Available free agents to round out the Penguins
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 6, 2009 6:00 AM EDT
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PrintFive days into free agency most of the big free agent names have been snatched up. Despite being named losers by some so far in free agency, the Penguins figure to have only lost two players from their Stanley Cup winning roster. And with the natural improvement of the Penguins players 25 years old or younger: Jordan Staal, Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Tyler Kennedy, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Goligoski, Marc-Andre Fleury and Maxime Talbot to say nothing of their minor league prospects), it's conceivable the Penguins could be a better and more confident team next year than they have been in the past.
The two major free agent defections, Rob Scuderi (LA) and Hal Gill (MTL) do leave a void in the Penguins roster. They formed a formidible defensive pair and combined to kill more than 5 and a half minutes a game in penalties.
According to nhlscap.com, the Penguins have $2.9 million in cap space -- some of which they'll want to keep in order to make some trade deadline pickups, but they should have some money to dedicate to replacing some of Gill and Scuderi's penalty-kill load. Here's some good candidates still available:
Jay McKee was bought out by the St. Louis Blues and will receive $1.3 million dollars from them this season, which means that perhaps the next contract he signs can be more about the situation and getting his reputation back amongst NHL general managers. And what better situation could McKee have then to come to Pittsburgh, get a chance to be a 5/6 defenseman that kills penalties (which McKee did last season 3:18 minutes a night last season) and play on a winning team.
It seems like it could be a great fit for the player to take a one or two year contract and could be beneficial for the Penguins to get a defender with something to prove. McKee's positional style of defense is similiar to that of a Rob Scuderi or Hal Gill -- McKee was credited with 68 hits and 185 blocked shots (1st on his team) compare that to 61 hits and 164 blocked shots for Scuderi and 78 hits, 112 blocked shots for Gill.
Nick Boynton is not a fun player to play against, several times he got under Crosby's skin during the season. Boynton is more of an offensive player than a guy like Scuderi or Gill, but he can play a little on the PK and be a solid 3rd pairing guy. He'd add size and a measure of physicality to the blueline and is a right handed shot.
Boynton is coming off a contract that paid him $2.95 million, so if he's looking for that kind of money again he won't be a Penguin. A few days into free agency it doesn't seem like he's had that many takers, so maybe if he has to take less money then he's accustomed to -- why not make it with the defending Stanley Cup champion? For a guy who's been on rebuilding teams for most of his career, the promise of a deep playoff run could be more enticing than just the dollars and cents.
Clearly Marc-Andre Bergeron would be a much more offensive option from the blueline amongst the remaining candidates of free agents. Bergeron's style might fit well in the agressive, puck-moving attack Dan Bylsma employs, which often asks defensemen to pinch in and hold the puck at the blueline. Bergeron also only had 21 giveaways (and 11 takeaways) in his 72 games, perhaps he handles the puck a little better than his reputation.
Then again, the Penguins already have Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski. Do they need another 5'10 left handed shooting offensive defenseman who's not going to be able to contribute much physically or on the penalty kill?
There's always the option under your nose too, that Ben Lovejoy is ready to assume a regular position in the NHL. at 24 years old, Lovejoy now has two years of professional experience under his belt and was a fantastic league leading +42 in the AHL this past season. Lovejoy brings a Scuderi like skillset of "doing the little things right" and being in the right place at the right time. Hard details to quantify, but important to any team to have.
There's risks though, rookie blueliners always go through a trial by fire and are prone to make mistakes. It's only natural and happens to every player. The Penguins already have Goligoski as a relatively young NHL defenseman. Also, there's the matter of depth; injuries happen every season and the Penguins are a little thin in the ranks after the defections of Gill and Scuderi. Even though we don't want to, imagine if a guy like Gonchar or Eaton (both who've missed significant time in recent years) went down with injury....The Penguins would be in bad shape with any long-term injury to a defenseman if they don't make another addition.
So what do you think Pensburghers? Obviously money is a huge issue, and when you work with agents we fans can't be quite sure what the demands are. Ray Shero's shown he's not going to over-pay or handcuff his team with a bad FA contract so the deal is going to have to make sense for the players and the team if a free agent is added.
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I have no idea what Lovejoy and Curry were offered, but I’ll assume that they will count against the team’s cap this year and the amount under the cap will be closer to 1.5 mil a year.
Unless they sign McKee to a major discount, I don’t think they sign anyone significant through free agency. I wouldn’t be shocked however to see them trade Dupuis and/or Godard since they now have a surplus of 4th line forwards and probably want to unload some contracts before the cap falls in the 10-11 season.
McKee seems like the only guy there that they could afford. Boynton will most likely ask for too much, MAB is likely also too expensive – and as you mentioned – a scoring defenseman that doesn’t address their needs all that well, and Lovejoy will be a good 7th D-man this year.
Kinda strange that no one has scooped up MAB yet. I’d love to see him play with the talented Pens forwards, but there’s probably a rule in the CBA that doesn’t allow you to have 2 Marc-Andre’s on the same team. :(
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
Marc-Andre x2
I agree! MAB looks like a great option. I’m also a huge fan of having a MAF and a MAB play for the Pens. However, that’s just me being silly. It’s also great that they both can play hockey, and more offense on the blue-line is always a plus.
