Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Kasper Bjorkqvist
The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed one of their young restricted free agents, inking Kasper Bjorkqvist to a one-year contract. The two-way deal will carry an NHL salary of $750K. Penguins assistant GM Patrik Allvin released a short statement on the deal:
Kasper is an honest, responsible two-way player who is very coachable and understands the game well. We felt that it was important for Kasper to play in Finland last year after his injuries, and he found a lot of success there, which was good for his development. He has all of the intangibles to develop into an NHL player.
Bjorkqvist, 24, spent the majority of the 2020-21 season in Finland, scoring 26 points in 44 games for KooKoo. Originally selected 61st overall in 2016, he’s played just 11 games at the AHL level to this point thanks to a knee injury and the pandemic, but is still obviously valued enough by the Penguins to sign to a new deal.
Even though he’s already 24 now, Bjorkqvist won’t actually qualify for Group VI UFA status next summer. That means the Penguins will control his rights for at least one more year after this season. If he isn’t playing regularly and contributing at the AHL level a year from now though, he’s an obvious non-tender candidate.
Toronto Maple Leafs Acquire Jared McCann
The Toronto Maple Leafs were not expected to be a pre-Expansion Draft buyer given what appeared to be some difficult protection list decisions. However, they have made quite a splash with a deal filed just before the roster freeze set in. As first reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Toronto has acquired Jared McCann from the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had long been expected to protect McCann before rumors in recent days suggested otherwise. In exchange, the Penguins receive just a 2023 seventh-round pick and forward prospect Filip Hallander, who the team initially drafted and then dealt to the Maple Leafs last summer in the Kasperi Kapanen trade.
This is a savvy pickup by the Maple Leafs, adding an affordable forward coming off of a career year. McCann, who has always possessed great ability but has struggled with inconsistency, put it all together for Pittsburgh this season with 14 goals and 32 points in 43 games – an 82-game pace of 27 goals and 61 points. If he can replicate those number joining another skilled forward group in Toronto, McCann will be a beloved bargain at $2.94MM. With the ability to play center or wing and solid defensive tendencies, McCann can be utilized throughout the Maple Leafs’ lineup.
One concern for McCann is his lack of playoff scoring in three trips to the postseason. That should be especially alarming for a Toronto team that struggles under playoff pressure as it is. However, it never hurts to add a talented player and hope that his postseason luck turns. Eventually, something has to give for Toronto, right?
In Pittsburgh, this trade has to sting. The rumors swirling around the team suggest that they could be making some unorthodox expansion protection choices and this trade suggests that McCann was not going to be protected, despite a very strong season and a comfortable fit with the team. It also seems like GM Ron Hextall could have gotten more for McCann than a throwaway pick and a recycled prospect. Hallander, a 2018 second-round pick, is not a bad investment by any means, especially after a career year in Sweden. However, he also was deemed expendable by the last Penguins administration and now is back and still not likely to be considered a top-three forward prospect for the team. Yes, Pittsburgh needed to clear salary this off-season, but McCann’s affordable contract seems like the least of their worries and the return does not adequately justify the move.
Pittsburgh Penguins Could Expose One Of Jeff Carter, Kasperi Kapanen
- In a piece by The Athletic’s Ryan S. Clark examining how recent moves have affected the Seattle Expansion Draft landscape, he notes that the Pittsburgh Penguins will likely be exposing one of either Jeff Carter or Kasperi Kapanen. It comes on the heels of center Teddy Blueger signing a two-year extension, signaling that Pittsburgh plans to protect him. If it’s Carter exposed, that could have ramifications for Pittsburgh’s center depth early on in the season, as Evgeni Malkin won’t be ready to start the season. If it’s Kapanen, that’s an extremely dangerous proposition. They gave up significant assets last year to acquire him from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and it’d be inarguably poor asset management to let him walk for nothing.
Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins
Free agency is now just under a month away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up. There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well. Pittsburgh took care of one notable free agent today but they still have some regulars in need of new contracts.
Key Restricted Free Agents
F Zach Aston-Reese – The 26-year-old was a highly sought-after college free agent back in 2017 and while he hasn’t emerged as a big scoring threat, Aston-Reese has become a valuable checker for the Penguins, holding down a regular spot on the roster for the last two seasons. He had a career-high nine goals in 45 games this season while chipping in with a pair of points in six playoff games, numbers that aren’t going to command a sizable raise. His qualifying offer is $1MM and even though he’s eligible for salary arbitration, the potential for a hearing isn’t too much of a risk. Aston-Reese is in line for a small raise but it shouldn’t break the bank for a Penguins team that is already pretty tight to the cap.
F Mark Jankowski – After being non-tendered by Calgary back in the fall, Jankowski opted to take a league minimum contract in the hopes that a new environment in Pittsburgh would help to boost his value. That didn’t exactly happen. By the end of the year, he was a frequent healthy scratch and managed to post just 11 points. While that was still an upgrade on his final season with the Flames, it was still well short of expectations. Even though the 26-year-old is only owed a qualifying offer of the league minimum, it seems quite likely that the 21st pick from 2012 will be looking for a new home at the end of the month.
Other RFAs: F Kasper Bjorkqvist, G Emil Larmi, D Jesper Lindgren, F Sam Miletic, F Radim Zohorna
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
D Cody Ceci – Another player that looked to Pittsburgh to restore some value, Ceci was able to do just that as he quickly became an important piece on the third pairing. He chipped in a bit offensively with 17 points in 53 games while logging over 18 minutes a night. Those numbers don’t jump off the charts but after being miscast in a top-four role with Ottawa and Toronto, Ceci fared much better with a more limited role. GM Ron Hextall indicated a desire to re-sign the veteran recently but acknowledged that they will need to trim payroll to do so. After playing on a $1.25MM deal this past season, the 27-year-old has earned a small raise but barring the Penguins clearing out a pricey contract, it looks like Ceci will have to go elsewhere to get that pay increase.
F Evan Rodrigues – After Pittsburgh traded him to Toronto back in August, he wound up being non-tendered and went back for a second stint with the Penguins. This one went a little better even though it got off to a rocky start when he landed on LTIR early in the season. Overall, he saw considerable action on the third line and averaged just over 14 minutes per game while chipping in with seven goals and seven assists in 35 games. He’s not looking at a significant raise from the $700K he made this season but another couple hundred thousand could be doable.
F Frederick Gaudreau – This one may seem like a surprise. Gaudreau is 27 and had eight career NHL points heading into this season. He only played in 19 games this season but very quietly put up ten points, earning himself a regular spot in the lineup in the playoffs. Are there teams that will give him a shot at a full-time roster spot based on his strong two months? If so, there should be a fair bit of interest in his services.
Other UFAs: D Kevin Czuczman, G Maxime Lagace, F Colton Sceviour
Projected Cap Space
Well, there really isn’t a lot. Today’s deal with Teddy Blueger takes Pittsburgh within $1MM of the Upper Limit of the salary cap with at least one more forward to sign to fill out the roster. That’s not even enough to re-sign Aston-Reese so some work will need to be done. If Seattle takes a higher-priced player, Hextall would have some wiggle room to play with but otherwise, it could be a fairly quiet summer for the Penguins.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.
Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Teddy Blueger
The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t waiting around for restricted free agency. The team has re-signed Teddy Blueger to a two-year contract that carries him through the 2022-23 season. The deal comes with an average annual value of $2.2MM, locking the centerman in at a reasonable price. GM Ron Hextall released a short statement on the deal:
Teddy has proven to be a versatile, two-way center, as well as a fixture on the penalty kill. He is a valuable player for our team.
