The Penguins made another free-agent signing Wednesday night, although it wasn’t the one expected. Rumors were swirling around Johan Larsson, a non-descript defensive forward who most recently skated for Washington.
Instead GM Ron Hextall forked over the Benjamins to another journeyman, 28-year-old winger Drake Caggiula, on a one-year, two-way deal worth $750,000.
I must admit, I don’t hate this signing. Although small in stature (5’10” 176), the former University of North Dakota star is a heart-and-soul type who plays with a bit of an edge. He’ll also drop the gloves if the situation calls for it.
Caggiula’s scored as many as 13 goals in a season (2017-18 for the Oilers) and notched nine in only 40 games for Chicago in ’19-20, roughly an 18-goal pace for a full season. However, his production’s tailed off over the past couple of seasons and concussions have been an issue.
Not ideal for a player whose calling card is sand and grit. But at this stage, I’ll take any dollop of aggression we can get.
Where’s the Beef?
Ever since Hextall and Brian Burke arrived we’ve been hearing rumblings about “long pants hockey” and being better equipped to play a physical game. They sorta kinda took us in that direction with the acquisition of Jeff Carter and last summer’s PTO signing of big Brian Boyle.
More recently, someone with ties to the team suggested RFA Danton Heinen didn’t receive a qualifying offer in part because our brain-trust wanted to be harder to play against.
At this stage, it appears to be lip service.
With Boyle, Nathan Beaulieu and Anthony Angello apparently out the door, there’s no one in the organization remotely capable of riding shot gun and providing any type of protection.
Perhaps it was a (lead) pipe dream, but I’d hoped we might sign feisty hit man Brendan Lemieux, who reupped with the Kings for $1.35 million. Among the other prominent heavies in play, ex-Pen Erik Gudbranson signed a four-year deal with Columbus for a whopping $4 million per season. (Sorry Guddy, but that’s way more than you’re worth.)
Across the Commonwealth, the Flyers signed slugger nonpareil Nicolas Deslauriers, once rumored to be ‘Burgh bound, for four years at an AAV of $1.75 million. Seems Philly’s planning a return to their Broad Street Bullies roots under new coach John Tortorella.
Speaking of bullies, there’s at least one on every block in the Metro. The Caps have Tom Wilson and Garnet Hathaway, the Rangers old friend Ryan Reaves and “Mr. Elbows” Jacob Trouba. The Blue Jackets boast Gudbranson and Boone Jenner, the Islanders hulking Ross Johnston and Matt Martin. The Devils re-signed Mason Geertsen. And Philly features Deslauriers and Rasmus Ristolainen.
Who’re we gonna call when the goin’ gets tough? Uh…Josh Archibald.
Making Sense of it All
I’m still trying to wrap my brain around Hextall’s latest flurry of moves. Frankly, the Jan Rutta signing stumped me. I’m not saying I don’t like it…he’s reputed to be a pretty solid d-man. But it forces GMRH’s hand to deal at least one of our well-paid defensemen.
It takes two to tango. Finding a willing partner with cap space to burn could prove problematic.
The Dustin Tokarski signing? A no-brainer. We needed a veteran No. 3 goalie for organizational depth, and Dustin fits the bill. Ditto Xavier Ouellet, this summer’s Taylor Fedun.
I like the type of players Archibald and Caggiula are. Just wish one of them came wrapped in a 6’3” 215-pound frame with the last name Kassian.
One thing I do know? This year’s batch of Filene’s Basement signings don’t match last year’s cache of Brock McGinn, Evan Rodrigues and Heinen. Not by a long shot.
I’m not faulting Hextall. He had very little cap space to work with. But some of those kids at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton better be ready…
The notion that have having tough guys ” keeps opposing players from “taking liberties” with “skilled guys” is pure fiction. Example: Tampa Bay is not exactly a small team with guys like Hedmans, Sergachev, Maroon, Perry, etc. etc. They didn’t stop Trouba from trying his patented chicken wing move on Palat. If I recall correctly, Wilson broke Aston-Reeses jaw when the Pens still had Gudbranson, possibly the league’s best fighter.
Big physical guys can help you win, sure. The Pens could use some more heft. But if you think that the Troubas and Wilsons of the NHL are going to be frightened into submission, you are completely wrong. Sure, you maybe get the catharsis of a fight, but that settles nothing and prevents nothing.
Zeidel,
No Gudbranson was not on that roster on that 2017-2018 roster, he didn’t come to Pgh until Feb 25, 2019, in exchange for Tanner Pearson. And he only played 19 games that season and only played 7 the next season before being traded. Having players on the roster or in the organization does not equal having them in the game and on the ice.
If we were talking about abolishing all liberties against the Penguins with bigger players to protect our stars you would be right, some liberties will be taken, particularly in the playoffs when the real war begins. However, if you are trying to say that there will be a the number of liberties taken is not affected by having a bigger – tougher team, that would be an interesting stat to dig out indeed. How would that be proven?
