The Penguins have released their protection list for the upcoming expansion draft. Without further ado, here’s who we’re protecting:
Forwards: Teddy Blueger, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Kasperi Kapanen, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust
Defensemen: Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Mike Matheson
Goal: Tristan Jarry
Now…the unprotected:
Forwards: Pontus Aberg, Anthony Angello, Zach Aston-Reese, Josh Currie, Frederick Gaudreau, Mark Jankowski, Sam Lafferty, Sam Miletic, Evan Rodrigues, Colton Sceviour, Brandon Tanev, Jason Zucker
Defensemen: Cody Ceci, Kevin Czuczman, Mark Friedman, Jesper Lindgren, Andrey Pedan, Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola, Chad Ruhwedel, Yannick Weber
Goal: Casey DeSmith, Maxime Lagace
Most notably absent from the Pens protection list? Buzz-saw forward Brandon Tanev. I confess, a development that both pains and puzzles me.
To my eye, the black-and-gold is lacking in spirit, spunk and aggression. Qualities Tanev provides in spades. Indeed, the ice fairly crackles with electric energy whenever he hops over the boards. This kid never takes a shift off.
When Boston’s Jarred Tinordi injured Malkin’s knee this past season? The very next game, Tanev raced across the ice like a wild dog and buried Tinordi with a bristling check. For the record, that’s 6’0” 180 pounds laying out 6’6” 230 pounds.
That’s Tanev in a nutshell. Pure heart and soul. Utterly fearless.
A kamikaze on skates.
With seven goals and 16 points in 32 games, he’s no slouch as a hockey player, either.
But I digress. Due to the Pens’ quality depth up front, GM Ron Hextall faced some difficult decisions. Choices that led him to deal talented and versatile Jared McCann to Toronto only the day before. The old hockey adage that you want to be strong down the middle…exacerbated by Malkin’s knee injury…no doubt dictated that he protect Blueger and Carter. But, man, I hate the thoughts of exposing Tanev.
Perhaps Hextall and his staff are privy to some insider information concerning Seattle general manager Ron Francis and his preferences. Perhaps they’re hoping Tanev’s contract…four seasons remaining with an AAV of $3.5 million…will scare off the Kraken GM. It’s a lot to pay for an energy forward approaching his 30s. One who missed a sizeable chunk of time due to injuries this past season.
Or maybe they think Francis will bite on former 30-goal man Jason Zucker or UFA-to-be Cody Ceci.
A more insidious thought. Perhaps the Pens are trying to shed Tanev’s salary…for the very reasons stated above. Intentional or not, it’s almost like Hextall hung a neon sign over Brandon’s head saying, “Pick me.”
Anyway, as we used to say back in the day when swapping baseball cards, “no takebacks.” For better (and hopefully not for worse) what’s done is done.
I, for one, hope and pray Seattle passes on Tanev.
Ex-Pens Exposed
A number of former Penguins were exposed to the draft, including…quite surprisingly…McCann. Washington left Carl Hagelin, Justin Schultz and Conor Sheary unprotected.
Ottawa exposed two-time Cup winning goalie Matt Murray. Los Angeles chose not to protect once-promising Olli Maatta.
Hey Rick,
Been thinking about this since the lists became public.
I am still surprised that the team is risking Tanev and not Carter.
Although, I didn’t see a lot of names out there among the Cs, there were a couple of veteran Cs who would come cheaper. So I still think Carter would have snuck through the draft.
As for Tanev, the gamble may pay off. There were more LWs out there than Cs. In fact, Zucker may still be on the Roster at the end of the draft. As you wrote, the length of Tanev’s contract may turn Francis off, and the lack of production by Zucker since he has been in Pgh may keep him here as well.
I can’t help but wonder now, looking at the Penguins unprotected list, that Mike may get his wish – ZAR may be the Kraken’s pick.
As for around the league;
It didn’t surprise me to see Murray on the unprotected list, at his $$$, he could very easily sneak through the draft.
I found it interesting that Toronto turned around and left McCann unprotected, after trading for him.
I can see Schultz being a Kraken, but not Sheary or Hagelin.
Another former Penguin, whose name is out there is Dominik Simon.
