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Blues, Penguins Interested In Jeff Skinner

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The Penguins and Blues are among the teams that are interested in acquiring Hurricanes winger Jeff Skinner, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link).  Skinner has been frequently speculated as a trade candidate in recent months as he gets set to enter the final year of his contract, one that carries a salary cap hit of $5.725MM and also a full no-move clause.

St. Louis has been looking for help in their top six dating back to last season and Skinner would certainly give them some more scoring punch as he has averaged 28 goals over the last five years.  The Blues also have a deep group of prospects up front including winger Klim Kostin and Jordan Kyrou as well as center Robert Thomas that Carolina will certainly be asking about as a possible return.

The fit in Pittsburgh is a little more curious.  There’s no doubt that Skinner would fit in nicely alongside one of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin inside their top six but they lack the cap space to add Skinner in; while they have just over $9MM in room per CapFriendly, they still have as many as six players to sign for their NHL roster.  While they could presumably deal a winger or two the other way to help offset the money, Carolina will be looking for a more significant return and the Pens also don’t have their first-round pick having dealt it for center Derick Brassard back before the trade deadline.

Meanwhile, LeBrun notes that the Kings, who have been interested in Skinner for a while, have turned their focus to UFA winger Ilya Kovalchuk.  They are one of the teams that are known to have already made a contract offer and they lack the cap space to add both him and Skinner.  Kovalchuk isn’t allowed to sign until July 1st but could make a verbal commitment before then.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Offseason Keys: Pittsburgh Penguins

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With the Stanley Cup now awarded and the draft on the horizon, the offseason is now in full swing.  What storylines lie ahead around the league in the weeks to come?  Our Offseason Keys series continues with a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Although the Penguins went for it at the trade deadline by bringing in center Derick Brassard, they fell short of winning their third consecutive Stanley Cup title as they fell to the Cup-winning Capitals in the second round.  Most of the team is already under contract for 2018-19 but Pittsburgh still has a few things to do this summer.

Clear Some Payroll

As they’ve become quite accustomed to, cap space is something that the Pens don’t project to have a lot of by the time they re-sign their restricted free agents.  That will hinder their attempts to add to the roster unless they can find a way to clear some space.

Pittsburgh does have a few underachievers that they could look to find new homes for.  Winger Carl Hagelin ($4MM) is now entering the final year of his contract and the fact that he’s going to be an expiring deal should actually help his value.  While he hasn’t lit it up in recent years, speed is in high demand and now that there’s less long-term risk attached.

Winger Conor Sheary ($3MM) failed to get to his output from the previous season (53 points) but he still put up a respectable 18 goals in 2017-18.  He has shown in the past that he’s at his best when he plays alongside Sidney Crosby and has struggled when not on his wing which may give teams some pause.  However, that type of money for someone who is capable of approaching 20 goals isn’t bad so even though there are two years left, there should be a market.

Meanwhile, defenseman Matt Hunwick ($2.25MM) struggled considerably in his first year with the Penguins to the point where some wondered if he’d be a buyout candidate this summer.  They probably won’t be able to clear his full salary off the books since he has two years left on his contract but they may be able to flip him for someone making a little less that can handle the same depth role.

GM Jim Rutherford is known to be quite creative and tends to use every penny on the cap he can so if they can deal one or more of these players to free up some additional flexibility, they’ll reap the benefits of doing so whether it’s in the summer or later on in the season.

Re-Sign Or Deal Rust

In 2016-17, Sheary was the beneficiary of playing well with Crosby and got a nice contract out of it.  This summer, it’s winger Bryan Rust as he made the most of regular time in the top-six.  The 26-year-old had a career year, posting 38 points in 69 games.  For perspective, he came into 2017-18 with a total of 41 points in 112 contests.  He went from being a depth player to someone that the Penguins counted on for secondary scoring.

Rust now enters the summer one year away from unrestricted free agency and has salary arbitration rights.  He has positioned himself to jump, like Sheary, from a player hovering around the league minimum salary to one closer to the league average (which checked in at just over $3.1MM this past season.