Blueger, 26, was a year away from unrestricted free agency, meaning the Penguins have bought out one of his open market years with this contract. Originally a second-round pick way back in 2012, he finally made his NHL debut during the 2018-19 season and has been a fixture in the Penguins lineup ever since. During the 2019-20 season he even received Selke Trophy votes as one of the best defensive forwards in the NHL, but it was really this season when he added 22 points in just 43 games that his true value as a two-way option came out.
There are few forwards in the league that receive tougher deployment than Blueger, who starts nearly three times as many shifts in the defensive zone as the offensive. The idea is that if he can be a positive with such defensive responsibility, the other centers on the Penguins—of which they have some good ones—will be free to contribute more at the offensive end of the rink. While some of his possession statistics are punished heavily because of that deployment, the Penguins still generally come out on the winning end of the goals scored battle with him on the ice.
With this new contract, his role in Pittsburgh likely won’t change, with heavy penalty killing and defensive minutes baked right into his role. Of course, with a Penguins team facing some real decisions in terms of who to protect at the expansion draft, Blueger may actually end up exposed to the Seattle Kraken. If he does, a $2.2MM contract might actually be pretty enticing to a team that could give him a bigger offensive opportunity. It’s not like Blueger doesn’t have the ability to contribute at that end, as he showed in college and the minor leagues. While there will be other interesting options available, this is exactly the kind of player that an expansion team may target now that he’s on a reasonable two-year deal.
Pittsburgh Penguins Announce Hockey Ops Hires
The Pittsburgh Penguins have announced several additions to the hockey operations department as GM Ron Hextall continues to put his stamp on the organization. Will Acton and Kerry Huffman have been added as professional scouts, Brett Hextall has been hired as an integrated development coach, Alexander Khavanov will serve as a European amateur scout and Matt Mangene will join as an amateur free agent scout.
Acton should be a familiar name to hockey fans, given his history and that of his father. The 33-year-old forward played 33 games in the NHL, all of them coming with the Edmonton Oilers. He has spent the last five seasons in Germany, but will end his playing career and join the Penguins’ front office. His father, Keith Acton, played more than 1,000 games in the NHL, including several seasons in Philadelphia alongside Hextall. Upon retirement, he joined the Flyers coaching staff while Hextall was still a player, and then served as an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs under now-Penguins president Brian Burke.
Huffman also has a connection to Hextall, through their time together in Philadelphia as players. He then served as an assistant coach with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, the Flyers’ AHL affiliate, from 2016 through last season. A veteran of more than 400 NHL games, he’ll now add scout to his resume.
Brett Hextall has an obvious connection to the new front office, being the GM’s son, but he already has three seasons of experience under his belt as a development coach with the Flyers. He also was a star forward at the University of North Dakota, and had a relatively successful, though rather short, professional career in the AHL.
St. Louis Blues fans will remember Khavanov’s name, as the talented Russian defenseman that joined the team in 2000. He recorded 102 points over 348 NHL games, mostly with the Blues, before returning overseas in 2006. A three-time participant at the World Championship, he’ll add to the team’s footprint overseas.
Last is Mangene, whose playing career is over after one season in Austria. The long-time minor league defenseman never did get a chance to play in the NHL, but was with the Adirondack Phantoms when Hextall returned to the Philadelphia organization in 2013. An undrafted free agent signing himself out of the University of Maine, Mangene should have a real insight into the strengths and weaknesses of those overlooked players.
Hextall: Penguins Would Like To Keep Ceci But Need To Move Money First; J.D. Forrest Named USA Head Coach For Hlinka-Gretzky Cup
- The Penguins would like to retain pending UFA defenseman Cody Ceci this summer but they’ll have to cut some payroll to make that happen. GM Ron Hextall told Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that they’d have to move out some money to have a shot at bringing the veteran back. The 27-year-old had a nice bounce-back year, notching 17 points in 53 games while logging 18:31 per night, a number that jumped to over 22 minutes a game in the playoffs. He wound up being a strong bargain for Pittsburgh at $1.25MM and has earned a raise but with over $78MM in commitments already per CapFriendly and a handful of roster spots that still need to be filled, some roster juggling will be needed to make that happen.
