I wouldn't be surprised if O'Connor were to make the lineup over Poehling. He was injured for a decent portion of last season, but he was solid when he was in the lineup and management seems to like him. Considering their big offseason splash was Jeff Petry, he's definitely not getting 3rd pairing minutes. Hextall is likely banking on a bounceback now that he's not in Montreal, and not the #1 D on his team.
Also, I would call the Pens' biggest weakness their forward depth. Jarry was excellent this season (even if he still doesn't have playoff results) and DeSmith, though he started slowly, was good down the stretch. However, Heinen and Blueger are the most consistant bottom 6, and after that there isn't much to write home about. Carter is declining and his extention doesn't look great with hindsight. McGinn's cap hit is a high for what he brings to the table, and he wasn't great in the back half of the season after some injury woes. Kapanen is in desperate need of a return to form. Zucker might see time in the bottom 6 and the same goes for him. DOC and Poehling are both inexperienced, but have potential. Archibald fills a roster spot and I'm not sure what else he's good for - getting back ZAR or Motte or ERod if we had the cap space would have been better.
Quoting: TMLBRIAN
I really like the Rutta signing. I dislike the Rakell signing. Good player but too much cap for too many years. 4M a year should have been max for Rakell in my mind. Petry will help them for sure but 3 years at 6.25m is a lot of cap.
6 years for Letang and 4 years for Malkin were both too long as well. BUT Burke has stated in the past that he signs those type of contracts knowing the last year or 2 will be bought out and he tells the owners this before they are signed. Letang especially will probably not play the last 2 years of this. Cap hit for Malkin was great!
This team is OLD. They are definitely trying to squeeze the last few years with this core.
Overall I don't think this team is good enough to win a Championship. But it's hard to bet against Crosby and crew.
I actually like the Rakell contract better than the Rutta one. Pittsburgh still has 9 NHL caliber defensemen, and I don't know if Rutta is a ~$2 mil cap hit better than Ruhwedel or Friedman. Would love for him to prove me wrong, though. Rakell has spent the last few seasons on an unspectacular Ducks team. After the deadline, his production was higher on a line with either Crosby or Malkin, and that'll probably stay true.
I'm not that big a fan of the term on Rakell's contract, however. Or Malkin and Letang's for that matter, but the Penguins window is almost closed. By the time those contracts aren't any good, the Pens won't be either, so I don't care. They give us a better chance to win now.