Early this morning the NHL announced that Ron Hextall executed his first trade as the General Manager (GM) of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Sending 2 conditional draft picks (a 3rd round pick in 2022 draft and a 4th round pick in 2023) to the Los Angeles Kings Hextall acquired Center/Right Wing Jeff Carter for the Penguins.
Hextall was Director of Player Personnel of the Philadelphia Flyers when our cross-State rivals drafted the 6’-3”, 220lb Forward with the 11th overall pick of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. In 2012, Hextall was Assistant GM of the Kings when they traded with the Columbus Blue Jackets to obtain Carter’s services. Now, Hextall wheels and deals to bring Carter to the ‘burgh.
(In another interesting connection and side note; when the Kings acquired Carter, they sent Defenseman Jack Johnson to the Jackets as part of the deal.)
A quick look at Carter’s last 3 seasons normalized to an 82 Game Average (82G Avg) and his number per 60 minutes of ice time (/60).
| G | A | Pts | +/- | SOG | S% | PIM | Hits | |
| 82G Avg | 18 | 19 | 37 | -22 | 220 | 8.03 | 47 | 85 |
| /60 | 0.75 | 0.81 | 1.56 | 9.29 | 1.97 | 3.58 |
Is Carter the big tough Forward that many said our physically frail flightless fowl would fish for? At 6’-3”, 230 lbs, Carter isn’t exactly a shrinking violet but is there a real pugilist Brian Burke is looking to bring to the fight?
How does Carter compare to what our Penguins already have?
Carter’s 0.75 G/60 over the last 3 seasons is better than what Mark Jankowski has managed (0.58) and Frederick Gaudreau. His 1.56 Pts/60 is comparable to Jason Zucker’s 1.57, equal to Colton Sceviour’s 1.56, and better than Evan Rodrigues’ 1.54, Zach Aston-Reese’s 1.46, and Gaudreau’s 1.35. However, his 3.58 Hits/60 is extremely low and would be near the bottom of our Black-and-Gold, outside of Gaudreau and Rodrigues, only legitimate Top 6 Penguins’ Forwards hit less than Carter.
There are those suggesting that the acquisition of Carter may mean that Kasperi Kapanen may not be ready for some time to come.
Finally, from a financial point of view, Carter has one more season left on his current Contract. Carter carries a $5,272,727 Cap hit but Los Angeles is retaining half of that. Also, according to Capfriendly Carter is the opposite of Mike Matheson and more like Kapanen. His contract was front loaded. Although he carries a $5+ million Cap hit, he will only get $2 million in real money next season and I guess the Penguins only need to pay $1 million of that.
Odds and Sods
With Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Tanev on Long Term Injured Reserve, the Penguins will have had around $9 million in Cap space before the trade. Since LA is picking up half of Carter’s salary, they should still have $6+ million in space. Is there another deal in the works? I sure hope there is no Deryck Bressard deals in the works. We will know this afternoon.
Hi TOR!
Just a quick visit for today. This trade leaves me a wee bit cold. His best days are long gone. He scored only 38 goals for a total of 79 points and -47 in his last three seasons. Backchecking is not his strongest suit.
My first impression is that Carter won’t bring much offense and may alter the team’s chemistry. But if he is paired with the right players, his contribution will be appreciated for sure. But let’s see…
TOR, rumour has it that Deslauriers from Anaheim may be traded to the Pens. What’s your opinion about it? I can hear Sully’s inner screaming, praying not to have this energy player on his team (my imagination is going a wee bit wild, hahaha).
Additional comment:
In 2017, Carter dealt with a serious ankle injury and was never the same player afterwards.
Hey Jorenz,
I’m going to jump in. (Good to hear from you, by the way!)
I’m lukewarm on the Carter acquisition as well. In some ways, it feels like Marleau all over again. But I’m going to trust Hextall’s judgment since he was with the Kings before we hired him and should have a pretty good handle on what Carter can and can’t do.
Best case scenario…maybe he provides what Ron Hainsey did in 2017.
I’m a little divided on Deslauriers. Not that I don’t like him. If we’re gonna have a tough guy, he’s about as good as it gets. In addition to being a fearless, top-of-the-line fighter, he can forecheck and hit…an element in short supply with Tanev out. And I’d feel a lot better with him in there against teams like the Caps and Bruins and even the Islanders.
Love your Sullivan comment…lol. Like you, I wonder how much ice time he’d receive under Sully. (About 15 seconds a game?)
Too, I really like our chemistry as is. All of these guys…Angello, Gaudreau, Rodrigues, Zohorna…heck even Sceviour and Jankowski of late…are playing a part and contributing. We really look and play like a team, and I love our esprit de corps.
