As we so often do, Other Rick and I were talking about the Penguins off-season moves and discussing our chances for the coming season. As we spoke, I opined that our boys are about three players short of being a solid team. Or to borrow from Roy Blount Jr.’s classic book about the 1973 Steelers, about three bricks shy of a load.
The three problem spots to my eye? Third-line center, right defense and goal.
Hold the phone, you say. Didn’t general manager Jim Rutherford address those areas of need over the past several weeks? Well, sort of. But addressing them and addressing them effectively are two entirely different animals.
Think giraffe and hippopotamus.
Before I begin, I don’t envy Rutherford and the challenge he faces trying to revitalize a fading former Cup winner. A nearly impossible task. He didn’t have a ton of cap space with which to operate, and with other teams dealing with COVID/cap concerns as well… I’m sure it wasn’t an easy marketplace to navigate.
He had to find a taker for Viking warrior Patric Hornqvist and his $5.3 million cap hit. While I initially squawked at receiving Mike Matheson in return, I have hopes he’ll develop into the second coming of Justin Schultz…before the latter’s game mysteriously went to hell.
Too, JR needed to get out from underneath the collective $7.35 million owed to damaged goods Nick Bjugstad and ineffective Jack Johnson. He managed to free up roughly $4.2 million.
Then there was the not-so-small matter of gleaning a decent return for two-time Cup winner Matt Murray, coming off a down year in a crowded goalie market. The general consensus? Rutherford did well to land the 52nd overall pick in the draft and a second-tier prospect in forward John Gruden.
Whether he overpaid or not, JR’s acquisition of Kasperi Kapanen could prove to be one of the major coups of the offseason. His bold stroke to acquire the flying Finn well before the postseason ended fleshed out our top two lines and ruffled the feathers of more than one Cup contending GM.
Still, as I mentioned above, some spots weren’t filled to my satisfaction.
Third Line
In my humble opinion, JR needed to land an impact player for the third line. What we got was Evan Rodrigues, a versatile little player who may turn out to be a capable addition (72 points in 199 career NHL games), and center Mark Jankowski, a former first-round pick of Calgary whose numbers dipped dramatically this past season.
I’ve already detailed my concerns about Jankowski in a previous article.
I’d hoped the Pens might sign Dominik Kahun (still available) or Jesper Fast, the speedy former Ranger who inked a very affordable three-year deal with Carolina for $6 million. Recently, Pittsburgh Hockey Now floated the idea of center Erik Haula, a 29-goal scorer with Vegas back in 2017-18. The going rate is likely to be in the $3 million range.
To my eye, any of these players could’ve brought some serious mojo to the third line, while complimenting incumbent Jared McCann.
Right Defense
Given who was available, I’m not sure the Pens could’ve done appreciably better than Cody Ceci.
I personally would’ve preferred Zach Bogosian, fresh off a Cup win with Tampa Bay and signed by Toronto for $1 million. Bogosian is bigger and plays with more of an edge than Ceci, but we know how that works in these parts (not well). However, his advanced stats aren’t anything to write home about.
Trevor van Riemsdyk was another option. His career Corsi is considerably better than Ceci’s (52.8 vs 46.1) and he spent the last three seasons in Carolina, a team that employs a style similar to our Pens. Alas, the Capitals snapped him up for $800,000.
For the record, Other Rick pushed for ex-Oiler Matt Benning, perhaps the best all-around option. Nashville snagged him for two years for a cool two mil.
My main concern with Ceci, hideous advanced stats aside? He’s got heavy feet, a condition that didn’t work out too well for a recently bought-out blueliner who shall go nameless. Too, descriptions of Ceci’s play from his time in Ottawa are chillingly Johnson-esque.
Goal
Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if the heavens parted and Marc-Andre Fleury had returned to the ‘Burgh? Unfortunately, the fairy tale didn’t come true. So the Pens will enter the season with a largely untested tandem of Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith between the pipes.
I really (really) like Jarry and think he possesses a world of promise. But he’s only one season (albeit a very good one) removed from being an unknown quantity at the big-league level.
During his 50 NHL games spread over two seasons, DeSmith proved himself to be a solid backup, posting a .917 save percentage and a decent 2.66 goals against average. My biggest concern about the New Hampshire native is something he has no control over. Namely size…or a lack of. Through no fault of his own, there’s an awful lot of net to shoot at when Casey’s in goal.
I’d feel a heck of a lot safer with an experienced backup floating around somewhere in the organization. To that end, Rutherford seemed quite pleased when he signed former Golden Knight Maxime Lagace as the No. 3 goalie. I’m not sure I share his enthusiasm. Lagace’s an equal opportunity netminder…he’s struggled at both the NHL and minor-league levels. His goals saved above average with Vegas in 2017-18 was a mind-numbingly atrocious minus-19.26.
Doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence if DeSmith or, heaven forbid, Jarry is sidelined for any length of time.
Hey Rick,
Great Stuff! I have a copy of Blount’s book, somewhere in my archives.
Although, I think everyone in the ‘burgh loved Hornqvist, trading him wasn’t a bad thing and you are not alone in your thinking that Matheson will turn his game around. Tracey Myers of NHL.com seems to think like you.
“ I do believe defenseman Mike Matheson, acquired in a trade from the Florida Panthers for forward Patric Hornqvist on Sept. 24, is a really good pickup for the Penguins. Matheson could benefit from a change of scenery, and though his contract runs through 2025-26, he’s an upgrade from Johnson.”
However, I am not ready to jump on that band wagon. Go back in time and read older posts and you will find that I didn’t want the Brassard trade, nor the Galchenyuk trade and this trade smells eerily similar.
First, if I were to be able to talk to Myers, I would say, “being an upgrade from Johnson is hardly a rousing endorsement.
Second, my biggest concern with Matheson is his GV. Gv are unforced errors, careless errors, sloppy errors and have plagued him even when he first came up, before he could take on any of the baggage that Myers thinks he can escape with a change of scenery. Unforced errors run really deep and are hard to break, especially at 26, nearing 27 years of age. Teaching diligence and responsivity is tough enough when dealing with young dogs. I am not saying it can’t happen, maybe Matheson will be the exception to the rule, but the probability is low.
Third, Matheson’s contract is worse than Hornqvist’s, it runs til 25-26 and he costs $6.5 mil the last 3 years of that back loaded mNTC contract.
Bjugstad/Johnson, they too had to go, but Kingarski quite rightly pointed out how JR dropped the ball on these deals. He could have saved more by buying out Bjugstad and burying Johnson in WBS this season, then buying him out next season.
I agree with you over Jankowski but Myers disagrees with us here. Myers thinks the former 1st rounder can turn his game around too. Funny thing is that no one cites any evidence to support their feelings that Jankowski or Matheson for that matter will turn it around. (Not) sorry Myers, I still haven’t seen any evidence to think that Jankowski will go any other way than the road Jimmy Hayes took, waived and sent to WBS.
The team would be better off using Rodrigues to pivot McCann and Lafferty or Angello, then Jankowski flanked by McCann and Rodrigues. Moreover, like you, I would have rather seen JR sign Fast or Kahun.
At first, I wasn’t a Haula fan. At the onset of FA, I glossed over him. Now, I would love to see JR sign him. Cap and roster space could easily be found by paring players like Jankowski, Sceviour, ZAR, and Rodrigues at Forward and Ruhwedel on D.
In the end, I think the is more than 3 bricks shy of a load. I agree a 3rd line C and a backup G start my wish list, but the Pens D scares me. I wouldn’t want to be Jarry this season. Although I like Murray, I am glad for his sake that he is gone. Dumoulin and Marino may be the only 2 for sure, legit NHL caliber D-men with Riikola and Ceci as maybes. Pettersson is way too soft for a big man and definitely will be overpaid if he plays like he did last year. Matheson and Letang are calamities waiting to happen. I cringe at the thought of them being on the ice together. They could help Jarry set an NHL record for the most odd man breaks faced in a game and season with their penchant for Gv.
The Penguins top 6 will keep the team in most games and their D will keep opponents there as well.
No, I think the team is at least 4 bricks, maybe 5 or 6 shy of a load.
“He could have saved more by buying out and burying Johnson in WBS this season, then buying him out next season”
You contradict yourself. You want them to take the benefit of buying out Bjugstad this year at the cost of the greater cap hit next year. The Penguins took the smart course by delaying the cost of Bjugstad so it wouldn’t pinch next year when Marino and Bleuger get big raises.
Then you turn around and say that they should reduce the benefit of buying out Johnson this year by burying him the minors in order to save in the future. Hah? Burying him in the minors cost an extra $million next season, just the opposite of buying out Bjugstad.
I realize Stratton that you have no life and love to complain about people talking hockey rather than talking hockey. Don’t be surprised if I don’t respond to your tripe hence forth, until you grow up and stop with your self aggrandizing attitude.
Your knowledge of hockey is pathetic. Next time read fully what was written, including the original writings referenced. Kingarski does a great job of showing how the Penguins would have saved more Cap space buying out Bjugstad this year, burying Johnson and delaying his buyout until next season. I won’t spoon feed you.