Pens need to be calm, not chaotic

Pens need to be calm, not chaotic

After the Penguins back breaking OT loss to the Rangers last night to drop a 1-3 record in the series Dejan Kovacevic, a noted Pittsburgh media member uploaded a post about something that I think all Pittsburgh fans could heed from. His original article can be found on his website; here.

This offseason will be a big one for the Penguins much like the last one was with the removal of Bylsma and  Ray Shero. There will be some knee-jerk reactions if/when the Penguins lose the series to the Rangers and that is expected. Some people handle these things differently and see things differently. But I believe the Penguins should avoid from doing anything drastically massive with their roster or management.

Mike Johnson has enjoyed a tough first season but I don't think anyone thought it would be easy. This team had problems which lingered over from the previous season and they're still being fixed. Rutherford has made some good moves which have helped us improve both our top and bottom six. Our bottom six was especially a cause of concern last season and it has been improved with the addition of Spaling, Lapierre, Winnik and Downie. The Penguins top six is slightly better but they have been hampered by injuries to Dupuis which affected the team make-up.

The only downgrade or bad mark I would put against Rutherford would be the Despres for Lovejoy trade which didn't make sense then and it still doesn't now. One of the best things to see has been Fleury playing with a lot more confidence and belief in his own abilities. Part of this is down to the system that is in place and also to the personnel. However, despite the above there are a few changes that I think need to be made.

Right now there are 9 players listed as an unattached free agent in this upcoming off-season. Those 9 are Downie, Adams, Comeau, Lapierre, Winnik, Martin, Ehrhoff, Chorney and Greiss. From that list I would let Adams, Martin and Ehrhoff walk. Ehrhoff has been unlucky with injuries this season but he will likely command around $4m next season and for his performances he hasn't warranted it. Adams is too slow in my opinion and just isn't effective as he used to be on the fourth line. He has also been replaced by the introduction of the likes of Lapierre, who I'd keep.

There are also 2 restricted free against in Beau Bennett and Ian Cole. I would keep Ian Cole but I am torn on Bennett. The guy has had some horrible luck with injuries which makes me think he deserves another chance with a bridge contract. On the other hand, when he has played he has been below par and not taken his chances. I would probably lean towards to letting him go depending on who you can replace him with.

Lastly there are two other players that I'd be interested to see traded or bought-out. Chris Kunitz has been terrible this season compared to last and with there still being another two years on his contract I would explore trade options. However, if there aren't trade options then I would move him down the 3rd line.

The second player is Rob Scuderi who has been awful. I would think it is fairly to safe that he is the most disliked player now that Adams doesn't really play. If bought out Scuderi's cap hit would carry a $1.29m cap hit next season followed by $1.79m and then two years of $0.917m. This would free up $2.1m next season and also give room for some of the younger players to play.

In all with the players that I would let go there would be savings of $16.5m. This would give us ample room to find replacements. The most likely location of these players would be from the free agency pool. If we use the above then the Penguins need a top six forward, two if Dupuis is unable to return. They also need a bottom six forward. Lastly, they would also need a single top four defenceman.

I'm not going to go into the analytics of the players in this post, that will come, but I would target the following from the free agency list. Matt Beleskey, Michael Frolik, Justin Williams and Jiri Tlusty for the forwards. There is also one player in the KHL who I would keep an eye on in Panarin, a young energetic player who could be a good coup.

In terms of defence the free agency pool is quite bare but I'd look at Jeff Petry and Andrej Meszaros. Both will likely be signed for their respective current teams but if available they would be good options. I don't really see anyone else on that list that would be suitable.

Doing the above I get something like the following. I haven't included cap hits as I haven't got a cap calculator handy. There are also a handful or permutations based on the players I've identified above;

Perron - Crosby - Hornqvist

Tlusty - Malkin - Panarin

Beleskey - Spaling - Comeau

Winnik - Lapierre - Downie

Letang - Maatta

Petry - Pouliot

Cole - Lovejoy

Chorney

Fleury

Greiss

I think the above is achievable but I do have doubts in this organisation buying out Scuderi and worryingly, letting Adams go. Even though he is being effectively sent out to pasture a part of me won't count the chickens until they've hatched. With the above I believe we would have cap space for contracts rises and we'd have a much deeper team. Of course it is likely that the free agents will re-sign, but then they might not, who knows? I will look to do pieces on the potential free agents in the near future.