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Penguins Sign Frederick Gaudreau And Maxime Lagace

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The Penguins have added some depth up front and between the pipes, announcing the signings of winger Frederick Gaudreau and goalie Maxime Lagace.  Both players receive one-year, two-way deals worth $700K in the NHL.

After playing only in the NHL in 2018-19, Gaudreau played exclusively in the minors last season, getting into 42 games with AHL Milwaukee, posting 11 goals and 17 assists.  He has 84 career regular season games under his belt all with Nashville over parts of three seasons.  His most prominent NHL performance came in the 2017 playoffs where he had three goals in eight games.

As for Lagace, his claim to fame came back in 2017-18 when a long list of injuries with Vegas pushed him into making 16 NHL appearances.  He spent 2019-20 with Boston’s AHL affiliate in Providence and played well in 33 games, putting up a 2.37 GAA with a .919 SV%.

Both players are waiver-eligible but having cleared them last season, it’s reasonable to assume they’ll so again in 2020-21.  They’ll likely start with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton but be among the candidates to be recalled during the season when injuries arise.

Mark Jankowski Signs With Pittsburgh Penguins

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed another bottom-six forward, inking Mark Jankowski. Jankowski was not given a qualifying offer from the Calgary Flames and became an unrestricted free agent. He has signed a one-year deal worth just $700K. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford released a statement on the deal:

Mark is another versatile player that gives us an option at the center position. His added experience on the penalty kill, where he has had success over the last few seasons, makes him a good fit for our team.

Pittsburgh needed to add some depth forwards in free agency, but Jankowski could actually still be more than just a fourth-line option. The 26-year-old was originally a first-round pick in 2012 and scored 17 goals as a rookie in 2017-18. Though his offense has dropped off since then, he is a legitimate NHL forward that will now be extremely inexpensive for the Penguins.

In fact, it could have even made sense for the Flames to issue the $1.75MM qualifying offer that Jankowski was owed. Those two sides seemed destined for a breakup, but there is real value here for the Penguins even in a limited role.

The Penguins also inked minor league forward Josh Currie, announcing a one-year, two-way minimum deal.

Evan Rodrigues Signs With Pittsburgh Penguins

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After being included in a trade earlier this summer, Evan Rodrigues is headed back to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The forward ended up going unqualified by the Toronto Maple Leafs after they acquired him as part of the package for Kasperi Kapanen, meaning he was an unrestricted free agent that could sign anywhere.  Well, he decided to return to Pittsburgh, signing a one-year contract worth $700K. GM Jim Rutherford released a statement on the deal:

We were pleased with Evan’s play during his brief stint with us last season. His versatility and ability to play all three forward positions, especially center, is an asset that gives us options and adds depth to our forward group.

Rodrigues, 27, has shown glimpses of high-end NHL talent over his short career but never quite put things together for a long stretch. An undrafted free agent signing by the Buffalo Sabres out of Boston University, he has 72 points in 199 career NHL games including a career-high of 29 in the 2018-19 season.

In Pittsburgh, he’ll be battling for a bottom-six role but can provide some nice depth for a team that is still trying to win the Stanley Cup. Undrafted college free agents have found a ton of success over the years in the Penguins organization, hopefully Rodrigues can be the next example of that.

Despite Non-Tender Penguins Interested In Keeping Dominik Simon

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  • Despite non-tendering him earlier this week, the Penguins have interest in re-signing forward Dominik Simon, report Josh Yohe and Rob Rossi of The Athletic (subscription link). The 26-year-old has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh and put up 22 points in 64 games this season while logging a career-best 14:24 per game.  While his qualifier was for under $800K, Pittsburgh’s concern was a possible arbitration award so while any new deal will almost certainly come in higher than what his tender would have been for, it should come in lower than had it gone to a hearing as well.

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Sam Lafferty

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After making a qualifying offer to restricted free agent Sam Lafferty, the Pittsburgh Penguins have now come to terms on a contract extension with the young forward. The team has announced a two-year, $1.5MM contract for Lafferty. The 25-year-old will be an unrestricted free agent when the deal expires following the 2021-22 season.

