This is NOT my "dream" offseason. This is what I think would be a very realistic offseason.
First off. Seattle won't take Zucker. Why would they want an almost 30 year old middle-six winger who has been nothing but mediocre since being traded to PIT who is still signed for 3 more years at 5.5mil WITH a modified-NTC. I just think their are younger cheaper options available.
I really think they will take Teddy Blueger, despite his RFA status, they'll get a deal in place (presumably before selecting him). He's an excellent bottom-six center who plays great defense, kill penalties, and although offensively he is not any special, he has a wicked shot and can provide some depth scoring. On top of all of this, he's four years younger than Zucker. Could be a solid 3C on an expansion team.
The next obvious move is re-sign Ceci. He signed a one-year "prove it" deal last offseason, and he did just that. He proved it. Say what you want about his Toronto years, he was an excellent top 4 defenseman last season, and although I expect SOME regression, he is a good 2-2.5 mil guy who can play on either of your bottom 2 pairs.
I have them re-signing Gaudreau and Zahorna to cheap two-way deals. I really think the Gaudreau signing would be a steal, he can absolutely play on that 4th line with ZAR and Tanev. He's a bit grittier than Blueger too, which Hextall and Burke like.
The big signing here is Coleman. Adds a grit, adds depth scoring, adds penalty killing that you lose in the Blueger deal. Adds a lot. I think 3.2 is a fair price for a guy like him, middle-six winger who can play up and down the lineup.
Pettersson trade is essentially a cap dump. He was the worst defenseman on the team, and his cap hit is big. If it wasn't for his age he'd be impossible to move. Detroit is a team that would most likely be willing to take the risk, and Hextall has made it clear he wants more picks.
There is other moves I'd make too, signing Zahorna, Larmi, Lindgren, etc would all happen too I was just too lazy to add them into this as well. All two-way minor players anyway.
I'd love to see Legare or Poulin crack the roster next year. I guess we'll see. This could completely change the way the roster looks if one of them is NHL ready, I just don't think it's going to happen.
Lastly the goaltending. Jarry is the guy. I hate to say it cause he SUCKED this post-season, but with the way the Pens are pressed up against the cap right now Jarry/Desmith is your tandem. Maybe you go after a vet like Reimer, Rittich, or Bernier at the TD in order to bolster it a bit, but unfortunately the Penguins just do not have the cap space to go after a Freddy Andersen, Linus Ullamrk, or Petr Mrazek type guy. Lots of fans think that we could make cap by dishing Zucker, Pettersson, Matheson, and Jarry but I just can't see that happening other than Pettersson and MAYBE Jarry; but still. Do we even want to dish Jarry? 3.5mil for a starting goalie is a good price. We wouldn't be able to upgrade in net for anything less than 3.5 so what can you do?
They are handcuffed by Matheson, Tanev, and Zucker deals unfortunately. Zucker is moveable, but his M-NTC makes it more difficult, so is Tanev I guess but I highly doubt Burke and Hextall wanna dish him, plus he's been terrific. It just sucks paying a 4th liner 3.5 million dollars. Matheson essentially isn't moveable at all. I know he played well this season but his contract is still super ugly. The only real moveable bad contract on the team is Pettersson due to his age, a team like Detroit would most likely take a flier on a guy like that.
So yeah. That's my "realistic" Penguins offseason. Not very eventful but like I say, not much you can do when you are handcuffed by the cap. The team really doesn't need to add much, they finished first in the toughest division in the league, and they outplayed the Isles in 5/6 of the playoff games. Just couldn't find a way to win. This is a good hockey team that just didn't have the right result. Don't overthink it and blow everything up, yet.
I'm going to make a second team in what I would call my "dream" offseason later. That one will have much more moving pieces, but like I say. This in my opinion is the most realistic looking Penguins roster next season. Plus, you have to consider where your cap will be after next season. Malkin, Letang, Rust, Kapanen, McCann all need contracts.
Extremely possible. I personally would too, I think Tanevs contract protects himself. He’s an incredible 4th line guy and a good fill in on the third in a pinch. but Hextall and Burke (as well as the fans) absolutely adore him. They see him as a vital piece to this teams future. He’s essentially the leader of the bottom 6.
I personally would protect Blueger too, but I think the Pens get burned. I think they leave Blueger unprotected thinking he won’t get taken; I’d much prefer ZAR to get taken. Or of course Matheson/Zucker. The cap relief there would be super nice.
What “younger and cheaper” options are available. Most teams are protecting their top 6/Top 9. The choices for possible top 6 players are Tyler Johnson at 5 million per year for 4 years who is a year older than Zucker. Oshie at almost 6 million for 4 years who is 5 years older than Zucker. And honestly can’t think of any other notable names off the top of my head that aren’t free agents. Also it is untrue that Zucker has struggled since coming to pit. Last year he had 12 points in 15 games. If that’s struggling then I’ll take that kind of struggle any day. He played well down the stretch this year and laid it all on the line this series too. That’s huge in value.
Younger and cheaper options on the Penguins? Blueger and ZAR. Both younger than Zucker. Both cheaper. Both provide only slightly less value.
Younger options on the Penguins? Matheson and Pettersson. Obviously both of those guys are not cheaper, both have bad contracts, but still, one of them will be exposed. Both are younger options than Zucker with less of a cap hit. Obviously term is still a factor, but you get my point.
Expansion teams almost always try to take younger players, even though in NHL 21 it might be attractive to take the TJ Oshies and the Jason Zuckers of the world, this is real life. Developing players in house is better than taking a guy who will be at least 32-33 years old by the time you are ready to compete. And thats aggressive, most likely even longer than that.
