Salary cap may factor large in Penguins’ plans
thatmade sense.
2. On Rutherford’s shopping list is a depth defenseman — third pairing, righthanded, someone who can enable the Penguins to better control Kris Letang’s minutes — and achieving balance throughout his team’s four lines.
That second part doesn’t necessarily have to come via player acquisition, but, for the right price, it certainly could.
3. To do anything substantive, the Penguins will need a little cap space. Currently, theyhave next to none.
The NHL salary cap will be $79.5 million for next season, which means that if the most reliable set of restricted free-agent projections available turns out to be close, the Penguins, as currently constituted, could have a little more than $2 million to spend.
That number could shrink more, too, if in-person negotiations drive up cost (they often do) or the Penguins wind up with a longer-term contract extension on their books.
4. Speaking of restricted free agents, everyone except Tobias Lindberg remains unsigned. Discussions are ongoing, Rutherford has repeated, and 5 p.m. Monday simply represents the deadline for the team to extend qualifying offers.
But having this part of the offseason incomplete does delay Rutherford knowing exactly how much cap space he has.
A multi-year extension for Bryan Rust — once thought possible — has not happened, and there are zero signs that point to it being close, either.
5. Talking a few potential names … the Penguins haven’t been linked to much, but one potential acquisition is Carolina’s Jeff Skinner.
Read into this what you will, but the Penguins are rarely shy about doing their due diligence on players; they kick tires on a lot of them.
A Skinner deal wouldn’t be easy because of his considerable cap hit ($5.725 million). It likely would mean trading Carl Hagelin ($4 million) and someone else to make the salary cap and depth chart work.
The Hurricanes also wouldn’t be willing to give up an asset such as Skinner for a one-yearrental in Hagelin; the Penguins would have to toss something else that’s legitimatelyappealing into the pot.
Never say never with Rutherford — especially not when discussing the fire sale/dumpster fire happening in Carolina — but it would definitely take some juggling to make a Skinner deal happen.
6. In a similar vein, the Penguins remain intrigued by the possibility of adding defenseman Jack Johnson, who will be an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Clearing enough cap space is the big one here. Ditto for finding middle ground on a contract; the Penguins would be OK with a one-year, proveit deal, but Johnson — who declared bankruptcy in 2014 after his parents essentially robbed him — wants at least some measure of financial security.
Still, with how close Johnson and Sidney Crosby are, and the Penguins’ desire to acquire a depth defenseman, itcould work.
7. Another one of Crosby’s longtime friends became available at the draft — Chris Kunitz. Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman said he won’t be offering Kunitz a contract for next season but that Kunitz wants to keep playing.
At 38, Kunitz’s days as a top-six player are done. But he could provide energy, physicality and 10-15 goals a year in a third- or fourth-line role, something that could help the Penguins achieve morebalance.
If cap space becomes available — you might be noticing a trend here — the Penguins are interested in potentially bringing Kunitz back, a source told the Pittsburgh Post-GazetteSunday.
8. Also at the draft we learned that the Buffalo Sabres would not retain goaltenderRobin Lehner. Whyis this relevant? Jason Botterill is their general manager, and he knows better than anyone what TristanJarry can do.
Rutherford has maintained there will be a training-camp battle between Jarry and Casey DeSmith for the opportunity to back up Matt Murray, but if Botterill makes a competitive offer for Jarry,anything can happen.
To get some cap space, Rutherford could insist on the Sabres taking Matt Hunwick,Conor Sheary or both.
9. Speaking of those guys, that potentially could be one ofthe hangups here.
If the Penguins are dangling Hunwick and Sheary — and there’s little evidence to suggest they’re not — they’re probably trying to sell Hunwick’s veteran presence and mobility and the 41 goals Sheary has scored the past twoseasons.
But potential trade partners must have questions. Such as, why didn’t Hunwick play in the playoffs and why was he a healthy scratch for much of the second half? With Sheary, he had no goals in 12 playoff games and went through a stretch where he scored four times in 44 regular-season games despite routinely getting top-six time. For a player who doesn’t play much on special teams and isn’t overly physical, that lack of consistency could be seen as problematic.
Put nicely, there may be some differences of opinion on the players the Penguins are peddling.
10. The final thing is a takeaway from the draft and — warning — it might mean absolutely nothing. But Rutherford was likely the only general manager not to speak in Dallas.
It’s only strange because he’s generally among the most accessible in the league and certainly one of its go-to quotes for local and national writers.
Is it truly the fact that nothing changed and the Penguins still don’t have cap space? Or is there a sense of frustration over failing to get something done and having to exercise a little more patience than maybe Rutherford would prefer?
That worked out to the GM’s benefit three summers ago when the Penguins acquired Kessel. Time will tell whether history repeats itself.