- Penguins AHL coach J.D. Forrest has been selected to coach the United States at the upcoming Hlinka-Gretzky Cup, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The tournament features many draft-eligible players each year although Canada is opting not to participate this season given travel concerns. Forrest has been with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for the past five years with this season being his first as head coach.
Penguins Unlikely To Qualify Mark Jankowski
- The Penguins are unlikely to tender center Mark Jankowski a qualifying offer next month, suggests Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 26-year-old signed a minimum-salary contract after being non-tendered by Calgary back in the fall in a move that looked like a good one for both sides at the time. However, he was largely ineffective during the season and was a healthy scratch down the stretch and for their entire first-round series. Jankowski is only owed a qualifying offer of $750K – next season’s league minimum – but with arbitration eligibility, he could get a bit more than that in a hearing. With their cap situation, that little bit more is probably more than they can afford for a player on the fringes of the roster.
Offseason Checklist: Pittsburgh Penguins
The offseason has arrived for all but a few teams. It’s now time to examine what those clubs need to accomplish over the coming months. It’s going to be a busy summer. What is on deck for the Pittsburgh Penguins?
The Pittsburgh Penguins finished first in what was arguably the best division in the NHL this season. The East boasted the likes of the Washington Capitals, Boston Bruins, New York Islanders, and even the New York Rangers, the best team not to make the playoffs. Yet, Pittsburgh finished with 77 points for the fifth-best record in the league despite stiff competition. It seemed like Sidney Crosby and company were primed for another deep playoff run this season. Instead, it all came crashing down quickly in a first-round loss to the Islanders in which Pittsburgh could not counter New York’s smothering approach. The Penguins’ weaknesses were exposed in the postseason and must be addressed in the offseason, but the team currently lacks the flexibility to do much of anything.
Shed Salary
The Penguins cannot start adding until they do some subtracting. Pittsburgh is currently pegged to have just $3.2MM in salary cap space heading into the off-season, a projection that includes just 19 contracts. Forget improving the roster, Pittsburgh needs to create cap space just to preserve their current roster, as key restricted free agents Teddy Blueger and Zach Aston-Reese require new contract and the team will likely try to re-sign impending UFA defenseman Cody Ceci as well. Those three alone will cost well more than $3.2MM.
The Penguins could actually receive some help from the Expansion Draft – if they are lucky. Pittsburgh is likely to expose both forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Marcus Pettersson in expansion; the pair are talented players, but underperformed in 2020-21, especially relative to their substantial contracts. Either player would be a loss for the team, but the added cap space would more than make up for the departure.
If the Seattle Kraken instead grab Aston-Reese, Blueger, or Jeff Carter, the Penguins will be in trouble. Even if the pick is Zucker or Pettersson, new GM Ron Hextall will still likely work the phones in an effort to move some salary. Again, Zucker and Pettersson are both good players and the Penguins will not just give them away, but they could be had for a bargain price this summer as Pittsburgh is desperate to shed salary.
Add a Goaltender
What will the Penguins do if they can open up cap space? Hextall, a former goalie himself, has already hinted that adding a veteran netminder is a priority for Pittsburgh this offseason. It is difficult to look at the team’s postseason collapse and not attribute much of the blame to starter Tristan Jarry. The young keeper followed up a stellar 2019-20 season with a decent regular season this year, but he struggled greatly in the postseason and kept the Penguins out of several games. Backup Casey DeSmith actually outplayed Jarry this season, albeit in lesser games, but he himself is also streaky. More importantly, DeSmith is injury-prone and is not a reliable understudy to Jarry. The Penguins need a reliable veteran presence to push their young starter.