Even though it’s likely to happen any way when some of the wounded return, I just don’t want to see our makeup and chemistry altered too much.
Rick
Hey Jorenz,
Like you, I worry big time about team chemistry. Therefore, I view this trade with some trepidation. I won’t argue with anyone who tries to justify the trade by comparing him to how bad Jankowski and Sceviour have played (Sorry Rick B. the last 3 games not withstanding, where were 16 and 7 for the previous 22 and 26 games?) However, I am a firm believer in promotion from within. There is a lot of value in rising through the ranks striving to wear the Black-and-Gold. They will always play harder than a hired gun, mercenary coming and having nothing invested in the sweater.
I really think Zahorna, Angello, and Lafferty will bleed for this team. Even Gaudreau may bust a gut for the team that believed enough in him to give him one more chance.
As for Deslauriers, I hear you, I think we all know how much TOI Sully would give him, 2 min at best. However, I wonder, if Hextall does trade for him and Sully doesn’t use him, how long will Sully keep his job. Will Hextall cow-tow to him like JR? I sure hope not. I am tired of watching sand get kicked in Penguins faces.
Hi TOR,
Hi Rick,
I really like what I see from Gaudreau. He is good at taking face-offs (53.62% with the Pens so far), defensively, he does a very good job and is not a liability. Offensively, that’s another story. He struggles a bit. But if he plays between 11 and 14 minutes, I think he will be able to deliver optimum performance. More than 15 minutes, it will be complicated for him.
Gentlemen, let’s start a pool (that’s what we call it in Canada) with Deslauriers’ TOI (if he ever gets traded)! TOR, as you mentioned in your last paragraph, I wonder if Sully and Hextall will be on the same page regarding the use of new players. Sully’s leash is getting shorter even if the team has been successful so far.
Hey Jorenz,
In the aftermath of the trades, it is going to be very interesting. The Devils and Sabres sold off a lot for this season and the Pens have 7 games left against them. The sold off a little and we have 3 games left.
So getting into the playoffs got a tad easier.
The Bruins tried to get some O with Hall and some D to replace Chara but I am not sure it will help them.
However, the Caps and Isles may have gotten stronger. Before the deadline, I did think that there was a decent chance to get through to a 2nd round, but now, I would rather wait to see how the Caps and Isles start to mesh,
The reason I start to say this is with the Caps getting Mantha I am starting to worry how they will react when Was. starts leaning on them with a heavy forecheck. Without a real power guy like Deslauriers, or even had they got him. Question, how does that affect Sully’s leash. Beating up the hapless Sabres and Devils is one thing but Was. and NYI (if they gel) may be a different matter.
” Black-and-Gold, outside of Gaudreau and Rodrigues, only legitimate Top 6 Penguins’ Forwards hit *less* than Carter.”
Not “less” – “fewer.” If you are going to whine, at least be grammatically correct about it.
“In another interesting connection and side note; when the Kings acquired Carter, they sent Defenseman Jack Johnson to the Jackets as part of the deal.”
It’s only interesting you you because it gives you another chance to whine about Johnson. No one else cares.
Stratton,
First Stratton, when someone has no argument but wants to whine like a little child they try to argue semantics. Therefore, you show your lack of maturity and inability to argue.
Second, you didn’t even get that right. Fewer is an adjective not a pronoun. In my statement there is nothing for the adjective fewer to modify. Less can function as an adjective, like fewer, but it can also function as an adverb to modify hit or in the pronoun form as an object to receive the action of the verb it. Had I wrote hit less opponents, you could try and argue which adjective was proper as opponents could be modified by the adjective fewer.
As for the Jack Johnson connection only someone with an axe to grind would automatically think something negative. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and Sometimes a connection is just that, noting a connection – since I was talking about connections.
I do have a question, are you capable of commenting on Hockey or the Penguins and not the people who are expressing their opinions or are you just a troll?
a Troll that doesn’t know the difference between an adjective modifying a noun and an object in the form of a pronoun or adverb modifying a verb
Hey Stratton,
I’ve mentioned this before but it bears repeating. I don’t mind you commenting and voicing your opinion. When you stick to hockey, I enjoy reading what you have to say, even if it’s a differing opinion.
I know you and Other Rick have your thing. But we simply can’t tolerate the personal attacks. I don’t want people to be afraid to comment for fear that they’re going to be ridiculed for what they write or how they express it. That’s not what this blog is for.
I’ll ask one more time…please refrain from the personally directed barbs. If not, we’re going to start deleting your comments.
Rick
Good, I am sick of Stratton “picking” on everyone here that comments on the Penguins….
not everyone agrees on everything..but everyone here doesn’t make it personal and attack each other