As someone that has fit in well with the likes of Crosby and, to a lesser degree, Evgeni Malkin, giving Rust that type of contract would make some sense.  However, considering they’ve had success throwing lesser-known players into that role, perhaps they would be better served trying that approach again next season with someone like Zach Aston-Reese or Daniel Sprong (players on cheaper deals) and trading Rust to help free up some cap room or add to their back end.

Add Defensive Depth

Speaking of that back end, while Pittsburgh has an established top-four, their bottom pairing has been subject to a lot of fluctuation in recent years.  Hunwick was brought in to stabilize things but that didn’t work out as intended which necessitated a midseason trade for Jamie Oleksiak from Dallas.  They were also forced to press Chad Ruhwedel into regular action as the season progressed, including in the playoffs where he played in every game.

Last summer, the Penguins completely rebuilt their back end at the minor league level and will likely do so again this offseason.  However, this time around, they may also want to look at adding a depth player or two with a bit more of a track record at the NHL level, especially someone who is a right-shot (or can at least play that side).  There are always going to be injuries and Rutherford could stand to have a bit more insurance at that position.  Fortunately for Pittsburgh, it’s a lot easier to add depth defenders than it is top-four pieces so they shouldn’t have too much trouble shoring up that position.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Penguins Have Discussed Pursuing Jack Johnson

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  • The Penguins have discussed the idea of pursuing pending Blue Jackets UFA defenseman Jack Johnson, reports Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The 31-year-old played with center Sidney Crosby back at Shattuck-St. Mary’s and remain close to this day.  GM Jim Rutherford is also familiar with Johnson having drafted him third overall back in 2005.  However, with the idea that he could get upwards of $6MM per year on his next contract, the team would certainly need to clear out a player or two to free up that type of money to bring Johnson into the fold.

Latest On The Arizona Coyotes & Phil Kessel

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Part of Josh Yohe’s latest piece for The Athletic (subscription required) touched on the fact that Phil Kessel would be willing to play for the Arizona Coyotes due to his solid relationship with head coach Rick Tocchet. The problem, according to Yohe, was that the Coyotes are only looking to stay near the salary cap floor this season and had told the Penguins it likely wouldn’t be possible to take on Kessel’s salary. Now Arizona GM John Chayka wants to dispel any notion that he’d be stopped from going after Kessel because of financial reasons.

On Arizona Sports 98.7 today, Chayka sounded off about the report:

I’d like to know more about it, too. I think it’s terrible reporting. It’s inaccurate across the board from start to finish. I don’t know where some things come up. I’m the one having trade discussions, those discussions with the Penguins haven’t occurred. So unless someone else is making calls that I don’t know about, I’m not sure where his information is coming from.

I’m not sure where it’s coming from, but the basis of that reporting is not coming from anything tied to the Coyotes and certainly not anywhere close to factual.

Chayka by no means confirms that he is pursuing Kessel, but the fact that he reacted so strongly to the suggestion that the Coyotes are limited financially does make them an even more interesting team to follow this offseason. Arizona currently has around $57MM in salary obligations for next season, but that includes Dave Bolland’s contract that will be mostly covered by insurance and no real important restricted free agents to sign. If they had the full salary cap to spend, the Coyotes could go on a shopping spree in free agency and certainly afford to bring Kessel on board.

More likely though is that Arizona will sit somewhere in the bottom third of the league once again and could even be a landing spot for another bad contract at the draft. Similar to the way they took on Bolland and Pavel Datsyuk in the past, Chayka could use his cap space to take a contract like Marian Hossa’s off the books of Chicago in exchange for an asset.

It seems in this case as though a source was mistaken or perhaps was speculating on discussions between Pittsburgh and Arizona, though a trade between the two would likely benefit both. The Coyotes are looking to compete next season and could use another veteran star to support their young core, and the Penguins need to create some cap flexibility if they’re to do anything in free agency. Pittsburgh has several RFAs to get under contract, and currently less than $10MM in cap space to do it.