Of course, the popular prediction is going to be old friend Marc-Andre Fleury. The Vegas Golden Knights are also looking to shed salary and who better than Fleury, coming off an incredible season, to return to Pittsburgh to stabilize the net before he rides off into the sunset, retiring as Penguin. It all sounds great, but Pittsburgh taking on Fleury’s $7MM salary is an impossibility and Vegas retaining considerable salary, if any, is unlikely. A return for Fleury is probably not going to happen, but the shared history means it can’t be ruled out compeltely.
More reasonable targets include free agents Frederik Andersen, Jonathan Bernier, James Reimer, Antti Raanta, Jaroslav Halak or Devan Dubnyk. Even a young UFA like Linus Ullmark or Chris Driedger could see Pittsburgh as a good opportunity to win a starting role and prove they can be a top option. If the Penguins are lucky, the market may actually drive down the salary requirements if there are a number of goalies interested in a great situation to win games and have an open competition in net. While free agency seems like the more viable route, trade options will be numerous and the Expansion Draft could shake up the market. Anton Khudobin stands out as an ideal trade candidate.
Improve the Bottom Six
Another area where Hextall and company have been open about their desire to improve is in their forward corps. The Penguins have no problem scoring, but their two-way play up front was a major concern this season. For Pittsburgh to take a step forward and return to postseason success, they must become harder to play against. That starts with getting better defensive play and physical engagement from their forwards. Hextall has harped on the Penguins needing to be more physical and has talked about adding size and grit this off-season, but it’s more than that. Pittsburgh was poor on the penalty kill this season, did not block shorts (particularly at forward) and their issues at the face-off dot continued through the regular season and into the playoffs. In nearly all facets of defensive play, the Penguins must improve.
With that said, retaining the likes of Blueger and Aston-Reese through expansion, getting a full season of Carter, and getting a healthy season from Brandon Tanev is already a great start to improved bottom-six play. The roster does not need a complete overhaul to improve team defense. That doesn’t mean that they can’t add another impact player though. Mark Jankowski, Evan Rodrigues, and Colton Sceviour were not the answer this season and all three are on their way out of town. The Penguins need to use what little cap space they may have left after re-signing their key free agents and adding a goalie to add another veteran difference-maker to round out the bottom-six.
Decide the Future of Malkin and Letang
What is to become of the Penguins’ long-time core? Crosby is still as good as ever and still signed for several years, but Malkin and Letang are entering the final years of their current contracts. Malkin is coming off a down year by his standards and will spend all summer rehabbing from an injury. Letang continues to show signs of slow but steady decline and is not playing up to his $7.25MM price tag. Yet, both players are still major contributors to the team and franchise icons. The new administration has vowed to stick with them, but for how long? Do they enter the season on expiring contracts and deal with the repercussions? Do they sign them to extensions this summer despite the concerns? Do they trade one? Both? There are major questions that need answering about the veteran stars. The front office does not want to hurt themselves in the short-term by moving on too soon from either one, but they also don’t want to hamstring themselves long-term by throwing out new contracts that aren’t necessarily warranted. It’s a difficult decision and one that will weigh on the team this summer.
Zach Trotman Announces His Retirement
Penguins defenseman Zach Trotman has decided to call it a career and has announced his retirement, per an announcement on his Instagram page. He was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
The 30-year-old spent the past four seasons with Pittsburgh in a depth role, seeing NHL action in his first three seasons with the team. However, injuries (including a torn meniscus in training camp) limited him to just eight appearances with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2020-21 and in Trotman’s announcement, he cited injuries as the reason for him hanging up his skates.
Trotman had a good career for someone that was drafted at the back of the seventh round in 2010 (210th overall) by Boston, playing under an NHL contract for nine seasons while making a little over $3.5MM in the process, per CapFriendly. He ends his playing days with 91 career games played at the top level where he had 13 points while averaging just under 17 minutes a game in playing time.