• Sun. Dec 22nd, 2024

If I Were the Penguins GM

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ByRick Buker

Feb 25, 2021

I spent a good portion of the fall commenting on former general manager Jim Rutherford’s moves. I was also quick to offer up suggestions as to who I would’ve tried to sign or acquire. I thought it would be fun (and a bit humbling) to go back and take a look at how the guys I would’ve added are doing.

Maybe, I should’ve titled this article, “Okay Buker, if You’re So Smart…(Not).”

For the purpose of keeping this fun and light, I’m ignoring cap considerations. As for my grading system, I’ll use three different ratings in honor of my dear friend Kimi Milos regarding my suggested moves: Bueno, No Bueno and Par (even). Entirely subjective, of course.

I’ll start with my proposed trades:

Sam Bennett (Calgary) for Jared McCann

Player

AAV

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

ATOI

Corsi

Hits

FO%

Bennett

$2.55M

19

3

1

4

13

-7

13:17

49.2

38

44.6

McCann

$2.94M

11

2

3

5

2

2

11:55

51.6

11

35.0

I like McCann a lot. He’s versatile, possesses great speed, an excellent shot and release and he works hard at both ends of the ice. But I covet Bennett for the toughness and sand he’d provide, elements we could sorely use. Although this deal’s a little hard to evaluate because McCann’s been hurt, I’d probably rate this Par. Would still love to have Bennett.

Erik Gudbranson (Ottawa) and a draft pick for Marcus Pettersson

Player

AAV

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

ATOI

Corsi

Hits

Blks

Gudbranson

$4M

21

0

2

2

22

-15

19:21

48.7

60

33

Pettersson

$4.083M

8

1

0

1

0

-3

17:01

57.1

14

8

When I proposed this trade, the Pens’ penalty kill was getting murdered. Too, rookie Pierre Olivier-Joseph had exploded onto the scene, making Pettersson seem superfluous. Since then, the PK’s improved, P-O has tanked and Cody Ceci has emerged as a pretty solid third-pairing defenseman. Although I’d love to have Gudbranson, objectively there really isn’t room for him. No Bueno.

Okay, now for the free agents:

Zach Bogosian (Toronto) or Trevor van Riemsdyk (Washington) or Matt Benning (Nashville) instead of Cody Ceci

Player

AAV

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

ATOI

Corsi

Hits

Blks

Bogosian

$1M

20

0

2

2

12

7

14:34

49.1

32

16

van Riemsdyk

$800K

7

1

0

1

0

-3

18:19

48.8

4

13

Benning

$1M

17

0

0

0

10

-5

14:32

53.0

19

15

Ceci

$1.25M

14

1

4

5

8

2

18:10

53.9

19

23

Among Rutherford’s off-season acquisitions, I probably liked the Ceci signing the least. Based on his metrics and scouting reports, on paper he appeared to be a younger version of Jack Johnson. Frankly, I thought JR had lost his mind. And while I still wouldn’t mind having Bogosian (bigger, more physical), honestly Ceci’s outperformed all of these guys. No Bueno.

Erik Haula (Nashville) instead of Mark Jankowski

Player

AAV

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

ATOI

Corsi

Hits

FO%

Haula

$1.75M

17

0

4

4

6

-2

15:33

50.6

22

57.8

Jankowski

$700K

17

1

2

3

0

-4

11:13

42.9

15

44.1

Not much to choose from here. Jankowski’s play has fallen off a cliff following a fast start. But Haula hasn’t been much to write home about, either. While I’d like to think the flying Finn would be more productive with the Pens, you really don’t know. Par.

Jesper Fast (Carolina) or Dominik Kahun (Edmonton) instead of Evan Rodrigues

Player

AAV

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

ATOI

Corsi

Hits

FO%

Fast

$2M

13

2

3

5

4

-3

13:58

50.4

22

57.1

Kahun

$975K

21

4

4

8

2

3

13:10

47.9

7

47.6

Rodrigues

$700K

6

1

0

1

0

-4

15:52

53.6

3

60

I like Fast. But the player I really wanted was Kahun, who did such a good job for us last season before being traded…ironically…for Rodrigues. Another “either or” that’s tough to evaluate because Rodrigues is on IR. Then again, when he was healthy the former BU Terrier spent oodles of time on Sidney Crosby’s line and couldn’t score. Meanwhile, Kahun has been reasonably productive in a limited role with the Oilers. My first Bueno.