Tom Kostopoulos, Andy Chiodo Join Penguins Coaching Staff

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The Pittsburgh Penguins are bringing back some familiar faces. The team announced today that Tom Kostopoulos, recently retired from his playing career with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, has been hired as a player development coach, while Andy Chiodo has been hired as a goaltending development coach.

Kostopoulos, 39, was a full-time NHL player for many years earlier in his career, but found a home in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the last few seasons. He served as captain for two different stints, first in 2002-04 and then again from 2013-18. Even as his career came to a close he was an effective player, recording 19 points in 31 games for the Penguins this season. He’ll go down as one of, if not the, greatest players in club history.

Chiodo, 35, had a shorter time with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but is a beloved character in their history. The goaltender spent most of his professional career touring the European professional leagues, but helped the Penguins to a Calder Cup appearance early on and even made eight appearances for Pittsburgh during the 2003-04 season. Both will be widely accepted into the Penguins organization as some of the most popular minor league players in franchise history. Their next test will be to help the next wave of players reach their full potential.

Simon Despres Wants A Second Chance At NHL

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Simon Despres was once an up-and-coming defenseman in the NHL. A first-round pick by Pittsburgh in 2009, Despres played a key depth role for the Penguins from 2011 to 2015. Although Despres was limited offensively, even in the AHL, he proved himself to be a very dependable presence in his own end. Annually a positive player with strong possession numbers, Despres eventually worked himself into a full-time role with the Penguins in 2014-15. In that season, he also showed off an improved physical game and a superior puck-moving ability. However, it was also in that season that Despres was traded to the Anaheim Ducks, a deadline deal that sent veteran Ben Lovejoy to Pittsburgh. Despres continued to play well for the Ducks down the stretch and was perhaps at the peak of his NHL career in the postseason that year with a dominant stretch. Yet, the rest of Despres’ tenure in Anaheim would not go as well.

In 2015-16, just four games into the regular season, Despres took a hard check to the head from the Colorado Avalanche’s Tyson Barrie. Despres would miss the next 42 games of the regular season and never truly returned to form in the campaign. Despres suited up for Anaheim for the opening game of the 2016-17 season, but concussion symptoms limited him to just that one appearance for the year. Despres was bought out by the Ducks at the end of the season and, at age 25, was considering retirement. Instead, Despres decided to continue his career overseas. Able to finally leave his concussions in the past, Despres had a strong season with HC Slovan Bratislava of the KHL this year. Now, he wants back in the NHL.

Speaking with Jean-Francois Tremblay of La Presse in his native Quebec, Despres states that money is not an issue and that he will do what it takes to get back into the league. He says that he will visit with teams this summer or attend camp on a tryout basis if that is what it takes. He even says he would be open to an AHL contract as a first step, specifically noting that he would not hesitate to accept an offer from the Laval Rocket, the Montreal Canadiens affiliate in his hometown that did not exist when he was in the NHL. Despres goes on to describe how he has changed his diet and lifestyle to get healthier and has even trained in martial arts in an effort to learn how to avoid bad hits and further concussions. He also describes how his time in the KHL has improved his skating and puck possession. It seems Despres has done all he can to work his way back from a potentially career-ending injury and now feels ready for a return. Now all he can do is wait for a team to give him a second chance.

Pittsburgh Made Rust, Sheary, Simon Available In Max Domi Negotiations

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic has some of the best sources inside the Pittsburgh Penguins, and in a piece (subscription required) detailing the potential availability of Phil Kessel this summer—something Yohe confirms is possible, though takes the Arizona Coyotes out of the running for financial reasons—he reports some of the players made available in GM Jim Rutherford’s recent pursuit of Max Domi. The Penguins were willing to talk about Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary and Dominik Simon, though what the exact offer for Domi was is unclear. The Coyotes would eventually trade Domi to the Montreal Canadiens instead for Alex Galchenyuk.

Rutherford is known as an executive willing to trade, and there has been no denying that he’d like to improve his club. As soon as Domi was rumored to be available many reports linked him to the Penguins, but it was never clear what kind of value the team would put on him. Now it’s clear, as all three of the mentioned players are important pieces to the Pittsburgh attack.