Conversely did you see Washington chose to protect Sprong?
Rick & The Other Rick
If Tanev gets picked up by the Kraken IMO it sets us back in a
major way. All the talk about getting tougher would be just that
“talk”.
In JR’s defense, he may have overpaid and given Tanev too many years
but he recognized the importance of adding a scrappy/physical type
of player. I’m not sure you can replace what he brought to the table.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the Kraken grab Ashton-Reese. He
can be easily replaced with a player that handles his wing responsibly and
can hit the back of an open net.
I don’t see how Francis can pass on Tanev. Every team has a need for
a speedy, tough, physical winger that’s also exceptional at killing penalties.
To me, it’s a no-brainer but I hope I’m wrong.
The Other Rick – I was surprised to see Sprong’s name pop up on the
Capitals protective list until I dug in a little further and saw they really
had no one else. As you know I’m not a Sprong fan and I’m sort of glad
they decided to protect him.
GO PENS – Let’s all pray Tanev remains with the Pen’s!!
Hey Mike,
I am not happy about leaving Tanev unprotected. I still would have rather risked and unsigned Blueger or Carter than Tanev. I don’t know if I would go as far as to say getting tougher was nothing more than talk, but leaving Tanev unprotected doesn’t seem to fit the tougher narrative.
However, looking down the list of unprotected players, Francis could still fill his LW needs without Tanev, so there is still a chance Tanev remains a Penguin.
I was one who thought JR gave Tanev somewhat of a bad contract. I feared it would cost the team Rust. However, with the way things have shaken out, I may have been wrong. Rust has played out his contract pretty well and the way Legare is looking, the kid may be a better answer for a top 6 soon. So Tanev’s contract may come as a bargain, if Seattle passes.
Although Phil may argue, I was never a Sprong fan, I just wanted the team to move on from Sheary and I thought he had a better upside than Simon.
Hey Mike,
Did you see Dan Rosen, Tom Gulitti and Pete Jensen of the NHL.com staff held a Mock Expansion Draft and your/our Nightmare would come true if it were up to them and not Ron Francis. They did select Tanev from the Penguins and they cited Tanev’s grit as the reason.
My guess is that Hextall wants to be strong down the middle and was too shy to risk losing Carter or Blueger and he may feel, after the draft, he could try and recoup a Tanev in Free Agency or a trade.
I got to be honest, I am still hoping that Seattle will take Zucker or Pettersson.
The Other Rick
For the life of me, I don’t see how Francis passes on
Tanev. Not only does he have all the attributes we
love in a player he’s more valuable to this team because
of our lack of toughness. I mentioned this before but
JR understood how important it was to add Tanev in
Free Agency and did what he needed to do to get it done.
“I’m going to be sick”!!
Hey Mike,
In my more lucid moments, I don’t see Francis passing on Tanev either but I can dream can’t I?
That is why I am now looking around to see what I might do to get some grit back.
I am very disappointed that we lost Turbo. Poor move by management. He should have been protected and Malkin should have been made available. What are the chances Seattle would take a 34 year old coming off knee surgery. Washington left Ovechkin unprotected.
Going to miss Tanev’s style
Hey Mike,
I’m in total agreement with you about Tanev. I think he’s a unique player, one who’s just about impossible to replace. Honestly, I can’t think of another guy in the league who combines his speed, tenacity, aggressiveness and heart, along with an underrated skill set.
It would be roughly akin to Washington leaving Tom Wilson unprotected.
If my worst nightmare comes true and Tanev gets picked? Maybe down the road, Nathan Legare sorta kinda replaces him in terms of spirit and sand. But it isn’t exactly an apples-to-apples comparison. Not by a long shot.
Amazing how the Pens always manage to divest themselves of what little aggressiveness they have. Even when their stated goal is to go in the other direction.
Rick
Rick
As I stated above in my response to The Other Rick I don’t
see any way Ron Francis passes on Tanev. It would be a
huge blunder on their part.
Even though Blueger was signed to a two-year deal I would
of still left him unprotected before risking losing Tanev.
I know this sounds crazy but he’s the one player we really
can’t afford to lose.