There are a number of sites that list Penalties Drawn but I haven’t seen any site that separates them into Penalties from dangerous plays. Even if we went through the play – by – play data from the NHL website, we would be limited to only the data from Penalties that were called, not the penalties that were missed.
One thing we can look at is when the Penguins had Ryan Reaves play 58 games, they had 6 players play 80 or more games that season. The next season when he was gone, that number was cut in half, even with Gudbransen playing 19 games, that number was cut in half. Last season without even Gudbranson, only 2 players managed that feat and our number 1 goalie was injured right before the playoffs from injuries due to traffic around the net. Unless I can see hard statistical evidence to the contrary, yes, it would seem that having a heavy does slow down the number of liberties taken against a team.
I am not suggesting the Penguins revert to the broad street bully days or even try and get back Reaves or Gudbranson, but the most certainly need to start factoring physical size into their equation. The average player on the ice at any given time for the two teams that played for the Cup this season both significantly outweighed the average Penguin player, as I noted in one of our previous conversations.
Hey Zeidel,
For the record, the Pens didn’t have Gudbranson when Wilson laid out Aston-Reese. They did have Jamie Oleksiak, who challenged Wilson at some point in the series (perhaps that very game). Wilson declined at the time, but got the jump on Oleksiak during a game the following season and TKO’d and concussed him. The beginning of the end for the “Big Rig” in the ‘Burgh. But I digress.
I’m admittedly old school and you can call me a dinosaur if you like. But I do believe there’s value in having a physical deterrent in the lineup. Most other teams seem to agree…hence the litany of Metro heavies I mentioned in the above article. Count recent Cup winners Colorado (Kurtis MacDermid) and Tampa Bay (Pat Maroon) among the teams that employ tough guys.
Will the presence of a hammer prevent opponents from taking any liberties at all? As you state, no. But I don’t think it would be open season, either, as it was against Trouba and the Rangers in the playoffs. New York pretty much ran our guys with impunity (and knocked out Rakell and Sid in the process) knowing full well they wouldn’t have to answer the bell. I think we leave our guys unnecessarily exposed by not affording them any protection.
On the flip side, I remember a game against the Caps (March 12, 2019 to be exact) shortly after the Pens acquired Gudbranson. Early in the third period Wilson barreled into the slot and flattened Marcus Pettersson in front of the net. Then he began mixing it up with Jake Guentzel, obviously not who we want fighting our battles. Gudbranson moved right in and took Wilson to the ice.
Message sent. The Pens went on to win 5-3. You can’t tell me there wasn’t value in how Gudbranson stood up for the team…emotionally, spiritually and otherwise. I’m sure the Pens felt a foot taller when he was on the ice.
I’ll return to the Wilson hit on Aston-Reese. Maybe the presence of Ryan Reaves, who we’d traded a couple of months earlier, wouldn’t have prevented Wilson from laying out ZAR. But I think the Pens would’ve reacted differently to the hit and been less rattled with Reavo on the bench. Kind of like the calming presence of a tough big brother. That in itself has value. And I have no doubt that at some point in the series, Reaves would’ve extracted a pound of flesh from Wilson.
Count me among those who belief toughness…and the ability to stick up for the team should the need arise…plays an important role in a team’s success.
Rick
Hey all,
Just a quicky blurb to mention that St. Louis signed Anthony Angello to a one-year, two-way contract.
He always intrigued me…a physical 6’5″ 210-pound forward who can skate. When he scored 16 goals in 48 games for the Baby Pens in 2019-20, I thought he was primed for a shot with the Pens. He did some good work for us during a 19-game stretch in ’20-21 in a limited role…51 hits…only on the ice for one 5v5 goal against and six for.
He skated a couple of games on a line with Radim Zohorna that was very effective…opponents really had trouble handling their combined size. But we know how things work in the ‘Burgh. Anthony never seemed to gain Mike Sullivan’s trust, and we’re all well aware of Sully’s preference for smaller, quicker guys.
Anyway…I hope Angello gets the opportunity with the Blues that he never got here.
Also, Tampa Bay signed Felix Robert off the Baby Pens roster. He’s small but skilled and was a huge scorer in the Quebec League. A lot of folks aren’t aware of this, but Martin St. Louis skated for the Pens’ top farm club for a season before becoming…well…Martin St. Louis.
Not that I’m rooting against Robert, but I hope history doesn’t repeat itself.
Rick
Rick
I’m really disappointed in both Hextall and Burke. Under there watch we’ve seen Trouba take out Crosby and
Marchand punch and spear Jarry and neither held accountable. I don’t understand this mindset at all.