Jay McKee
I vote for Jay McKee and as assistant GM to Ray Shero (yeah right) I suggest he receive a 2 year, $4M salary, ($2M cap hit) with $1.3M paid in 09-10, $2.7M paid in 10-11. He is receiving $1.33M from the Blues (nice severance package there!). I would agree with Big Taste that Lovejoy and Curry are going to eat up about half of what is left, they need to move some folks. Dupuis is the fan favorite for this along with Godard the Enforcer. Move them and you have $5M in cap space, plenty to get Lovejoy and Curry and pick up a guy like McKee who should want to prove himself and play for a winner. PS what commitment was made to Conner, the guy they picked up from Dallas?
Conner got a two-way contract, he’ll get paid $500k if he plays in the NHL (not expected, save injury callups) and $105k for playing in the minors…And if he’s in the minors his contract doesn’t count against the cap, so he’s a non-factor really.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
Remember when the Pens were in the hunt to sign Jay McKee a few years back, and Craig Patrick bowed out of the McKee derby? Sounds like a good non-signing, eh? He’d be a great fit with the Pens now more than ever. Of all the free agents above, I’d say he’s the best bet if we’re looking to source blueliners from outside the organization.
"Oh, buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too!" - Mike Lange
It seemed like McKee had a pretty solid season for the Blues last year, just a numbers game:
“We’re just moving forward,” Blues President John Davidson said. “You can’t keep everybody. Sometimes you have to make room for others. We felt that this frees us up to do other things. As you evolve, a lot of people make a little money, and you’ve got budgets. We’re looking into the marketplace and still trying to improve our team. It’s no more than that.”
And with Eric Brewer, Erik Johnson, Barrett Jackman and Alex Pietrangelo coming along STL has better, young, cheaper options for their top 4 d-men.
But even with McKee on their roster they’d still have about $8-9 million in cap room for 2009-10, so unless they’re planning some big move, I don’t really get it.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
I’m sure McKee would have been traded if there was a market out there for his contract. Instead, the best option the Blues had was to buy him out and move on. Hooks, do you know how buyouts work against the cap? I know there’s some formula in place for it, but I don’t know the specifics. Something about a player being under/over 35 makes a difference, too.
"Oh, buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too!" - Mike Lange
Needs and Wants
We all realize the impact of Scuds and Gill leaving, McKee or Boyenton would fill in nicely [my vote McKee]. But we fail to recognize other problem areas.. will Eaton be at all effective this year, in my eyes he was the weakest link on the blueline and who will be our backup goalie? There are many needs and not enough funds. Godard will be very hard to move, Dupris not so hard, we need the money, has to be a business decision. Living in Ct , I see alot of WB/S games, really felt Lovejoy would be welcome additon to the big clubs blueline, but more as a 7th Dman. What’s the deal with Boucher and Zigamanis?
Boucher is a UFA…can’t imagine the Pens re-signing him unless they absolutely cannot find anyone else. He made quite a bit last year and was a mediocre defenseman at best. Zig won’t be coming back either. The signing of Rupp along with Sid’s improved faceoff skills make him unnecessary.
I actually thought Eaton was an unsung hero this past year. He had four goals in the playoffs and made some very nice plays in the defensive end as well. Also, Eats’ contract is done after this year, so for 2m you get a seasoned defenseman coming off his best year in a while that knows the system. Works for me.
A trade of Dupuis or Godard would be nice, but the Pens will have to offer something more to make it happen.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
Rounding out the team...
Why not resign Boucher for $1.5 mil? Projected over a full season, Boucher would have 160 hits and 190 blocked shots and still has on offensive upside…and he is a right-handed shooter.
I don’t think Talbot is a top six wing, and should not be on Malkin’s line. Unload Dupuis and Eaton for some draft picks. Bring back Sykora for $1.8 mil. So the guy went through a slump. I can’t believe he has hit the wall at age 31. Mark Recchi went through a slump at the start of the 2007 season and the Penguins waived him; last season, he scored 61 points.
There would still be money left to make an offer to Beauchemin. I would also like to see Ben Lovejoy get a shot a making the team. The Penguins don’t seem to want to give their prospects a chance. Pesonen is a good example. They brought him up for five games and an average of six minutes playing time. How is the guy supposed to do anything with that? Now they are going to let him go (he wants to stay), and all he did was lead WBS in scoring last season.
One more item: Eric Godard useless. Shero wants to keep him, but ¾ million for a guy who plays less than five minutes per game and whose sole purpose is to fight is ridiculous. What did Godard to help the Penguins win the Stanley Cup? He did nothing; he was a scratch for the entire post-season.
…And give Curry his college and WBS number, 36.
Eaton out and Boucher in? Do not like, even if you think the Pens could sign Beauchemin (they couldn’t).
