 1.72 Pnts/60 is still good enough for 18th in the League among defenseman playing over 400 minutes. Therefore, I do understand that many limited thinkers would use that to justify Letang’s 15th highest paid Defenseman contract. However, Letang’s 2.82 GA/60 ranks him 252nd among those same Defensemen. As I have written many times Letang is most often the best offensive force on the ice for both teams. Defensively he is a calamity.
For you to say “The notion that Letang is deadwood is so absurd that it does warrant a response.” shows that you are incapable of objectivity. The $7.25 million he will get paid could be put to far better use. The team won a Cup without him. Bottom line – Letang is not only a luxury but a very expendable luxury.
Sorry, I forgot to mention the Letang stats that I quote are averages for the last 3 seasons.