While Lafferty’s new $750K AAV is actually a reduction from his prior NHL cap hit of $768K, it is a one-way contract that promises the local product more guaranteed money than his entry-level deal. Lafferty’s low cap hit will also make him a more valuable asset to the cap-strapped Penguins this year. Lafferty played 50 games with Pittsburgh in his rookie season, recording 13 points, and he will look to win and retain a full-time role again next season. If he can provide positive contributions on a consistent basis, the Penguins will appreciate his affordable impact.

Lafferty is still waivers-exempt and could potentially be sent down to the AHL,but  it is a safe bet that he is in Pittsburgh for good. GM Jim Rutherford stated the following in the team’s press release announcing Lafferty’s extension: “We have been very pleased with Sam’s development. His size and speed are big advantages in today’s game, and we like what he brings to our lineup.”

Ottawa Senators Acquire Matt Murray

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The Ottawa Senators have acquired goaltender Matt Murray from the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins will receive the 52nd overall selection in today’s draft and prospect John Gruden in exchange. Murray, who is a pending restricted free agent, was already issued a qualifying offer from the Penguins this week, an offer that will travel with him to Ottawa.

Though the contract is not in place yet, the Senators are expected to sign Murray to an extension, giving them a new starting goaltender for the 2020-21 season and beyond. Still just 26, Murray has a championship pedigree from his time with the Penguins and will stabilize the net of a team that is quickly building an incredible prospect base.

If you think a second-round selection is a pretty good return for the Penguins, it is. In a year where goaltenders are available by the dozen, the Penguins will land another strong prospect on day two of the draft by nabbing a pick that originally belonged to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Senators meanwhile have draft capital to burn and will still select three more times in the second round.

Gruden is certainly an interesting addition as well. The fourth-round pick went to Miami University (Ohio) in 2018-19 and struggled, deciding to make the jump to the OHL this past year. With the London Knights, one of the strongest junior programs in Canada, Gruden found a lot more success, scoring 30 goals and 66 points in just 59 games. Now 20 he is eligible to turn pro and play in the AHL, he is still likely a few years away from making an impact for the Penguins.

Murray was always going to be traded this offseason, given the $3.75MM qualifying offer he required. The Penguins have decided to hand the net to Tristan Jarry and didn’t have enough cap space to keep both goaltenders in the fold. They also were facing a very similar situation with regards to expansion and would have had to expose one of Murray or Jarry to the Seattle Kraken if they kept them both.

In Ottawa, Murray will have to try and rebound from the .899 save percentage he registered this season. The two-time Stanley Cup winner did rebound and look better in the postseason, but still wasn’t the dominant presence he represented when first entering the league.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Penguins Announce Qualifying Offer Decisions

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While a buyout of Jack Johnson will steal the headlines, the Pittsburgh Penguins have also announced which restricted free agents have received qualifying offers. Pontus Aberg, Anthony Angello, Sam Lafferty, Sam Miletic and Matt Murray have all received offers and will be restricted free agents.

Graham Knott, John Nyberg and most notably, Dominik Simon, have not been given qualifying offers and will become unrestricted free agents on Friday.

Though there was some speculation that the team could leave Murray unqualified, it never did seem very likely. The goaltender’s qualifying offer was for $3.75MM, a big number for a team looking to free up cap space and retool their roster. The Penguins seem determined to make Tristan Jarry the starter next season, with Murray being all but traded already by GM Jim Rutherford. Even at $3.75MM he could still draw plenty of trade interest given his history of success—two Stanley Cup championships before your rookie status runs out will do that.

Simon though will come as a surprise to some (though his situation was reported on over the weekend by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) as he hits free agency despite what would have been an inexpensive qualifying offer. The reason the Penguins couldn’t afford to give him one is the risk of arbitration, where Simon likely would have received a cap hit the team deemed too high.

