Mostly small changes boost Penguins depth
dissenting crowd pretty much wants to pepper Rutherford with tomatoes for hitching his wagon to Johnson through 2023.
Relax. At least let Johnson play in a game before declaring the entire thing an unmitigated disaster.
For one — detractors won’t like this — the Penguins really are convinced they can make a useful player out of Johnson, who is 31 and coming off an awful campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Perhaps because he has never played with forwards like the Penguins have or skated with a defense partner like he would inherit such as Justin Schultz, Rutherford, coach Mike Sullivan and others are convinced there’s a valuable hockey player buried beneath some abysmal numbers, both traditional and advanced.
But, as for the number of years, whether you want to admit it or not, it’s the cost of doing business when you’re talking about established NHL defensemen and free agency. Ian Cole went light on years (three) but heavy on dollars ($4.25 million). John Moore got a five-year deal worth a total of $13.75 million. Calvin de Haan struck it rich for $18.2 million. Niklas Hjalmarsson got two years and $10 million to re-sign with Arizona after what might’ve been the worst season of his career.
It’s better for the Penguins to kick the can in this case, to keep the cap hit low and length of contract long while hoping for a lockout, future salary-cap increases or — the easiest route — for them to actually turn out to be right and for Johnson to find a fit.
It’s not likely any of that will quell the vitriol directed toward this deal, at least not soon, but it is important to remember that for what the Penguins had on their shopping list, it’s hard to find that item on sale.
• Few would’ve argued if the Penguins added Cullen as a coach, mentor, equipment manager or even plunked him down somewhere in the middle of player development. The problem, it seems, is the Penguins’ belief that he can still play.
It’s useful here to remember fit.
Talking to Cullen in midJanuary about life in Minnesota, he and his wife, Bridget, loved what it provided them and their kids, being back home and around family. But the whole hockey thing was basically a disaster, Cullen said.
It wasn’t anything against the Wild, Cullen would explain, but he was never utilized the way he was with the Penguins, and he continually struggled to find the same comfort level he had here.
Does that mean you should put down Cullen for 20 goals and 40 points next season? Absolutely not. But taking what he did in Minnesota and assuming it’ll look the same here discounts in a big way feel and comfort.
Given how feverishly Cullen works out — no, not with Izzy Mandelbaum from “Seinfeld” — and what he already has accomplished at an advanced age, doesn’t Cullen deserve a chance to prove this could work, the same as it did amid similar circumstances in 2015?
So what if it is a colossal failure? Crush the deal all you want, but having Cullen’s voice and perspective, on a team that at times last year lacked both, isn’t exactly the worst thing.
• If this deal does turn out to be a gigantic misstep, and Cullen can’t replicate what he did from 2015-17, then Rutherford has insulated the Penguins well.
Riley Sheahan already might be ahead of Cullen for the fourth-line center job but could shift there in an instant if Cullen suffers from an injury or ineffectiveness.
Rutherford also added Derek Grant last week for more insurance. Grant, in case you missed it, scored 12 goals with Anaheim last season, taking advantage of injuries to Ryan Getzlaf and Ryan Kesler, moving up the lineup and producing.
Grant, at $650,000, was a chance worth taking, especially given his faceoff prowess (53.0 percent in his career) and the real possibility that he still might be on an upward trajectory. After producing no goals in 92 games, Grant has 12 in his past 60.
• The Penguins’ moves do something else pertaining to some of their young wingers such as Daniel Sprong, Zach Aston-Reese and Dominik Simon: None of the three will be put in positions where they have to produce.
Yes, Sprong will be given the chance to play. Premium minutes, too. That much has been made clear from Day 1 of the offseason. Likely Aston-Reese as well and maybe even Simon, assuming he’s not watching from the owners suite by early October.
But Hayes is a burly right winger who could jump into the lineup, although probably not as a direct replacement for Sprong. Hayes produced 11, 19 and 13 goals for Florida (first two years) and Boston from 2013-16.
Grant, a left shot, easily could man that side in the bottom-six if Aston-Reese struggles.
Bottom line, it’s set up for Sprong, Aston-Reese and Simon to earn spots — but there’s not going to be a dearth of options if they don’t orthey wind up getting hurt.
• This offseason also says a couple of things about Rutherford.
Some general managers might’ve been tempted to blow it up after the way it all ended, to be overly aggressive and perhaps try to part with Letang or Kessel or make another significant deal.
Rutherford hasn’t done much of anything on the trade market, only shipping Conor Sheary and Hunwick to Buffalo for a conditional fourth-round pick.
That, of course, could change. The current setup enables Rutherford to entertain possible deals because he has the pieces to do it — Carl Hagelin, Derick Brassard and Tristan Jarry are his best at the moment — and ways to fill in the cracks, should something happen. But Rutherford also doesn’t have to do anything.
Abstaining from a trade, irrational or not, takes a certain amount of confidence in the current process, and Rutherford has that. Whether it’s Sergei Gonchar, Sullivan, the Penguins scouting staff or Rutherford’s direct lieutenants such as Jason Karmanos and Bill Guerin, Rutherford hasn’t approached this summer like someone whose team is in desperate need of a significant move.
Is Rutherford crazy? Is he overly enamored with Johnson and too infatuated with Cullen? Will this turn into a second consecutive unsuccessful summer? Only time will tell. And it should be downright fascinating to see how it all shakes out.