Rust may be the most interesting name, after a 38-point season that saw him become one of the most versatile and effective forwards on the roster.  Contributing on the powerplay and penalty kill while putting up some of the team’s best possession numbers, Rust is a perfect fit for a club that wants to spread offense across three lines. He can play both wings and has bounced between several groups over the last two seasons. He also is 26 and a restricted free agent however, meaning he’s due for a raise and is closing in on UFA status. After earning an average of $640K in each of the last two seasons, he’ll cost the Penguins a lot more this time around. Any multi-year deal is buying out unrestricted free agent years, and should send his cap hit skyrocketing despite his pedestrian goal totals.

Sheary on the other hand is already signed for two more seasons at a $3MM cap hit, but could be replaceable for the team if they can find offense somewhere else. The 25-year old saw his ice time drop to under 14 minutes a night this season and without anything to offer on the penalty kill his role is limited to an offensive presence. That point production dropped significantly from the 2016-17 season, and while Sheary still scored 18 goals this year he recorded just 30 points.

Simon lands somewhere else on the value chart, as he’s both a restricted free agent this summer and hasn’t yet shown he can handle the NHL on a full-time basis. The 23-year old was good this year in his 33-game stint, scoring 12 points and recording solid possession numbers, but with just 38 NHL games under his belt since being drafted in 2015 it’s not clear yet what he can really become.

When presented with the choice of these players or Galchenyuk, it makes sense that Arizona would take Montreal’s offer. We don’t know though how the negotiations took place exactly, and instead can only take from this report that the Penguins would be willing to move each of the three for the right return. While that’s not very surprising given their GM’s propensity for trade, it gives us an idea of what to expect from Pittsburgh in the coming weeks.

Pittsburgh Re-Signs Tobias Lindberg

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Tuesday: The team has officially announced the signing, confirming that it is a two-way deal worth $650K at the NHL level.

Monday: It’s easy to forget that Derick Brassard was not the only player acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the three-team blockbuster that brought him over from the Ottawa Senators through the Vegas Golden Knights. The Penguins also added minor league forward Tobias Lindberg as compensation for sending an extra draft pick to Vegas. However, Lindberg remained with the Knights’ AHL affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, for the remainder of the season and has yet to really be associated with the Penguins organization.

That is, until now. TVA’s Renaud Lavoie reports that the Penguins have signed Lindberg to a one-year, two-way extension worth the league minimum  $650K at the NHL level. In terms of adding the affordable depth and upside that GM Jim Rutherford is looking for, this deal is right on track. Lindberg, 22, already has six NHL games and 164 AHL games under his belt in three pro seasons. A fourth-round pick of the Ottawa Senators in 2013 out of Djurgardens of the Swedish Hockey League, Lindberg has experience playing – and producing – at several different levels already.

His next challenge will be fighting for his place in the Penguins organizational pecking order when he joins the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins next season. It would be a stretch to assume that Linberg would earn a spot in Pittsburgh out of camp, especially with fellow youngsters like Daniel Sprong and Zach Aston-Reese having been promised increased roles next year, but Lindberg should be among the group of primary call-up candidates at the AHL level. Not only did Lindberg get a taste of the NHL with six games with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016-17, but he also has experience playing on both wings and playing both scoring and checking roles. That versatility is extremely valuable as a minor league depth option. Rutherford has been honest that some of the Penguins’ restricted free agents may not be re-signed this off-season, so Lindberg’s speedy extension would seem to indicate that the team envisions a role for him moving forward.

Rutherford Eyeing Trade Market To Improve Penguins

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Changes are coming in Pittsburgh this off-season, but GM Jim Rutherford is “not even really thinking about free agency right now”. Speaking with Josh Yohe of the Athletic, Rutherford admits that “we won’t really have the cap space to do anything anyway. We’re going to re-sign some of our restricted free agents. And at that point, we’re around the cap.” The Penguins need to re-sign RFA’s Bryan Rust, Riley Sheahan, Daniel Sprong, Jamie Oleksiak and more and even with the expected increase to the salary cap limit will only have $8-12MM maximum to work with. The team could make a couple additional minor moves here and there on the unrestricted free agent market, but Rutherford is correct that team is strapped for the cap space to make any significant signings this summer, at least as things stand now.