Simon does have 50 points over the last two seasons, even though at least some of that production can be linked directly to minutes played with Sidney Crosby. He’s much more suited to a depth role, but should attract some interest on the open market.

Pittsburgh Penguins To Buy Out Jack Johnson

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed Jack Johnson on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a contract buyout. Johnson has three years remaining on his contract, meaning a buyout will carry through the 2025-26 season. The full cap hits will be as follows:

  • 2020-21: $1,166,667
  • 2021-22: $1,166,667
  • 2022-23: $1,916,667
  • 2023-24: $916,667
  • 2024-25: $916,667
  • 2025-26: $916,667

Quite frankly, this contract was a disaster from the very first day it was signed. Penguins GM Jim Rutherford signed Johnson to a five-year contract on July 1, 2018 despite the veteran defenseman’s recent struggles with the Columbus Blue Jackets. When it was pointed out that Johnson had even been made a healthy scratch by the Blue Jackets, Rutherford told reporters:

I don’t think he had a bad year. He was a healthy scratch at the end of the season. I know the reason why. It wasn’t because of how he was playing.

That comment got an explosive response from Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella, who said Rutherford must be a “(expletive) magician” for having insight into the team’s decision making from “three hours away.” Unfortunately, it appears as though the Penguins have come to the same conclusion the Blue Jackets did.

Johnson, 33, recorded some of the worst possession metrics in the NHL during his time in Pittsburgh, struggling at both ends of the rink. In 149 games with the Penguins he recorded 24 points while averaging more than 19 minutes a night, adding zero in the seven postseason games he was included in. A third-overall pick in 2005, when Johnson’s offensive output declined his effectiveness went with it, to the point where it will be interesting to see if he even receives a new NHL contract.

Of course, he’ll be making money even if he doesn’t sign a new deal thanks to this buyout. The Penguins do save a little more than $2MM in cap space for each of the next two seasons (and about $1.3MM in 2022-23) but will have to carry a penalty for three extra seasons thanks to the unfortunate contract.

Vegas Golden Knights Looking For Third Team To Aid In Fleury Trade

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With the writing on the wall after the Vegas Golden Knights announced the signing of Robin Lehner to be their long-term goaltender, many have wondered what general manager Kelly McCrimmon plans to do with their former franchise goaltender, Marc-Andre Fleury, who still has $7MM AAV on the team’s books for the next two years. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reported Saturday evening on Sportsnet’s Hockey Central that they are currently looking into finding a third team that can help retain some of Fleury’s salary before finding a new home for the veteran netminder.

“I think one of the options that I think Kelly McCrimmon and the Vegas Golden Knights have at least started to explore,” said Johnston, “is whether they may be able to use an intermediary team as part of their three-way deal in which that team is the one that retains part of Fleury’s salary in order to make this kind of transaction work.”

The Golden Knights did something similar at the trade deadline in February to acquire Lehner when they had the Chicago Blackhawks first trade Lehner to Toronto for prospect Martin Dzierkals first, while retaining half of Lehner’s $5MM salary ($2.5MM). The Leafs then retained $1.1MM and received a Vegas 2020 fifth-round pick for the transaction for sending Lehner to Vegas at a much cheaper price, which came out to just a $1.4MM cap cost for the Golden Knights. Now Vegas is trying to do that once again.

Of course with a up to 20 goaltending candidates who could move to a new location this offseason, Vegas might have more of a challenge than most offseasons. Fleury, who only appeared in four games during the Golden Knights’ playoff run to the Western Conference Finals, did fare well in his limited time, suggesting he still has quite a bit to offer a team, looking for a veteran tandem goaltender. He finished the playoffs with a 2.27 GAA and a .910 save percentage. However, his regular season was a little less impressive with a 2.77 GAA and a .905 save percentage in 49 games.

What teams might be interested remains unknown, although The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that while it’s unlikely, the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t given up on the possibility of bringing Fleury back as a tandem with newly signed Tristan Jarry. However, the transaction would likely require quite a bit of creativity to make a move like that work, considering the delicate state of the Penguins’ cap situation.

