The Penguins had a rough postseason. They got swept by the Islanders and only scored six goals while giving up 12 over the course of the four games. It was a postseason Pens fans knew was coming but didn’t want to happen. However, this could be the little reboot the team needs. They made two long distance runs into June in 2016 and 2017, winning the Cup both times. Then, in 2018, Pittsburgh lost in the second round to the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Washington Capitals. 2019 came around and the steam in the engine finally ran out. A lot of key players looked worn out and didn’t contribute like they normally do. Malkin and Schultz were the top playoff performers for the Penguins with just three points, followed by Kessel with two points, and then nine other players- including Crosby and Guentzel- had just one point. Although it seems like a disappointment, it might be the long summer we needed after multiple deep runs.
Luckily, The Penguins have very few major contracts to take care of this offseason. The biggest and most important would have been Jake Guentzel, who signed a six million dollar extension during the season. The Pens took care of pending UFAs Derrick Brassard and Riley Sheahan by trading them to Florida before the trade deadline. Others like Marcus Pettersson, Zach Aston-Reese, and Teddy Blueger are the remaining contracts they need to fit in with the $3,892,500 million in cap space they have available. Pettersson will take up about half of the remaining space, getting a $1.5-2 million AAV deal (Probably on the 1.5 million end), which leaves about a million left to spend on the rest of the free agents. Teddy Blueger, Adam Johnson, Garrett Wilson, and other AHL forwards will all see contracts between 700K-900K at the NHL-level and some of that won’t count towards the cap if they play in the AHL. Aston-Reese will probably get between $1-1.25 million, but I think that’s a bit too much. With a lower cap ceiling than predicted, I think Rutherford should sign him to a bridge deal: one or two years with an AAV of $900,000, to prove that he is deserving of the money. After the contract is up, if he grows and proves to the team that he can be a valuable asset, it will be worth it to give him a little more money. These two contracts leave Pittsburgh with almost no cap space to do anything else and the only way to fix that is to make a few trades.
With the cap coming in at $81.5 million this year, it makes it tight for the Penguins to squeeze in their RFAs and UFAs. Personally, I think that there are a couple of minor trades that Pittsburgh could do to clear cap and be in a better position for the future. The most popular rumor being floated around is Pittsburgh trading for Jesse Puljujarvi. He already said that he wants out of Edmonton or he will go overseas to continue playing. Edmonton has agreed to shop him around and is looking for a third line forward in return for the young winger. Edmonton hasn’t really given Puljujarvi a chance to prove that he can play at an elite level. He seems like a player the Penguins could take in and help him grow to his potential. In return to Edmonton, Pittsburgh should offer Bryan Rust. With his $3.5 million contract off the books, it would double Pittsburgh’s cap room, letting them be a little more flexible and have some breathing room with the cap. Rust is a player that could play anywhere in the line-up in Edmonton and could be a really good winger alongside Connor McDavid. If Pittsburgh does this, they could be getting a player who could turn out to be an incredible winger alongside Crosby or Malkin.
Another trade that will most likely happen over the course of the season is Justin Schultz. With his $5.5 million contract expiring at the end of the 2019-20 season, Pittsburgh will most likely want to trade him instead of letting him walk for nothing at free agency. Schultz has been very productive offensively, especially on the power play, but he had an unfortunate injury this season, breaking his left leg, which sidelined him for the majority of the season, limiting him to 29 games. Schultz will most likely command between a 5-6 million AAV next year and I don’t believe Pittsburgh will want or be able to pay it. There have been rumors of Pittsburgh making a defensive swap with Carolina or Calgary involving Schultz. T.J Brodie has been the main person who is said to be the return from Calgary, but prior to his trade to Carolina before last season, it was Dougie Hamilton. From Carolina, I can see Hamilton coming over to Pittsburgh or someone like Brett Pesce. Another defensive move Pittsburgh could make would be trading either Erik Gudbranson or Jack Johnson. Johnson and Gudbranson are both bottom pairing guys making too much money. By trading one of them, it could free up some more cap space to maybe sign a bottom pairing defenseman in free agency who would cost less. Gudbranson’s $4 million deal would be nice to free up, even though he played very well for us in his short stint. Johnson’s $3.25 million cap hit is something a lot of fans want to see go away too. I see one of them being traded sometime during the season for a pick, prospect, or a similar defenseman with a smaller cap hit. There is a lot of potential for Pittsburgh tradewise this offseason that can help improve the team now, and in the long run and hopefully, they get done prior to July 1st so we can target a winger that can play alongside Malkin or a younger, more cost controlled defenseman.
This was the first season since 2015 that the Penguins have kept their first-round pick. This year, they took Samuel Poulin at number 21, which I thought it was a bit of a reach. Personally, I think Raphael Lavoie, Ryan Suzuki, Arthur Kaliyev, or Jakob Pelletier (among others) would have been better selections and more NHL ready faster. Poulin still needs to improve before he is NHL ready, but if he does, particularly when it comes to his skating, he can easily fit into the line up with his 6’1”, 212 pound frame. Prior to this year’s draft, the Pittsburgh prospect pool was lacking, with Calen Addison and Filip Hållander being their top two prospects. This draft helped that with the additions of Samuel Poulin and Nathan Légaré to the pool and their farm team will thank them over the next few seasons. If they continue on this trend of keeping their picks in the draft instead of trading them for people like Ryan Reaves, then Pittsburgh can slowly retool as well as continue to succeed and not have to go through a complete rebuild.
Hockey Addict 