In unsurprising news, the Pittsburgh Penguins made it official. They won't be signing Marc-Andre Fleury to a contract before the season starts. They could have signed him as early as July 1st, and it's almost September, so it's not exactly shocking that this is the case, but here we are. From Josh Yohe at the Trib:
Rutherford on Monday told the Tribune-Review that signing Fleury, who could become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2015, isn't on his immediate agenda.
"I'm not in a hurry to do a contract with him," Rutherford said.
Walsh isn't offended by Rutherford's decision.
"We're actually on the same page," Walsh said. "It's of no consequence at all."
In many ways, this paves the way for Fleury's departure from the Penguins on July 1st, 2015.
- Presumptive NHL backup this season, Thomas Greiss, is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent for 2015-16 currently. Jeff Zatkoff would be under contract in 2015-16, if he sticks around, for an affordable $600,000 cap hit.
- Matt Murray is starting in the pros this year, but his journey is at the beginning and would only be 21 years old in the fall of 2015 and will have one year under his belt. History suggests he probably won't be ready for competent NHL action.
- High profile collegiate free agent Eric Hartzell struggled last year and bounced from AHL to ECHL, and is scheduled to be a restricted free agent in the summer of 2015.
- Top prospect Tristan Jarry won the Memorial Cup, will only be 20 years old in the fall of 2015, with little to no professional experience, and likely not ready to assume an NHL role.
The Penguins would probably be looking outside the organization for a starter in 2015-16, should they part ways with Fleury. That sounds scary, but probably shouldn't be, given that good goalies (Cory Schneider, Jonathan Bernier, Ben Bishop, Roberto Luongo) get traded all the time, for one reason or another, and often times teams can acquire a pretty good goalie without giving up a lot in return.
Finally, being as Pens GM Jim Rutherford gave his then franchise goalie, Cam Ward, a $6.3 million cap hit for six years back in 2009, it's refreshing to see him play the waiting game. Almost all of Rutherford's moves as Pens GM have gone towards clearing up room and retaining as much flexibility for the future as possible. For an admitted GM in a short-term role, fears that he would be pressured to go all-in for a Stanley Cup run in his limited time would have meant sinking the Pens next general manager with long-term commitments like a Fleury extension.
Rutherford won't do that, and it very well might have set the stage for Fleury's departure. Or it will require the goalie and team to come together for an interesting agreement next season- depending on how it goes. Either way, the Penguins have more flexibility to determine which way their future goes and Fleury won't be joining Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang as long-term cornerstones of the team at this point.
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