Beaten in four games in the ‘play-in’ round of the Stanley Cup play-offs, an embarrassing reality for Pittsburgh Penguins fans, who would have been expecting a deep play-off run. The fact that this defeat was at the hands of the worst team to qualify for the play-in, the Montreal Canadiens, added extra salt to the wound.
The autopsy on what went wrong seemed to drag up a few issues, a lack of fight back from the team when they went behind, and sloppy defensive play from the likes of Justin Schultz, Jack Johnson and Marcus Petterson. It is this defensive frailty that will have to be solved by General Manager Jim Rutherford in the off-season, and with a need to make the team younger and spend less money, this is anything but a simple task.
There are a number of routes the Pens could go in order to improve things. In order to improve the long-term success of the defence, the Penguins could use their 15th overall pick to draft one of a number of promising defensive prospects in this year’s draft. Though it is unlikely that the most exciting defensemen in the draft (such as Jamie Drysdale and Jake Sanderson) will slip to 15th overall, the likes of Braden Schneider or Kaiden Guhle could be available. Having someone like Guhle in the system would provide the Pens with a player who wouldn’t come in right away, but would at least provide a solid top six defenseman in years to come. In his third year at the Prince Albert Raiders, Guhle has shown he not only has solid defensive skills, but he can add points at the other end of the ice, with 11 goals and 29 assists in 64 WHL games.
If the Penguins secure some of the future with a good defensive prospect, they can help themselves in the present by securing one or two free agents. The Penguins will have some cap room to work with, around $7 million if reports are to be believed that Rutherford wants to spend in the mid seventy-million-dollar range next season. This is unless the Pens trade those with high cap hits like Jack Johnson, who’s contract has been a burden from almost the second after he signed it. Though the big boys of the UFA market like Alex Pietrangelo may be out of the Pens reach, there are still plenty of solid options that could bolster the blue line.
Erik Gustafson could provide a good option, providing he doesn’t resign in Calgary, and at 28 he still has plenty of years at his prime. The Swede also wouldn’t command a ridiculous amount of money for his services, when you consider his offensive output and defensive capability. He has played solidly over the play off games for Calgary so far and put up 26 points in 59 games for a poor Chicago Blackhawks before being traded this year. Gustafson would provide the pens with someone who can play with Kris Letang and is on the same level as him in terms of passing and puck handling ability.
The second option could be a cheaper one in the form of someone like Dylan Demelo. This is yet again provided he doesn’t stick around in Winnipeg, but Demelo would provide some much-needed depth defence for the Pens. Demelo’s points totals in the past haven’t set the world alight, but have nonetheless been solid, with a couple of 20-point seasons to his name. On top of this, he managed to have a plus minus rating of +3 before being traded, this was on a dreadful Ottawa Senators team. At 27 he has plenty of years left in the tank, and he wouldn’t have too high of a cap hit.
The third way that the Penguins can improve the defence is via trades. The prospects in the system such as Pierre-Olivier Joseph don’t look ready to make the step up to the NHL, so trades will most likely provide a lot of the reinforcements on the back end. It is hard to predict who will come in via trades, so I won’t, however it’s easier to see who could leave Pittsburgh. Jack Johnson could have been traded several times last season, but no one wants to eat up his $3million cap hit, without sending a bad contract back. Minnesota nearly took Johnson in the Phil Kessel trade, but would have sent the $4million hit of Victor Rask back. It has been made clear by ownership that buying out the Johnson contract is not an option, as they are reluctant to use buy-outs to free up cap space. The question is still who would want Jack Johnson? Pittsburgh may have to give up something, like a draft pick or prospect, to get Johnson off the books.
There have also been rumours of trades for Kris Letang, and though his cap hit is high, I can’t see one happening. Letang is 33, but his play hasn’t deteriorated, and the issue has been not having a defenseman good enough to play with him when Brian Dumoulin is out. Furthermore, it would take a lot for the Pens to trade a player who has been a franchise cornerstone over the last decade. The returns wouldn’t be enough for a trade to be justified in my opinion.
If the pens can make one or two tweaks in defence, and draft a solid defensive prospect, they should stand in pretty good stead for the close and more distant future.
Jon Parkin Sports 