PENS WILL HAVE TALENT TO REPEAT
Cup champions can keep most of their players
Even though no NHL team has repeated as Stanley Cup champion in 18 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins appear to have a better shot than most.
Less than 24 hours after the Penguins defeated the San Jose Sharks 3-1 to win the franchise’s fourth Stanley Cup title, Las Vegas oddsmaker Bovada listed Pittsburgh as an 8-1 favorite to repeat.
The reason is simple: The Penguins can come close to bringing back their entire 2015-16 roster, if they choose to do so. The only players who played in Sunday night’s Game 6 who are not under contract for next season are fourth-line center Matt Cullen and defensemen Ben Lovejoy and Justin Schultz.
Lovejoy and Cullen are unrestricted free agents, and Schultz is a restricted free agent.
The Penguins do have decisions to make because, according to generalfanager.com, they are a couple of millions dollars over next season’s projected salary cap.
Cullen was an important role player, but he is 39.
Lovejoy was a regular, but Schultz was playing only because Trevor Daley was injured. Given the value of seasoned defensemen in the free agent marketplace, the Penguins might not be able to keep Lovejoy.
Plus, the Penguins have young defenseman Derrick Pouliot waiting for his opportunity.
The Penguins will have to address their limited salary cap flexibility, and the most logical way to do that would be to trade veteran goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who has a $5.75 million cap hit for three more seasons.
Fleury carried the Penguins in the regular season, but his concussion opened the door for rookie Matt Murray to come in and steal his job.
Murray won 15 games during the playoff run, and he’s nine years younger than Fleury. He’s on his entry-level contract for another season.
It doesn’t seem likely that Murray will go from winning a Stanley Cup to playing 25 games as a backup. And the Penguins don’t want to have a $5.75 million backup goalie.
Plus, expansion is likely coming, and the Penguins can protect one goalie. It won’t be Fleury.
The Calgary Flames and Carolina Hurricanes are looking for a starting goalie, and other teams The Penguins might opt to trade goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.
could be interested. It makes sense to move Fleury this summer.
The Penguins also could move a veteran just to open up a roster spot for one of their quality prospects.
“People said we were too old, but we have a bunch of younger players now and we have a bunch more coming,” Penguins general
manager Jim Rutherford said.
A bolder move that the Penguins could ponder would be to trade Evgeni Malkin and his $9.5 million cap hit.
Malkin remains a dominant player, but it is challenging for the team to accommodate the heavy cap hits of captain Sidney Crosby and Malkin.
The Penguins wouldn’t trade Crosby, who won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, and no team wants to give up a player as skilled as Malkin. But the return on Malkin would be bountiful.
If the Penguins moved him, they probably could add a quality young winger, defenseman and a first-round pick. Plus, they would then have enough cap space to re-sign Nick Bonino, who will be an unrestricted free agent in summer of 2017.
Bonino has emerged as a noteworthy No. 2 center, and the Penguins want to keep him in the fold. He has good chemistry with Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel.
Trading Malkin wouldn’t be the Penguins’ first choice, but the move will have to be considered.
Pages 45-47
Gordie Howe,
FOLLOW NHL COLUMNIST KEVIN ALLEN