According to a report that broke first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now, the Penguins are expected to extend a qualifying offer to restricted free agent forward Kasperi Kapanen. Not so with fellow RFA forward Danton Heinen.
Thanks to the way Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas structured his contract, Kapanen’s offer will be for $840,000. Heinen’s would’ve been for $1.1 million…his 2021-22 cap hit.
Personally, I would’ve prioritized Heinen over Kapanen. The former Bruin and Duck was in my humble opinion a pleasant surprise, tallying a career-best 18 goals while averaging a relatively modest 12:43 of ice time per game. The stealthy forward was good enough to place fifth among black-and-gold skaters in shooting percentage (13) and fourth in goals per 60 minutes (1.04).
By comparison, Sidney Crosby’s G/60 mark was .85 and Kapanen’s was .67.
In a backhanded way, Heinen’s surprising production may work against him receiving an offer. Given that the blonde-haired winger has arbitration rights (so does Kapanen), the Pens’ brain trust may fear he’ll receive a steeper pay hike than they’re willing to shell out. Particularly for a skater who’s been a bit streaky over the course of his six-year NHL career.
Too, Ron Hextall and Co. have the option of pursuing Heinen as a UFA and signing him at an acceptable cap hit.
Meanwhile, Kapanen, who admittedly lost his confidence, was a virtual no-show for wide swaths of the season (only two goals over his final 39 regular-season games). However, having surrendered a first-round pick to acquire his services, the Pens have a significant investment in Kappy and the flying Finn is undeniably talented if more than a little star-crossed.
Plus, he does great GetGo commercials (just being silly).
Defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph and forward Kasper Bjorkqvist (who signed to play in Finland) will also receive qualifying offers.
In other organizational news, the Pens have agreed to terms with forward Alexander Nylander on a one-year, two-way contract that calls for $750,000 at the NHL level.
A former eighth overall pick of Buffalo in 2016, Nylander was acquired from Chicago on January 5 for Sam Lafferty.
The 6’1” 192-pounder enjoyed a resurgence with the Baby Pens, tallying 16 goals and 32 points in 44 games. Impressive output on an offensively challenged club.
Could the skilled 24-year-old, who can play either wing, potentially be in the mix for a forward slot this season?
Rick, The Other Rick, Phil
Great to see Hextall has locked up Rakell. It will be interesting to see who becomes a cap casualty over
the next week and a half. GO PENS.
Don’t mind signing Rakell. He is better than Heinen. He gives the team a player to go to the net and cause havoc.
Signing Rakell to $5 million probably means the team has given up trying to sign Malkin though, unless they trade Zucker. As I wrote several months back, if the team couldn’t get Letang, Malkin, and Rust to sign extensions by the deadline, I would have traded all three for draft picks or blue-chip kids like Lundl.
I liked what Carter did when he first came here but he cannot fill Malkin’s role; Neither will Rodrigues. It will be interesting to see how they move forward. If they can’t find a 1-B center for a cheap price, Crosby will not get another Cup in the ‘burgh.
Hey Mike, TOR, Rick,
I like the signing of Rackell, I do question the amount and length, but the Pens need Rackell.
I’m am starting to wonder about Hextall though. Like, his idea of taking the best player available in the draft rather than addressing needs. I feel like he’s going after players who are rated well and he’s gathering good pieces, but he has corner puzzle pieces, a rook, a knight and the race car from the monopoly game. None of the pieces fit together. I haven’t had trouble understanding the direction a Penguins GM was headed in a long time. Right now I don’t have a clue what Hextall’s endgame is.
Rick
I to would of prioritized Heinen over Kappy although you would like to think Kapanen will bounce back from a
rough year. Also, like Phil said maybe Hextall knew of teams that were wanting to sign Kapanen as a Free Agent
and this could force a trade.
Phil on Malkin I personally think it would be a bad move to give Malkin a 4th year. With Letang and Malkin tying up
12 million for the next 8-years it would handicap Hextall from transitioning into a re-build for sometime. The Pen’s
have already over extended on Letang. You have to remember this is each players last contract and the Pen’s are
locked in for the duration. GO PENS
Hey Mike,
if this management group is willing to throw money at the team then there are a bunch of loopholes to signing a player to a longer contract that the Penguins could exploit. Most revolve around LTIR. For instance what the lightning did with Kucherov out all season then showed up for the playoffs while Stamkos did the same thing at trade deadline. Chicago and Kane did the exact same thing at deadline just a few years before that. Maybe have Malkin sit for a season and magically get better around playoffs.
There was a Twitter poll that 30% of Pens fans said they would rather have Malkin, Crosby and Letang retire here than going all in on winning a Cup the next four years.
I’ve asked this many times on this board before… Do people just care about the name “Pittsburgh Penguins” winning a Cup or the players that are on the team?
Malkin said he is testing free agency. It could be a deadline ploy. But If he leaves a decent contract for somewhere else or if a great name is available because Malkin wouldn’t sign by deadline then by all means Malkin, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. I’m only as loyal as the players are to the team.
Phil
I hear you on being loyal to the players and IMO I think the Penguins have been extremely patient with
their core group over the last 4 years. They’ve given them every opportunity to chase another cup
together and resisted any attempts to trade them and guarantee some kind of value in return.
The business has changed and it’s becoming more and more unique for a player to start and end his
career with the same team. I agree with the 30% I would rather have Crosby retire a Penguin than look
to win another cup – no so with Letang and Malkin. Look both these players have made plenty of
money but when you start giving 36 year olds six year deals it will eventually have a negative affect
on the team and organization. We couldn’t get out of the 1st round for the last 4 years with this same
core why extend them on long term deals. I just don’t understand the thought process behind such a
move and I think it could eventually cost Hextall his job. A very wise man “legend” once told me theirs
loyalty and then theirs stupid loyalty – this is the later of the two. Phil hope your well. Great chatting.
GO PENS
“Personally, I would’ve prioritized Heinen over Kapanen. ”
Hey Rick, I agree 100%. Maybe Hextall was getting interest in Kapanen and not Heinen. Perhaps Kapanen has trade value or something? Hopefully Hextall knows what he’s doing.
On a side note, I think I read somewhere that Malkin would take $6m a year for four years if offered.