As a result, it is the trade market that Rutherford is more interested in. The team has already stated that they don’t plan to buy out any of their current players, but they could look to move them via trade. Atop that list are likely wingers Carl Hagelin and Conor Sheary and defenseman Matt Hunwick. In fact, the blue line appears to be the most likely area for a player to be traded away, as the team enters next season with six veterans under contract and Oleksiak and Frank Corrado as restricted free agents. Rutherford stated to Yohe that defenseman Brian Dumoulin is the most untouchable player on the back end due to his invaluable defensive play, and also expressed his fondness for Oleksiak and Olli Maatta as well. Rutherford said that the front office is optimistic that Kris Letang and Hunwick will perform better next year and were happy with the play of Justin Schultz and Chad Ruhwedel as they made up for Letang’s and Hunwick’s shortcomings respectively this season. However, Rutherford added that his comfort with this group doesn’t mean that won’t make a change.

The goal in making any deal is to improve the depth and youth of the Penguins’ forward corps. This explains why the team was connected to Max Domi recently, before he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens last week. The team is seeking versatility and upside up front and are willing to move substantial assets to get it, but Rutherford wasn’t willing to part with the Alex Galchenyuk-level ask from the Arizona Coyotes for Domi. Rutherford knows that even if he does nothing this summer, Pittsburgh will still be a contender, and as such he does not need to overpay in any trade. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are not going anywhere and Rutherford has already confirmed that he is not shopping Phil Kessel. It’s safe to assume that young winger Jake Guentzel and new acquisition Derick Brassard are also safe. That is already shaping up to be a solid group yet again and the internal addition of younger players should add energy and potential. However, Rutherford’s preference still is to add depth and even more youth if he can to combat the injuries and fatigue that hurt his aging roster last year. Those are the moves he is looking to make this summer and it seems inevitable that at least one such transaction will be made by the expert executive. They may not be three-peat champions, but the Penguins are going to re-stock and be dangerous again in 2018-19.

Jordy Bellerive, Two Others Injured In Fire

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Monday: The Lethbridge Hurricanes have released an update on the players’ conditions, and have cleared up some confusion about the incident. The fire happened at the home of minor league player Tyler Wong, and not during a bachelor party.

Alfaro and Bellerive are in stable condition, but Vandervlis is in a medically-induced coma and still considered in critical condition. The Vandervlis family has released a statement saying that alcohol was not a factor.

Sunday: Pittsburgh Penguins prospect Jordy Bellerive, along with Lethbridge Hurricanes teammates Ryan Vandervlis and Matt Alfaro, were injured last night in a fire that broke out at a bachelor party the three were attending. All three were taken to hospital with one—who Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports is not Bellerive—being considered in critical condition. The Penguins released a statement explaining that they were in direct contact with Bellerive and expect him to make a full recovery.

Global Lethbridge’s Liam Nixon provides an update on incident as its reported that the injuries are burns stemming from someone throwing a substance into a fire pit, which caused an explosion.

Bellerive was signed last September following an outstanding performance at the team’s development camp, and followed it up with a 92-point season as captain of the Hurricanes. His 25 points in 16 playoff games took them all the way to the WHL Conference Finals, though they would be defeated by the eventual champion Swift Current Broncos. Bellerive is still just 19 years old and was expected to return to Lethbridge for 2018-19.

The situation for Vandervlis, a current Hurricanes player and Alfaro a former teammate who now attends the University of Calgary is unclear, with the WHL team only offering this statement:

All three players are currently being treated in a hospital for various injuries sustained in the incident. Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the families at this time. On behalf of the Hurricanes, the players’ families and teammates we ask you to respect the privacy of those affected.

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