As for Zucker being "mediocre". It's not that he's been bad, he just hasn't really been good either, at least not for his 5.5mil cap hit. 18 points in 40 games is not that good. He's a 30-40 point guy, making 5.5 mil a year? If he was making 2mil less he'd be a bargain, but when you compare that to other wingers in the league in the 5-6mil range he's mediocre. Then when you factor in that he doesn't play the PK, and his defensive numbers have dipped a bit. I'd be okay with moving on from him. He's not bad. He's not good either though.
To your point though, injuries this season have been a factor in that. He may bounce back into his 50-60 point self in future, but do you really wanna gamble on that?
Pettersson trade is essentially a cap dump. He was the worst defenseman on the team, and his cap hit is big. If it wasn't for his age he'd be impossible to move. Detroit is a team that would most likely be willing to take the risk, and Hextall has made it clear he wants more picks.
If Pettersson is a cap dump then the picks are on the wrong side. Is Pettersson the worst defenseman on your team because I had 2 Pittsburgh fans yesterday telling me how good he is. I can't see Yzerman bringing him to Detroit Pettersson has 4yrs left on his contract that is too much term for him. Look at some of the contracts he done since coming to Detroit. Maybe someone else will take him but I'm pretty sure it won't be to Detroit.
He is probably the worst yes. I mean on paper you'd think it would be Ceci or Matheson but strong season from both of those followed by a poor season out of Pettersson changes things. I understand what you're saying in terms of if its a "cap dump" we would have to pay you to take him, but looking at it now I mis-spoke. Its not a cap dump in the traditional sense of the word. I just mean its a trade that help free up space for the penguins. He's still valuable to some degree. He's 25. Signed for 4 years at roughly 4mil. He has top 4 potential for sure, and just last year I would've told you he's a great piece to this pens team but he had a down year. He's a strong enough skater, he's tall and rangy, and he can move the puck well. He's actually a good mould for the modern-prototypical nhl defenseman. Tall, can skate, and is a puck mover. He had a down year defensively though, just looked like he was lost sometimes, would get burnt, caught sleeping, stuff like that. I don't know that its an ability thing with Pettersson more so a mental thing, he'd make simple mistakes. Normally I'd want the Pens to hold onto someone like him and see it through, but in our current cap situation moving on from him now is best. He's not BAD. And he could very easily bounce back. His first two years in PIT looked VERY promising.
Detroit would make sense, why not take a flier on a guy who has the tools, is still young enough, and has only had one down year. I may have jumped the gun a bit by calling it a "cap dump' more so just much needed cap relief for the Pens, and a medium risk chance on a defensive player for the Wings. Plus, although I know you guys aren't in win now mode by any stretch, the Wings need defensive help very badly. He's a guy who could be an immediate upgrade in your top 4, give him some 2nd unit PP time too as he can fire the puck and is comfortable offensively. I wouldn't even be upset if the pens kept him, its more so a cap move for them. Plus with an abundance of picks Stevie Y would probably be okay with losing a 3rd and 4th for a guy like that.
Your right. There are a dozen teams that would want him. But your acting like he’s this elite up-and-comer. He had a terrible year, he’s on a big contract, and the Penguins are in desperate need of cap space. It makes perfect sense to move on from him. In an ideal world you’d move on from Matheson but he’s older, and has a way uglier contract. It’ll be much tougher to move on from him, plus, do you even want to? He played very solid last year.
He is probably the worst yes. I mean on paper you'd think it would be Ceci or Matheson but strong season from both of those followed by a poor season out of Pettersson changes things. I understand what you're saying in terms of if its a "cap dump" we would have to pay you to take him, but looking at it now I mis-spoke. Its not a cap dump in the traditional sense of the word. I just mean its a trade that help free up space for the penguins. He's still valuable to some degree. He's 25. Signed for 4 years at roughly 4mil. He has top 4 potential for sure, and just last year I would've told you he's a great piece to this pens team but he had a down year. He's a strong enough skater, he's tall and rangy, and he can move the puck well. He's actually a good mould for the modern-prototypical nhl defenseman. Tall, can skate, and is a puck mover. He had a down year defensively though, just looked like he was lost sometimes, would get burnt, caught sleeping, stuff like that. I don't know that its an ability thing with Pettersson more so a mental thing, he'd make simple mistakes. Normally I'd want the Pens to hold onto someone like him and see it through, but in our current cap situation moving on from him now is best. He's not BAD. And he could very easily bounce back. His first two years in PIT looked VERY promising.
Detroit would make sense, why not take a flier on a guy who has the tools, is still young enough, and has only had one down year. I may have jumped the gun a bit by calling it a "cap dump' more so just much needed cap relief for the Pens, and a medium risk chance on a defensive player for the Wings. Plus, although I know you guys aren't in win now mode by any stretch, the Wings need defensive help very badly. He's a guy who could be an immediate upgrade in your top 4, give him some 2nd unit PP time too as he can fire the puck and is comfortable offensively. I wouldn't even be upset if the pens kept him, its more so a cap move for them. Plus with an abundance of picks Stevie Y would probably be okay with losing a 3rd and 4th for a guy like that.
Just because Detroit has an abundance of picks doesn't mean Yzerman would throw them away. I can't see him being a big piece of the Wings going forward. It'd make more sense to sign a cheaper vet like Merrill again. Yzerman would probably value the proverbial chances at the dartboard over 4 years of Pettersson at $4 million each, considering he keeps preaching building through the draft.
mike384 a aimé ceci.
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