The Penguins are expected to try to add some offense to their fourth line this summer, notes Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Getting some scoring from their bottom trio was an important key to their successful Stanley Cup runs the past two years but that was an area of concern this past postseason. With that in mind, GM Jim Rutherford will be looking to put together a more balanced fourth line that can chip in with a goal here and there. If they re-sign pending RFA Riley Sheahan, he’ll likely be part of that unit while youngsters Zach Aston-Reese and Daniel Sprong could be options as well. If they look to the open market for a veteran to take a spot, Mackey suggests that Tampa Bay UFA winger Chris Kunitz could make some sense; prior to joining the Lightning last summer, the 38-year-old had spent nine seasons in Pittsburgh.
Elsewhere in the East:
- Still with Pittsburgh, with the Friday deadline to sign 2016 CHL draft pick fast approaching, the Penguins are expected to relinquish the rights to defenseman Connor Hall, reports Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Hall was a third-rounder that year (77th overall) but he has battled considerable injury problems that have limited him to just 64 games (less than one full season) since being drafted. The 20-year-old posted 11 assists and 78 penalty minutes in 47 games with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL in 2017-18 and will look to catch on with another organization.
- Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin acknowledged to NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger that the team is leaning towards keeping the third-overall selection unless they are blown away by a trade offer. Assuming that Rasmus Dahlin and Andrei Svechnikov go first and second to Buffalo and Carolina as expected, the Canadiens will likely choose from wingers Filip Zadina and Brady Tkachuk. Bergevin also stated that the team is not ready to write off using Jonathan Drouin at center next season. Drouin, who played down the middle in junior but was a winger with Tampa Bay, struggled considerably at the beginning of the year but appears to have made enough progress in the eyes of management to get a second chance.
- The Red Wings are open to moving their sixth-overall selection in the draft, reports Craig Custance of The Athletic (subscription required). GM Ken Holland admitted that trading up doesn’t make a lot of sense for them but sliding down a few spots would certainly be a possibility for them. Custance adds that Holland has had preliminary meetings with the agents for pending RFA wingers Andreas Athanasiou and Anthony Mantha plus pending UFA defenseman Mike Green.
I really hope the Habs pass on Brady Tkachuk. The 3rd pick has to be Zadina(assuming Canes take Svechnikov). I’m not entirely against Drouin lining up at C again provided they get a legitimate 1st or 2nd line C but I’d much rather see him go back to wing.
Ryan o rielly?
O’Reilly would be my top target. Ideally, I’d want to add him and Nick Bjugstad and move Drouin back to the wing.
What would Montreal even offer back? O’Reilly’s cap hit might lessen the cost if Montreal takes on all (or at least most of it) but he’s still a valuable asset considering he’s been producing despite not primarily being on Eichel’s line. Last year was supposed to be the year Buffalo took a step forward and that failed horribly. Galchenyuk wouldn’t be enough on his own and even if Montreal added some picks to an offer (doubt they would offer the #3 pick) that still seems a bit light unless they took on O’Reilly’s full contract. And I doubt Montreal wants to take on a big contract like O’Reilly since they have Weber and Price’s contracts to worry about.
I’d personally offer Ryan Poehling(last year’s 1st round pick), two of the Habs four 2nd’s and another minor piece. Poehling’s stock has risen quite a bit in the past year and he projects to be an O’Reilly-type of player. Taking on O’Reilly’s entire contract isn’t that difficult for the Habs. Despite the long term deals to Price and Weber, they still have plenty of cap space with no major commitments to worry about besides Pacioretty for the next 2 seasons. And that’s not even factoring in the salary cap rising to the $85 million range in that time as well.
Drouin is a winger. If stays at center they are just screw him up like they have with galchenyuk. It also time to trade galchenyuk . he and the team need a change. I would take tkachuk unless they think zadina is going to be special. o reilly is a very good second center. If montreal pick him up as number one they will be disappointed.
Connor Hall was drafted with the pick the Pens got for Beau Bennett.
Beau Bennett could never stay healthy and then like a disease that curse spread to the player they got for him.
The Pens are burning that diseased trade tree to the ground.