It was another disappointing early playoff exit for the Pittsburgh Penguins but their new front office group, just installed earlier this season, is not looking to blow up the roster. NHL.com’s Wes Crosby writes that Penguins GM Ron Hextall intends to keep his aging core together and to remain in “win-now mode”. That means that contract negotiation talks are underway with center Evgeni Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang. The current deals for the 34-year-old duo expire at the end of next season, but Hextall would like to keep them around and is not currently considering trading either one. “We see a future with this core,” Hextall said. “We’ve got some pretty special players that, they’re obviously not in their 20s anymore, but they’re still playing at a high level.” The GM also expressed his confidence in young goaltender Tristan Jarry and did not label goaltending as an area of concern this off-season. Hextall instead stated that adding size and toughness is his priority this summer.
- There has been considerable speculation that Washington Capitals forward and Washington (state, that is) native T.J. Oshie could be available to the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Oshie, 34 and signed for four more years, has been stellar for the Capitals, but has still been considered expendable due to his age and contract. Additionally, the idea that the Kraken would leap at the local product as a veteran leader for their new team would mean that Washington does not need to worry about other valuable expected exposures, like young goaltender Vitek Vanecek or defenseman Brenden Dillon. However, in an interview on 106.7 The Fan in D.C., GM Brian MacLellan called it “unlikely” that Oshie will be exposed. MacLellan called Oshie a “big part” of their team, which is not an understatement after this season. In 2020-21, Oshie showed no signs of age catching up to him, scoring goals and recording points at a career pace. Oshie’s 22 goals and 43 points were both top-three marks for the Capitals and had him on a full-season trajectory of 34 goals and 67 points. Oshie also tied for second in the entire league with 13 power play goals. If he can continue to score at this rate, perhaps his lengthy, expensive contract will continue to be worth it through 2024-25, justifying the decision not to make him available in expansion.
- Although the final days of the Nashville Predators’ regular season certainly implied that we were seeing the end of career Predator and franchise icon Pekka Rinne, the veteran goaltender is not hanging his skate up just yet. In an exit interview with the Nashville communications staff, Rinne states that he has still not made a decision if he will retire or not. Notably, albeit unsurprisingly, is that the only alternative he provides to retirement is re-signing with Nashville. With young Juuse Saros established as the Predators’ current starter and elite prospect Yaroslav Askarov waiting in the wings, there isn’t a long-term need in net for the Predators. However, one more year with Rinne is certainly not a bad option.
Oshie is a huge part to the caps success. They’d be foolish to let him go. They can trade Kuzy to better their cap situation. Quite frankly though they need Barry Trotz
Agree. And Oshie is a workout fanatic, so he’ll be playing at a high level for the duration of his contract.
Oshie is the type of player every team wants. He checks all the boxes. And both of you make valid points. But at 34 with a few years left isn’t it the better business move to say goodbye? He’s never been a speed demon & he seems too rely on the PP for alot of his points the last couple seasons.
Your last sentence is exactly what I was thinking @eaton. It’s a tough decision, I like Oshie too. Caps haven’t exactly had much success lately either though, @orioles. 3 straight first round exits. They don’t exactly have a ton of prospects coming up soon either.
Hope Rinne sticks around for another season (at a reduced salary, of course). Can still play at a high level as a backup.
Pens need to…
1) Hope Seattle takes Zucker or Pettersson.
2) Trade the other one for whatever you can get.
3) Resign Cody Ceci.
4) Replace Zucker with Sam Poulin.
5) Replace Pettersson with P.O. Joseph.
6) Extend Malkin and Letang at lower AAVs.
7) Extend Rust using some of those savings.
8) Find a 1B goalie who could play in the playoffs if Jarry falters again (like Tomas Vokoun did in 2013).
Sounds like a good offseason to me. Rust is going to be expensive, but worth it
9. Fire goalie coach Mike Buckley
None of these moves make the Pens bigger and tougher. I do agree with some of them. I’d like to see Poulin and Legace get a look on Carter’s line in camp. But I think they will spend time WB first. One of Jake or Rust might get moved to bring in size and toughness.
trade Leturnover and Zucker and start to acquire some early round draft picks, I cant name a 1st round pick we have had that actually kept. kappenen but he cost them another 1st to get back
I wonder if that decision to want to keep Malkin, Letang around is Hex’s decision.
Might have been why JR walked.