Rutherford weighs options
comes along where we can add some insurance there, we’ll try and do it.”
It certainly seems like Rutherford went out of his way to pump Rowney’s tires, no? Then again, Rutherford’s not wrong. Rowney did play center for the Penguins when Nick Bonino’s tibia was broken.
4. Another name being discussed right now by some Penguins fans is Michael Grabner of the New York Rangers.
Super-fast winger. Has 25 goals. Makes just $1.65 million on a Rangers team that’s about to get dismantled. Grabner would be a terrific fit … if the Rangers were willing to deal with the Penguins. Not sure that’s the case. Rutherford never talks about specific players, but he was asked about the prospect of adding a wing to the fourth line to generate a little more offense that way.
“Possibly,” Rutherford said. “If our top nine is going, we don’t need a lot offense from our top 12. That’s a possibility. I think it’s more now about who’s available, are they actually available to Pittsburgh, and how do they fit in? That’s what it’s going to boil down to over the next seven days.”
5. “Are they actually available to Pittsburgh?”
The Rangers admitted they’re about to go through a serious rebuild, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see them refuse to help out a fellow Metropolitan Division team, especially the Penguins.
What did Rutherford mean by that statement?
“If he’s available to Boston, it doesn’t do much good to us,” Rutherford said, adding that, “It always happens. That’s happened since the start of the league.”
6. Rutherford later equated this to a normal trade scenario where the seller “gets a better deal with another team.” Basically like every trade where the seller can pick what it likes the best.
Maybe somebody else has something better to offer. Also it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Rangers refused to refuel another Penguins run.
7. There’s another scenario here where Rutherford could do nothing. He’s very happy with the way his team has played of late — they’ve won five in a row, are 10-1-1 in their past 12, 164-1 since Jan. 1 and are the best offensive team in hockey by a wide margin in that stretch — and could just ride this out.
“We can go with the team we’ve got,” Rutherford said. “We’re capable of winning with the team we have, as you can see, assuming we play the way we’re capable.”
8. It’s always fun to listen to the GM talk; you never know what he’s going to say half the time.
On “Cook and Poni” on 93.7 The Fan recently, he talked about keeping his first-round pick(s), while on SportsNet last week, Rutherford brought up a four- to five-year window and the idea that he would be going for it.
Asked how those statements jibe ...
“There’s nothing there that I said where I contradicted myself,” Rutherford said. “I said I didn’t want to.”
So he could. It just wouldn’t be his preference.
9. The Penguins have eight NHL-capable defensemen with the big club. That’s a lot. But they also have had a bunch of injuries back there.
Rutherford praised the whole group — “We have eight capable guys, and we have a few guys in Wilkes-Barre that are capable of coming in,” Rutherford said. “That’s where it stands.” — but it’s tough seeing them survive the deadline with eight.
If they can get a taker for Matt Hunwick and his $2.25million-a-year salary (for two more years), the Penguins might be thrilled. The issue becomes finding someone willing to take that on.
10. Rutherford didn’t say much on Patric Hornqvist’s contract situation and the growing likelihood that he’s simply going to go to July 1 — “I don’t know,” was his response when asked whether he expected Hornqvist to go to market — but this much is for sure: The GM loves what Zach Aston-Reese is doing right now.
Probably doesn’t change Rutherford’s thinking on Hornqvist, but it has been encouraging nonetheless. The kid has been terrific while Hornqvist — the player to whom Aston-Reese has most often been compared — has been out of the lineup.
“I really like what he’s done,” Rutherford said. “He plays a hard game. He goes to the hard part of the rink, which is not easy for everybody to do. When you do that, you can have some success and score some goals.
“Right from the start, as each game went by, as he got more and more used to the tempo of the league, he got better. Very encouraged with his play.”