Are the Penguins a Better Team Today?

As with any pro sport, free agency in the NHL can be a very exciting, yet unsettling process. In fact, it feels an awful lot like disassembling and then reassembling Frankenstein’s monster every summer. Especially if you consciously try to avoid deals with long-term commitments.

And so it was for POHO/GM Kyle Dubas and our Penguins, who were surprisingly active in the days leading up to and including the first day of free agency.

So how did Dubas do?

Here’s a quickie review of his most recent activity:

June 25: Acquired forward Hendrix Lapierre, 24, from Washington for a 3rd-round pick in 2027 and a 5th-round pick in 2028;

June 29: Acquired forward David Gustafsson, 26, from Winnipeg for defenseman Jack St. Ivany, 26;

June 30: Acquired defenseman Kaeden Korczak, 25, from Vegas for defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, 28, with $500K of retained salary;

July 1: Acquired forward Nick Robertson, 24, from Toronto for a 4th-round pick in 2028;

July 1: Signed defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, 35, to a two-year contract ($4 million AAV);

July 1: Signed defenseman Declan Carlile, 26, to a two-year contract ($1.5 million AAV);

July 1: Signed forward Andrei Kuzmenko, 30, to a one-year contract for $5 million.

Dubas also made an internal signing, securing 22-year-old Baby Pens forward Atley Calvert on a two-year deal with an AAV of $930K.

Predictably, some of the moves I like. Others, not so much.

I’ll start with the good. I really like the Robertson get. Although undersized (5’9” 180), the spunky left wing’s got a non-stop motor and may well possess an untapped offensive upside.

While I hated to see Wotherspoon go, I can appreciate the reasoning behind the trade, mitigated to a great extent by yesterday’s Carlile signing. The ex-Bolt profiles a lot like, well, Wotherspoon. Good size (6’3” 190), solid metrics in a limited role, a willingness to engage. I can also appreciate that Korczak has some promise.

In a vacuum, I didn’t particularly care for the Gustafsson-St. Ivany swap, although I understand it. Again mitigated to a great extent by the addition of the 6’3” 206-pound Korczak.

Lapierre? Another dart to throw at the dart board, hoping it’ll stick.

Although an upgrade over St. Ivany, I’m not a fan of the van Riemsdyk signing and would just as soon have re-upped aggressive Connor Clifton, who hooked on with the Bruins for two seasons at a very reasonable AAV of $2.25 million. Roughly half of what we’re forking over for JVR.

The addition that absolutely blindsided me is Kuzmenko. On the plus-side, he’s got hands and can score, provided he receives ample power-play duty. However, he’s the ultimate one-trick pony. Can’t skate, doesn’t play defense, isn’t physical. Kind of a poor man’s Patrik Laine, or latter-day Alex Ovechkin if you prefer.

At least with those guys, you’re pretty much guaranteed to get 30 goals. With Kuzmenko? He’s ranged anywhere from a high of 39 goals to a low of 11.

I just don’t see him as an apples-to-apples replacement for Anthony Mantha. If anything, he’s a potential impediment, blocking the path of a kid.

Return of the Dragon?

Departees Wotherspoon (162) and Clifton (180) combined for 342 hits last season while providing the bite that had too-long been missing from our backline. Reputed to be physical by some, Korczak and van Riemsdyk combined for 114 hits, including 12 by TVR.

Yes, a dozen. That’s not an anomaly or a misprint. Trevor’s a 6’3” 210-pound feather duster.

As for anyone dropping the gloves to defend a teammate?

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Actually, I take that back. Carlile will drop the gloves. Last season he tangled with Josh Anderson, Jonah Gadjovich and Garnet Hathaway, tough hombres all, so he clearly possesses courage. However, he fights about as well as former Pens d-man Marcus Pettersson, which is to say he can’t.

Yes, it’s the return of the Dragon, and I’m not referring to martial-arts legend Bruce Lee.

Are We Better?

I’ll close by repeating PP colleague Other Rick’s oft-stated measuring stick for evaluating moves.

Did they make the team better?

Questionable at best, trending toward no.

On the plus side, Dubas significantly upgraded and deepened the right side of our defense with the additions of Korzcak and van Riemsdyk. Love the Robertson addition. He could take a big step forward. Thumbs-down on Kuzmenko, especially at $5 mil.

We still need a legit left-side defenseman, unless we plan to ride the likes of Caleb Jones, Jake Livanavage, Owen Pickering, Ilya Solovyov or…gasp…Ryan Graves. (Speaking of portsiders, Ryan Shea signed a five-year deal with the Oilers to replace Darnell Nurse, who was dealt to the Sharks.)

And where, oh where, are kid forwards like Rutger McGroarty and Avery Hayes going to slot?

As it stands now, our roster is bloated in some spots, incomplete in others. Perhaps foreshadowing more deals to come, maybe involving a player of magnitude like Rickard Rakell and/or Bryan Rust.

Bottom line? There’s still work to be done.

Lots of work.