A few days ago, Other Rick and I had an interesting discussion concerning the Penguins’ immediate future. One that shook me from my early summer lull and compelled me to put fingertips to keyboard.
Specifically, what happens next season if the Pens decide to fill their open spots with kids?
Some I think you can pretty much pencil in already. It’s practically a given that a kid goalie will share the net next season with Arturs Šilovs. While the consensus would appear to favor 22-year-old wunderkind Sergei Murashov, who’s enjoying a terrific playoff with the Baby Pens following a standout regular season, Kyle Dubas also mentioned Joel Blomqvist in his season-wrapping presser.
A word of caution. Like Šilovs, Murashov struggles with rebound control. He also tends to play in a very low crouch, leaving the top of his net exposed. In other words, I’d temper my expectations.
A good overall assessment for all the kids.
Unless Dubas pulls a complete surprise and re-ups 34-year-old player’s player Noel Acciari, Avery Hayes seems ticketed for fourth-line duty. Not only does the peppery 23-year-old possess many of the same qualities as “Cookie,” but he brings excellent wheels and a scoring touch.
The rest of the spots aren’t quite as fixed. Just a guess, but I think Rutger McGroarty will be given every opportunity to fill Anthony Mantha’s sizeable skates, unless Ville Koivunen gets first crack.
This is a classic case of younger not necessarily being better. It’s hard to imagine either McGroarty or Koivunen, point-per-gamers in the AHL but not nearly as productive in the bigs, coming close to replacing “Big Moe’s” 33 goals.
Quick study Mikhail Ilyin, a superb playmaker, could insert himself into the mix as well, especially if Dubas chooses to let Evgeni Malkin walk. For the record, our GM/POHO says he’d love to have Geno back. But something unspoken seems to be gumming up the works.
If Geno departs, Tristan Broz could work his way in as well. Can’t discount Filip Hållander, either. He was effective for the Pens before being sidelined with a blood clot. Maybe even ’25 first-rounder Bill Zonnon, a power-forward who scored in each of his first two games for the Baby Pens, in the playoffs to boot.
On the right side of defense, it’s likely veteran Connor Clifton will be replaced by a combination of up-and-comer Harrison Brunicke and injury-prone Jack St. Ivany.
On the portside, I’d like to see us bring back Ryan Shea, but he’s a UFA-to-be and could command a decent contract with term thanks to his strong season (35 points, plus-30), something Dubas may want to avoid.
If Shea departs, that leaves former first-rounder Owen Pickering and/or recently signed puck-mover Jake Livanavage as leading candidates. Journeyman Caleb Jones is still under contract, as is free-agent bust Ryan Graves. Baring a miracle resurrection of Biblical proportions, the latter’s ship has long since sailed in terms of being a useful player.
Bottom line? We could be replacing established NHLers Acciari, Clifton, Malkin, Mantha, Malkin, Shea and Stuart Skinner with some combination of Blomqvist, Broz, Brunicke, Hållander, Avery Hayes, Ilyin, Koivunen, Livanavage, McGroarty, Murashov, Pickering, St. Ivany and Zonnon.
Good, I suppose, from a developmental standpoint. Sooner or later, you need to find out what you have in the kids. The only way to do that is to turn ‘em loose and let ‘em play.
More than likely bad from a results standpoint, or more precisely, a making the playoffs standpoint. There’ll be growing pains and mistakes for sure while the kids receive a healthy dose of what amounts to on-the-job training. Even a fairly safe bet like Hayes will take some time to adapt to his role at the big-league level.
In other words, subtraction by addition, to bend a time-honored phrase.
Of course, nothing is done in a vacuum. As he indicated in his presser, Dubas will seek to add prime-time talent through trades or, although unspoken, perhaps an adroit RFA signing. We certainly have the draft capital and cap space to spare.
Speaking of RFAs around the league, I’ll close with a list of some of the more prominent and attractive ones.
Center: Bedard (CHI), Carlsson (ANA), Fantilli (CBJ), Hayton (UTA), Kurashev (SJS), McMichael (WAS), Perfetti (WPG)
Left Wing: Benson (BUF), Bolduc (MTL), Dorofeyev (VEG), Gauthier (ANA), Krebs (BUF), Robertson, J. (DAL), Robertson, N. (TOR)
Right Wing: Bourque (DAL), Brink (PHI), Graf (SJS), Samoskevich (FLA)
Left Defense: Edvinsson (DET), Mintyukov (ANA), Mukhamadullin (SJS), Xhekaj, A. (MTL), Zellweger (ANA)
Right Defense: Clarke (LAK), Drysdale (PHI), Nemec (NJD), Schneider (NYR), Spence (OTT)
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