I suspect you may be right about Talbot’s production over a long regular season stretch, I wouldn’t mind seeing Sykora back either. Kunitz, Guerin and Fedotenko are solid wingers but none of them are really skilled sniping guys with big-time shots at this point. Sykora ought to be.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
Eaton was a completely different player 3-4 months into the season. He looked absolutely horrid at the start, then there was that extended stretch where someone on the coaching staff said he was playing like their best defensemen- and I’d have to agree. As long as he doesn’t revert back to that guy we saw last October, I’m more than okay with him in the lineup.
I still believe Shero has/had a trade in the works since he stocked up on so much 4th line talent. He’s probably looking for someone with an expiring contract in return. I think Dupuis and Godard are good 4th line players and play their roles well, but if they can unload over 2 mil of contracts for NEXT year, it’ll make Shero’s job much easier.
Shero isn’t going to sign anyone for the upcoming year for more than 1 year until he takes care of his priorities, extending Letang and Sarge. There is too much uncertainty with the falling cap to do anything different.
Pitt vs. Pittsburgh
I like the blog, but as an alumni and Pittsburgher, no one refers to any team in Piitsburgh as Pitt except for the Panthers. Not to get all nerdy, but its a little annoying. Keep up the good insight, though. Go Penguins!
I’ve noticed that to be true as well, but when you’re typing something out repetition sometimes gets the best of you. Mixing it up is only natural.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
THEY NEED MORE "D"
We resigned and signed mainly only offensive players, so there are no holes on offense. This is great, but at some point during the season, they will need to have 6 defensemen playing DEFENSE. Everyone is caught up in the pens resigning feds and Billy, but again they play wing and we lost 2 DEFENSEIVE shut down players. They need to sign someone on D who has some NHL experience (unlike the couple D-men they signed). I like the top 3 players (not Lovejoy). I really like Nick Boynton and Jay McKee because they put D first.
depth
i think most of us are kidding ourselves right now. the reason why the pens were able to tred water long enough during the reg season was because of blue line depth. at this point in time i just dont see that depth around. loosing scuds is a huge..HUGE loss. i just hope that the pens can play better teeam d in front of flower to make up for loosing both scuds and gill. yes gill looked (and acted) like an abltross on skates at time, but when was in position (most of the time) he did a darn good job.
" Lord Stanley, etch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
whoops
so in short i would say we dont need to go after any seasoned vet right now. we need the guys in our system who have been around the block to show that they can compete at a high level in the bigs. just because theres a “salary cap” doesnt mean it has to be spent by the time the season starts. lets see how the group we have available to us immidiatly does, and maybe sign a young (18-24) d man and stick in him wilkes/barre
" Lord Stanley, etch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Jul 6, 2009 9:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Valid points on the losses….The Pens used Gill and Scuderi 5 and a half minutes a night to kill penalties and to subtract that is big.
Gonchar, Orpik and Eaton can take PK shifts but after that there’s not any NHL experience on the PK defensively. I think Letang is a good positional defenseman and could get some duty but throwing him in for an 82 game season is a big step.
And as you point out, an injury to any of those four would be catastrophic.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
RE: Depth
Least we forget….pre Feb 15….the minute our forwards resort to playing more of a defensive style to make up for a lack of defensive defensemen, the entire offense goes into the crapper…..we need 2 more seasoned Defensive blueliners in this lineup before there is any chance to make another run at the Cup. Thats Ray’s job, to find a way. Looking to WB/S or other teams AHL rosters is NOT the answer.
The Pens will be fine, your “any chance” line is more than a little overblown- I’d be more than happy seeing how Lovejoy pans out. If there is a need to make a trade midseason, Shero has shown he is capable of making it. It’s definitely not worth shooting yourself in the foot for the next 3 years and screwing up your cap space by signing somone on the open market that isn’t a perfect fit. And unless any of the guys listed above want to take a 1 year 1.5 mil deal, they aren’t perfect fits. I still think a trade is more likely.
The Pens won the cup with a core consisting of kids in their early 20s (and Sarge). Getting overzealous in FA means that core gets broken up. Given that Geno, Sid, Staal, MAF, Letang, TK, Gogo, etc. probably have their best days ahead of them (how lucky are we?), it’s not worth screwing that up.
i would much rather have a young guy in there than has a set of wheels to play in the pens system rather then a guy who cant keep up. and the defensive style you refer too was a micheal therrian style, thos team play complete team d. picking up a guy like mckee or boynton versus bringing up lovejoy or a guy whos got nhl experiance but not a big name would not even be noticable.
" Lord Stanley, etch thier names on your fabled cup" Mike Lange june 12, 2009
by oldtimehockey09 on Jul 7, 2009 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
The Pens could also be creative and try and trade for a defenseman. One team that certainly could spare one would be the Leafs with all of their big D-man signings this summer. How about a Dupuis for Van Ryn trade? I would think that would help both teams. Van Ryn isn’t great, but he’s relatively cheap, and I think he would fit in well with the Pens system. The Leafs conversely would get Dupuis, a defensively-focused forward who can skate fast and kill penalties.
Probably some other trade opportunities as well…What I’m trying to say is this: I don’t like Jay McKee.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
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