FanPost

Another look

A lot of different ideas have been shared lately regarding how the Penguins can ice a better team next year. In an attempt to see what those ideas would look like altogether, I made an armchair-gm team on CapFriendly, but I'm posting it on here to get more feedback. I tried to keep it as realistic as possible.

Free Agent Signings

Chad Johnson, 2 years $1,500,000 per year

Jiri Hudler, 3 years $3,500,000 per year

Justin Schultz, 2 years $2,250,000 per year

Beau Bennett, 1 year $800,000 per year

Jimmy Vesey, 3 years $925,000 per year

Trades

Marc-Andre Fleury to Calgary for prospects Morgan Klimchuk, Oliver Kylington, and the 54th pick in this year's draft

Eric Fehr to anyone for a draft pick

Roster

Jimmy Vesey - Sidney Crosby - Patric Hornqvist

Chris Kunitz - Evgeni Malkin - Jiri Hudler

Carl Hagelin - Nick Bonino - Phil Kessel

Conor Sheary - Oskar Sundqvist (Matt Cullen?) - Bryan Rust

Beau Bennett

Olli Maatta - Kris Letang

Trevor Daley - Ian Cole

Brian Dumoulin - Justin Schultz

Derrick Pouliot

Matt Murray backed up by Chad Johnson

Details:

NHL Salary Cap: $73,000,000

Cap Hit: $70,133,332

Cap Space: $2,866,668

Some of these moves are long shots, but man would they look good. Jimmy Vesey is liable to sign anywhere, with most predictions being either Buffalo, to play with his best friend Jack Eichel, or his hometown Boston. Would he rather play next to his best friend or the best hockey player in the world? Tough choice. He's expressed his desire to explore all options, but Pittsburgh is an ideal landing spot for anyone. Vesey is only going to sign with a team that can give him top six minutes, and he'd be in the Penguins top six given the lack of depth on the wings. He'd be an instant upgrade over Sheary on Crosby's wing. Here is a video of his play, and you can see why he is in such high demand. Just imagine him next to Crosby. He's big (6'1, 194 lbs), skilled, and has speed to burn. He'd fill a left wing hole and could not be a more perfect fit on the Penguins. In theory, if he does want to play for Buffalo, he could be in Pittsburgh for two/three years while the pens are still contenders then just sign with Buffalo when his contract expires. By that time Buffalo will probably be a competitive team anyway.

With Sprong down for 8 months, the Penguins lose RW depth, so I think signing Jiri Hudler makes a lot of sense. He can play either left or right wing. As mentioned by Steelersfan23, the Penguins really don't have much depth on the wings beyond Kessel, Hornqvist and Hagelin. Rust and Sheary are good players and deserve a lot of credit for the Penguins success, but a little more flexibility would go a long way, especially considering that it wouldn't be too expensive. I don't expect Hudler to sign for as much as $3.5 million; that was a worse-case estimate and it still fits within the Pens cap.

The thought behind the Fleury trade was to shed salary and add prospects while not adding a roster player. A Fleury to Calgary trade makes the most sense given Calgary's cap situation (plenty of space) and prospect pool. The deal I proposed, two prospects and a 54th pick may seem like a lot, but since the Maple Leafs just got Frederik Andersen for a first and second rounder, I think the return for Fleury is fair. I would like to think Fleury has more value than Andersen, but given the Penguins lack of leverage in a Fleury deal, I wouldn't be surprised if the Penguins only got one player and a pick. Nonetheless, one or two B/B+ prospects and one of Calgary's three second rounders for a reliable, 2 time Cup winning goalie with many good years left is a pretty fair deal. If Rutherford can use the Andersen to Toronto deal as sort of a benchmark for trading Fleury, then I can see this deal working. All of a sudden the Pens prospect pool isn't so dry.

Backup goalie Chad Johnson would be a reliable back up for Murray, though there are plenty of other solid options. He played 45 games for the Sabres last year, posting a 2.36 GAA and .920 SV%. Those numbers are pretty impressive considering Buffalo's defense isn't its strength. I'm not comfortable with Murray playing 60+ games in his first year as a starter, so if Johnson could play anywhere between 30-40 games, I think the Penguins goalie situation would be in great shape.

The defense still looks kinda thin, but I don't see an immediate solution. Either Lovejoy or Schultz needs to be resigned because of the lack of right handed defensemen the Pens have. I can't imagine either one being too expensive, but besides those two I don't see many changes happening on defense. At some point I expect the Penguins to pull the plug on Pouliot. He is stuck behind Maatta, Daley and Dumoulin on that left side and he's not overtaking any of those guys anytime soon. If he's not getting playing time, it'd be wise to trade him while he still has value.

There's also a decent amount of cap space for all of the FA signings next offseason. Bonino, Hornqvist, Murray, Dumoulin, and Daley will all need extensions presumably north of $3 million a year.

The offense is stacked, the defense is capable, and the goalies are strong. I think it'd be a good team with a really good chance at a repeat. Again, this is only one of hundreds of possibilities, but I think it's pretty realistic. Comment your opinions.

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