Penguins Update: Oops…Not So Fast

About two weeks ago I wrote an article singing GM Ron Hextall’s praises.

I opined that he was doing a masterful job of navigating the free-agent minefield, all the while serving several different masters. And he has. Indeed, securing the services of Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Casey DeSmith with only slight bump up in combined salary ($1.7 million) required a remarkable sangfroid not to mention nerves of steel.

I’m still high on Hextall’s performance…for the most part.

With the majority of his off-season course run, GMRH appears to have let up just before the finish line. While the instinct to exhale is understandable, it could have consequences heading into the coming season. I’m talking about the work that was done was to flesh out the bottom six. More specifically, the recent Kasperi Kapanen signing.

First, let’s review our summer to date. With roughly $3.4 million in cap space available after signing Malkin, I thought Hextall might bide his time and wait for the initial wave of free agency to pass before hunting for bargains. Perhaps even make a pitch for old friends Evan Rodrigues and Danton Heinen, who combined for a nifty 37 goals last season while earning the princely sum of $2.1 million.

To the contrary, Hextall was quite active. He quickly burned up the remaining cap space with the surprise signing of defenseman Jan Rutta and fourth-line winger Josh Archibald, a former Pen coming off a lost season in Edmonton.

The Rutta signing snapped into focus three days later in the wake of the dual trades with New Jersey and Montreal. Hextall clearly intended to retool the defensive corps with an eye toward adding functional size in Jeff Petry and Rutta.

The trades also opened up an additional $1.4 million in cap space. Funds that were quickly gobbled up (and then some) by inking Kapanen to a two-year deal with an AAV of $3.2 million.

And there’s the rub. After all the hard bargaining Hextall did with the others, including franchise icons Malkin and Letang, I’m not sure what he was thinking regarding Kapanen. Does he really believe Kappy’s worth all that, especially on the heels of a mostly miserable 2021-22 campaign when the tousle-haired appeared to regress and worse…throw in the towel at times? Or was he just in a hurry to wrap up loose ends? Perhaps too much in a hurry?

Whatever the reason, it represents the biggest hitch in Hextall’s giddy up. A tendency in some instances to overpay for bottom-six talent. Brock McGinn, for one, and perhaps Jeff Carter given his age.

The Kapanen deal looks worse when compared to the one recently signed by ex-Hurricane Nino Niedereitter. A big power forward with a half-dozen 20-goal seasons on his resume, Niedereitter agreed to a two-year deal with Nashville for an AAV of $4 million.

By comparison, Kapanen has just one 20-goal season and that was back in ’18-19.

Yikes.

In light of his struggles, I was surprised Kapanen received a qualifying offer in the first place while Heinen did not. Perhaps Hextall and his staff felt Heinen had topped out at 18 goals…a fair assumption given his track record. For all his struggles, Kapanen still possesses a tantalizing set of tools and a potentially higher ceiling.

However, potential is often a two-edged sword that can (and all-too frequently does) cut both ways. As the old saying goes, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

If not Heinen? I would’ve been tempted to purse Rodrigues. Perhaps the case of another player who topped out last season (a career-high 19 goals). But his speed, versatility and puck-hawking energy were valuable assets.

Or maybe Hextall could’ve refrained from signing Kapanen and Archibald and landed Niederreiter, who would’ve added a desperately needed power element up front, not to mention proven production.

Water well under the bridge at this stage.

It’s always easy to second-guess, especially when playing armchair GM. And it’s so easy to take things out of context, especially without first-hand knowledge of the pressures, circumstances and reasoning involving certain moves.

No general manager gets it right all the time. Not Hall-of-Famer Craig Patrick, or Ray Shero or Jim Rutherford.

Overall, I think Hextall’s done a terrific job since taking over the reins. Just wish he would’ve been a little more patient…and prudent…with Kapanen.

Around the League

In a blockbuster of ice-shattering proportions, the Flames sent power-forward extraordinaire and pending RFA Matthew Tkachuk to the Panthers for left wing Jonathan Huberdeau, a 115-point scorer, talented two-way defenseman MacKenzie Weegar and right wing Cole Schwindt.

Wowser.

The teams also exchanged picks, with a conditional first-rounder in the 2025 Entry Draft going to Calgary and a conditional fourth-rounder in the same draft heading to Florida.

In an effort to whittle their cap hit in the wake of signing forward Patrik Laine to a four-year deal with an AAV of $8.7 million, Columbus basically handed 28-goal scorer Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle for third- and fourth-round picks in the 2023 Entry Draft. Which might mitigate the Blue Jackets anticipated charge up the Metro standings.

Former Blue Jacket forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, once traded for Laine and rumored to be casting his eyes toward Montreal, signed a one-year deal with the Jets for $6 million.