How can you sit and watch this?? At least JR tried to address the problem. I previously wrote that Hextall
needed to give Sullivan an ultimatum now I think new ownership needs to give both Hextall and Burke an
ultimatum. Either make the necessary changes for playoff success or start looking for another job.
Hey Mike,
According to an article on Pittsburgh Hockey Now, it sounds like the Pens tried to get Josh Anderson out of Montreal but the deal fell though.
This is pure surmising on my part. But maybe Anderson for Zucker and a pick? Or Anderson for Marino and a pick? Or a multiplayer deal somewhat along the lines of Anderson and Petry for Zucker and Marino, perhaps with salary retention and or picks involved?
Don’t know.
It’s encouraging that Hextall/Burke were at least looking at getting the type of player we need. And I guess Rutta was signed in part to give us more size on ‘d’ although he’s not really any sort of tough guy/deterrent. But I agree. Aside from that, size and toughness generally generally aren’t in the “front row” (of considerations) as Bob Uecker liked to put it.
Rick
Hey Rick or is it Clara Peller?
Love the title.
Sorry Rick, After Letang, Rakell, Malkin, to this point Mr. Hextall has totally dropped the ball with his FA signings. With the exception of Tokarski, none of yesterday’s signing represent an upgrade over what is already in the organization. All they represent is a road block in the development of what is already in the system. And Tokarski, he isn’t any improvement over Linberg, Blomqvist, or Gauthier, just much needed depth in goal.
And I do blame Hextall. He did a great job last season identifying Heinen and to a lesser extent McGinn. He even made a good move at the trade deadline to get Rakell. However, like so many GMs before him, it appears he is Matt Hunwick signing days. He had an opportunity to sign a couple of bigger players, players that represent the missing ingredient on this roster. He could have signed Zadorov. Even if he were a Million or 2 over the cap now, he doesn’t have to be Cap compliant now, he can wait until opening night of the season. If he trades a D man, we don’t needa clone of what we are trading away, we need a Big D-man who can block shots and can be a threat from the point with his shot.
Up front it is well past time to give Zohorna, O’Conner, Angelo, or even Puustenin (if we need a smurf to placate Sullivan), but nooooooo, we just added older players who either are small or who play small. WBS is stock piled with midgets why waste the Cap space on new midgets?
SOP
Hey Rick,
Don’t give up hope just yet. Hextall has a pretty decent hand he can play. Pettersson, Dumoulin, Marino, Zucker & Kapanen.
What I would like to see is Kapanen signed and moved, if the guy doesn’t even hustle during a salary year it’s not going to happen. Sign Heinen at a discount after he doesn’t get picked up. Move Pettersson, Dumoulin and Zucker for a quality gritty big guy to put on Malkin’s line.
Crosby, Guentzel, Rust
Malkin, Rakell, ??????
Carter, Heinen, McGinn
Blueger, Zohorna, O’Conner
Hey Phil,
I can appreciate your lines you have, but they assume that we resign Heinen after not qualifying him and that Sullivan would play Zohorna and O’Conner over Archibald and Caggiula. Heinen may be back if no one meets his numbers bnut I find it hard to believe Sullivan will not over use Archibald and Caggiula.
Hey Phil,
I’m with you on Kapanen. I hate to use a four-letter word, but Kappy flat-out quit at times last season. In all my years of watching hockey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a player just stop putting forth an effort for prolonged stretches like he did. I know he lost his confidence and I fully understand the effect that can have. And he did bounce back and give a decent (if unproductive) account of himself in the playoffs,. But can he be counted on or trusted?
I sure don’t know.
A shame, because Kappy possesses the raw tools to be a good and even impactful player. I just don’t know if we’re ever going to see that, at least on a consistent basis.
Regarding a large player with some skill, I’d love to pry Lawson Crouse out of Arizona. But the very reason I’d like to get him…size, scoring ability, toughness, affordability…would speak to why the Coyotes would probably like to keep him.
Rick
Rick,
Crouse would be a great trade!
Apparently the Pens were extremely close to signing Johan Larsson on Wednesday. Elliot Friedman tweeted “Sounds like Johan Larsson to PIT” and I don’t remember him ever being wrong about his tweets about trades. I don’t know how close it was or if it is still in the works, but minutes later Hextall tweeted he signed Archibald. Hopefully Larsson is completely off the table.
I’m hoping Archibald and Caggiula are signed just to shore up the WBS roster and maybe fill in for injuries.
Hey Phil
I hoping your right and Hextall can find at least one Defenseman and one forward that can keep opposing
players from taking liberties with our skilled guys. Also, about moving Zucker – That would be a tough one
to pull off and the Pen’s would probably have to eat a decent piece of his contract. Personally I think it would
be better to make that move at the deadline. The other problem I see with adding size and toughness is
if Zuckers gone Hextall has to find another Top 6 forward to play alongside of Malkin – this will be costly.
GO PENS