Vegas, of course, could still opt to buy Fleury’s contract out as the buyout window doesn’t close until Tuesday afternoon, but then would leave the Golden Knights stuck with $2.58MM in 2020-21, $3.08MM in 2021-22 and $2.08MM in 2022-23 and 2023-24, something the team would prefer to avoid.

Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins

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With free agency now just a few days away, teams are preparing for a frenzy of action.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign.  The Penguins have some key decisions to make, but with a plan to keep their cap number down and their overall goals of making changes to keep their team in the playoff picture for the next few years, they may have to let some players go.

Key Restricted Free Agents

G Matt Murray – With the signing of Tristan Jarry on Saturday to a three-year deal, the Penguins are basically making it clear that they have chosen Jarry over Murray in net. While they could conceivably keep both as it is expected that the team will tender a qualifying offer, it still is more likely that Murray will be traded shortly. That’s a far fall for the “goalie of the future” three years back when they allowed Marc-Andre Fleury move on. Many teams are waiting for the huge free-agent goalie market to disseminate in the next week as Murray sounds like a cheaper option, but the 26-year-old’s lack of consistency likely worries plenty of teams. Murray finished the season with a 2.87 GAA and a .899 save percentage in 38 games, although the netminder did fare better in three postseason games as he had a 2.50 GAA and a .914 save percentage in three games.

F Dominik Simon – Hardly a top-six player, but the versatile Simon suddenly looks like he could be a cap casualty as The Athletic’s Rob Rossi reports that he could make as much as $1.25MM, a high price for a capped-strapped team. The 26-year-old played all over the lineup, but has never managed to post more than 30 points in his career. He tallied seven goals and 22 points last season in 64 games. The forward is also recovering from shoulder surgery in late April, which was expected to keep him out six to seven months.

Other RFAs: F Pontus Aberg, F Anthony Angello, F Graham Knott, F Sam Lafferty, F Sam Miletic, D John Nyberg.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D – Justin Schultz – The blueliner was singled out last month by general manger Jim Rutherford as one of the problems on the Pittsburgh blueline. That likely means that the team will allow Schultz to explore other offers around the league. The team did get an impressive year out of John Marino, suggesting the team can get along without him and $5.5MM cap hit that came with him. It’s highly unlikely he will get anything like that on the market anyway, but Schultz definitely struggled since signing that three-year, $16.5MM contract. Since posting a 51-point season with the Penguins and signing that deal, he has posted just 54 points combined in those three seasons and has dealt with a number of injuries that has affected his overall game.

F Conor Sheary – The Penguins re-acquired Sheary at the trade deadline from Buffalo after trading him there back in 2018. The 28-year-old winger scored 23 goals in his second year with the Penguins back in 2016-17. Those goals, however, have declined every year to 18 to 14 to 10 last season. The team has made it clear it doesn’t want to put Sidney Crosby next to lesser players like Sheary has, meaning if they held onto him, they would more likely move him down to the third line. The question is whether Sheary is affordable enough to bring back to the team.

F Patrick Marleau – The Penguins picked up the legendary winger from the Sharks for their playoff run, but he managed to scored just one goal and two points in eight games before the shutdown and was scoreless in four playoff games. It isn’t likely that the 41-year-old will return to Pittsburgh, although a return to the Sharks for one final season isn’t necessarily out of the question.

Other UFAs: F Riley Barber, F Thomas Di Pauli, F Adam Johnson, F Kevin Roy, F Phil Varone.

Projected Cap Space

Rutherford vowed to change up his roster this offseason in hopes of giving Crosby and Evgeni Malkin every opportunity to win another Stanley Cup before their time in the NHL is up. That will require some major decisions in both free agency and through trades, something that Rutherford is an expert on. The biggest problem remains the salary cap where the team has just $2.6MM in available cap space to make all these moves.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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