Depth at center becomes priority
back,” Rutherford said. “But they’ve worked hard for a big payday, and when you’re in the cap system, as much as you’d like to bring them back, you might not be able to. They’re going to do what they think is best for themselves.”
If Bonino doesn’t come back, the Penguins might have to wade into the free agent market for their thirdline center. This year’s crop of free agent centers — led by Martin Hanzal and Joe Thornton — is not particularly strong, so a trade is also a possibility.
Even after they fill that spot, there’s still the matter of figuring out a fourth-line center, though that could still be filled by a familiar face.
The possibility that Matt Cullen comes back for a third season with the Penguins seems greater than it was toward the end of the season. Cullen, who turns 41 in November, still very well could opt to call it quits, but Rutherford said he’s not ruling anything out.
“I’m not making any assumptions,” he said. “I’m not sure what to think about that.”
If Cullen does come back, he’d slot right back in at his spot centering the fourth line. If not, the Penguins do have an internal option in Carter Rowney, who played mostly at wing this season but came upas a center prospect.
“The good news is he can play both,” Rutherford said. “That’s a real advantage. If we fill that center spot in without him, we’ve got that support that he can go in if somebody gets hurt. We like him at center, and if he ends up being our fourth-line center, we’re happy with that.”
Beyond centers, the only free agent move Rutherford said he could potentially look at is adding a defenseman if Trevor Daley doesn’t re-sign. Assuming Kris Letang is healthy, the team’s top-five defense spots are spoken for, but there could be some room to add some depth.
“Depends what happens with Daley,” Rutherford said. “That could be a possibility, a trade or a free agent, depending on where we think he’s going to end up numbers-wise.”
One thing Rutherford isn’t looking for as free agency approaches is more toughness and physicality. That need was filled with the acquisition of winger Ryan Reaves this weekend.
“It takes the pressure off to go in that direction,” Rutherford said. “If a player comes along that has that, then that’s fine. But I don’t feel any pressure to add any more. That guy can take care of a lot.”
Still, Rutherford has plenty of work ahead of him.
“We’re going to have to be fairly busy because we’ve got some holes to fill,” he said. “I’m going to check back in and see where these UFA guys are at. If I don’t know for sure by July 1, then we’re going to have to look at our options. We’ve already put a plan together, we’ve got a list of players, but it’ll be a busy week trying to fill it all in.”