I want to give the Pens one more shot at the cup and here is my reasoning for each move...
UFA:
Evgeni Malkin; One of the best power forwards in the league that plays center, extremally experienced and now carries a reasonable cap hit after coming off a pretty underrated season (42 points in 41 games)
Rickard Rakell: Very solid top 6 winger that had decent numbers this year, 41 points in 70 total games 13 of which came in his 19 game stint with the pens. 4 mill aav is fair for a guy who can produce on the offensive side of the game, paid picks and useful roster players for him so why not keep him if he played well for us.
Mason Marchment: (Almost a "Marchment vs Nichushkin debate here). One of the most surprising players by far this season, a forward that can do it all, big enough to throw his body around whilst still putting up amazing offensive number. A cheaper version of Nichushkin. I feel Mason Marchment will flourish more than Nichushkin so he got signed instead.
Evan Rodrigues: When the 21-22 season began, he was regarded as a 4th line forward (3rd line at best), but due to the injuries on the team he got a look higher in the line-up and proved to be a contributor offensively while being solid defensively. For those reasons I picked him over Heinen (who will get into later) and gave him a deserved raise.
Sam Gagner: Don't have much to say other than that he's a reliable and responsible center with a lot of experience on the wing as well, he can help Nylander get better even though it's on the 4th line.
John Klingberg: I decided to let Kris Letang walk, ik people are gonna hate but as a non pens fan, i feel like it was the right move. This team doesn't have a solidified offensive d-man, Klingberg brings the offensive awareness that this team needs. On top of this he is younger and most likely gets paid a little less than Letang.
Ben Chiarot: A nice complimentary d-man for young POJ who i believe should make the full jump this year. POJ is more of a puck mover that looks for clever passes in the neutral zone of the ice, so a more "defense first" partner wouldn't hurt. I feel like a 3.8 aav is a slight overpay but for Chiarot it is worth it, especially with his playoff experience.
Eric Comrie/Louis Domingue: Decided to talk about both these goalies together because they are quite similar. Both were seen as pretty low end back-up goalies but were given a chance in crucial times of the season (Domingue during the playoffs, and Comrie when the Jets were fighting for a WC spot in the West). Both preformed well and look to have more in them. Jarry is the starter for sure, but for me Comrie has the slight edge for the back-up spot. Wanted to sign him for only 1 year but decided that a 2 year deal would provide more of a safety net, considering that Jarry is UFA at the end of the 22-23 season.
RFA:
Kasperi Kapanen: A relatively young winger, speedy and has great offensive upside. My reasoning is that I feel he still has a point to prove with this team. We know he can score as he showed in his first season back where he got 30 points in 40 games, at a 2.2 aav, it won't hurt at all.
Alexander Nylander: A low risk, high reward move for a guy similar to Kapanen, has offensive upside but hasn't shown it in abundance yet. Giving him sheltered minutes with an experienced center will improve his game, and if he plays well you can move him up and down the lineup, worst case he just goes to the minors.
Pierre-Oliver Joseph: A young defense-men that should make the jump, or else why keep him around. He has good qualities, hopefully he does well
I like the reasoning and Marchment would be good here. The team looks alright but Klingberg would probably want 8m and 7 years. Matheson in a 1st role is intriguing but not neccessarily in a good way. He can put up ok offensive numbers but overall he is far from enough in that role. I still think this team loses in a 1st round.
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