Kyle Clifford (St. Louis) instead of Jordan Nolan

Player

AAV

GP

G

A

PTS

PIM

+/-

ATOI

Corsi

Hits

FO%

Clifford

$1M

18

3

0

3

12

0

8:50

50

27

0

Nolan

PTO

0

0

0

0

0

0

0:00

0

0

0

A case where I like both players. Ironically, both former Cup winners with the Kings. I would’ve signed Clifford to provide some leadership and toughness. While not as accomplished a fighter as his ex-teammate, Nolan would’ve done nicely, too. Alas, he didn’t stick following training camp and was returned to the Baby Pens. I’ll claim a flimsy Bueno on this one, mainly because Clifford is playing in the NHL and would’ve filled an area of need for the Pens.

Craig Anderson (Washington) instead of Maxime Lagace

Player

AAV

GP

MINS

GA

SH

GAA

SV%

W-L-T

QS

QS%

GSAA

Anderson

$700K

2

83

5

0

3.63

.853

1-1-0

0

.000

0

Lagace

$700K

0

0

0

0

0.00

.000

0-0-0

0

.000

0

I’d feel a lot more comfortable with Anderson, an 18-year NHL vet, backing up Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith, instead of Lagace, who has all of 17 mostly porous big-league games on his resume. Fortunately, our goalies have been healthy. Still, I’ll give myself a slight Bueno on this one and say we’d be better off with Anderson.

Let’s see. That’s three Buenos, two No Buenos and two Pars. Which, at least in my eyes, puts me slightly ahead of the curve.

A little teaser. Other Rick is going to do a much more elaborate (and better) “If I Were GM” piece. Stay tuned.

2 thoughts on “If I Were the Penguins GM”
  1. Hey Rick,

    Thanks for another great post and for throwing out a teaser for my next post. I’ll have to tweak my intro a little, it won’t have to be so cumbersome. I took my look back to the summer after the 2nd Cup when I first started getting upset with Sullivan and JR.

    McCann for Bennett – hmm, I don’t dislike Bennett. In fact, I could see where he still could help this team and the change of scenery help him, but limiting myself to just this past summer, I would have rather used McCann or Zucker to get Pesce or Ristolainen to make Letang even more expendable. Buffalo was looking for ways to save money but also pick up some scoring and may have been vulnerable for a McCann-Ristolainen trade. Carolina was making noise about making room for some kids who they thought were ready to step up to the NHL making Pesce expendable but were also looking for scoring, thus a McCann or Zuker for Pesce deal would have worked.

    Gudbranson for Pettersson – I still make that deal. I wouldn’t need Gudbranson had I been able to flip McCann for Ristolainen but Pettersson’s $4 mil will live on for several more years and I think a lot of POJs current issues stem from him having to baby sit Letang. Trying to figure out which defensive lapse Letang makes next is tough enough for veterans, only Paul Martin and Brian Dumoulin have had any level of success with that, but to ask a rookie like POJ is more than a little insane, or at least trying to hold him accountable for not being able to negate Letang’s Hyde side. On the flip side of the coin, Gudbranson clears the books the end of this season.

    Bogosian or van Riemsyk or Benning instead of Ceci. If you recall, I was never down on Ceci; I just would have signed Benning.

    Haula or Jankowski? I really would have passed on both. For this one I would have rather grouped this with Fast, Kahun, and Rodrigues. For me, I would have signed both Kahun and Fast and ignored the rest. In fact, I would have never traded Kahun for Rodrigues and Sheary last season. I would move Lafferty to Center and sign Kahun and Fast.

    Clifford or Nolan? I’ll give you your Bueno if limiting myself to these 2 players, however, I would have never let this team get so weak as to be splitting these hairs.

    Anderson or Legace? just like above, limiting myself to just these 2 players, I take Anderson as well. However, as you will see, whenever I post my GMing tirade, this also would be a non issue.

    1. Thank you for your compliments and comments my friend. Always (always), thought provoking and insightful.

      Just to be clear…I only included players that I’d written about acquiring or signing in past articles. No revisionist history here…lol

      Rick

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