- The Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t in the playoffs, but they did make a roster move yesterday. After a scary injury that kept him out for the last few weeks of the season, Nick Bonino was taken off long-term injured reserve yesterday, CapFriendly reports. After re-joining the Penguins at the trade deadline from the San Jose Sharks, the veteran suffered a lacerated kidney in his third game with the team and missed the final 18 games of the season. The 35-year-old is an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Penguins Rumors
NHL Notes: Zucker, Drury, Andersen
Seth Rorabaugh of Trib Live Sports is reporting that free agent winger Jason Zucker has made it clear that he wants to remain a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zucker was able to remain healthy this season for the first time since the 2018-19 season when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild. Zucker flourished in a top six role for the Penguins this year, which was a pleasant, albeit unexpected surprise. Zucker spent much of last summer as a possible trade or buyout candidate, but the Penguins never found a suitor for the California native and elected to hang onto him.
Zucker rewarded Pittsburgh with his best season as a Penguin. He tallied 27 goals and 48 points in 78 games while playing on a second line with Evgeni Malkin. Zucker was also one of the few Penguins who showed an emotional pulse as the team was free falling out of a playoff position in the dying weeks of the regular season. There were many nights in which Pittsburgh appeared to be sleepwalking through the game only to be awakened by a huge hit by the small forward.
Zucker will have suitors and could very well fetch a contract that exceeds his previous cap hit of $5.5MM. Zucker is just 31 years old, and while injuries are certainly a concern given his track record, the lack of game breaking forwards on the free agent market should allow Zucker to cash in on his bounce back season.
In other notes from around the NHL:
- Chip Alexander of Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that Rod Brind’Amour said that Jack Drury is feeling better today. This comes on the heels of Drury leaving game four yesterday after taking a hard hit into the boards in the first period. The center is in the midst of a 14-game goalless drought and played just 1:20 in the Hurricanes 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. Drury had just eight points in 38 games in the regular season, but with the Hurricanes battling through various injuries the 23-year-old played over 15 minutes in both games two and three of Carolina’s first round series.
- Alexander also tweeted that Brind’Amour said goaltender Frederik Andersen is good to go for the Carolina Hurricanes. Andersen will likely be relegated to a backup role as Antti Raanta has backstopped the Hurricanes to a 3-1 series lead against the Islanders. Raanta has posted a solid .915 save percentage for Carolina after going 19-3-3 in the regular season. While it seems likely that Andersen won’t see action until the second round, he could get into a game should Raanta stumble in any of the next few games.
Jan Rutta Undergoes Surgery
The Pittsburgh Penguins failed to make the playoffs for the first time in many years, allowing some players to get cleanup surgeries. This week, Jan Rutta went under the knife for a procedure to repair a core muscle injury. The surgery was performed in St. Louis and will keep Rutta out for an estimated eight to ten weeks.
That timeline leaves him plenty of time to get ready for next season, though core muscle injuries are notorious for affecting performance longer than the initial recovery.
Rutta, 32, suited up for 56 games this season in Pittsburgh after signing a three-year, $8.25MM contract in the summer. The deal was a significant payday for the former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman, who has never had a contract longer than two years previously.
While he’ll never offer much offensive upside, Rutta was given brutal defensive deployment this year in Pittsburgh. While his possession numbers look ugly, the results weren’t nearly as bad. The Penguins outscored their opponents 33-32 while Rutta was on the ice at even strength. Given his strong contribution on the penalty kill, he should continue to play a solid (though limited) role for Pittsburgh moving forward.
Jason Karmanos Potential GM Replacement
- Also of note, Darren Dreger of TSN reports Jason Karmanos is a sought after general manager candidate. Karmanos is currently the assistant general manager of the Buffalo Sabres and has a long history of working in NHL front office roles, dating back to 1998 when he held the same position with the Carolina Hurricanes. Dreger mentions Karmanos could be an option to replace recently-fired Ron Hextall who was the GM with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Karmanos held roles as the VP of Hockey Operations as well as assistant general manager in Pittsburgh between 2014 and 2021.
Carter Will Play Next Season; Rakell Won't Play At Worlds But Guentzel Will
After a good performance in 2021-22, Penguins center Jeff Carter was rewarded with a two-year contract extension. However, things didn’t go as well this year as the 38-year-old managed just 29 points in 79 games while having his playing time cut by nearly four minutes a night. However, despite the setback, Carter told reporters, including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that he intends to play next season instead of retiring. Even if whoever takes over for GM Ron Hextall doesn’t want to have Carter back, there is no benefit to buying him out as he’s on a 35-plus contract while the veteran also has a full no-move clause.
- Still with Pittsburgh, winger Rickard Rakell has declined an invitation to play at the upcoming World Championship, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had a bounce-back year with 28 goals and 32 assists but is dealing with some minor health issues. Meanwhile, winger Jake Guentzel will suit up for the United States in the event. The 28-year-old was third on the Penguins in scoring this season with 36 goals and 37 assists.
Pittsburgh Penguins Fire Ron Hextall, Brian Burke
The Pittsburgh Penguins have relieved president of hockey operations Brian Burke, general manager Ron Hextall, and assistant general manager Chris Pryor of their duties, the team said in a release Friday morning.
Pittsburgh’s changes in leadership come after the team missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2006, done in by a 5-2 loss to the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks in their final game on home ice this season. The firings come as no surprise, given the team’s questionable approach to the trade deadline and their status as the oldest team in the league.
The search for new leadership in Pittsburgh will begin immediately, the team said. The interim management group will consist of director of hockey operations Alec Schall, AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton general manager Erik Heasley, and hockey operations analyst Andy Saucier. Head coach Mike Sullivan will also be involved, per the team.
John Henry and Tom Werner of Pittsburgh’s ownership, Fenway Sports Group, had this to say:
We are grateful to Brian, Ron, and Chris for their contributions to the organization over the past two seasons, but we feel that the team will benefit from new hockey operations leadership. While this season has been disappointing, we believe in our core group of players and the goal of contending for the Stanley Cup has not changed.
Pittsburgh’s next general manager will be given an important task: guiding the team through the twilight years of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang. All three are signed through at least 2025, and given they’re all still playing at elite levels, the team will undoubtedly do whatever it can to surround them with talent. It’s unlikely the team enters a rebuild before at least two out of their core three retire.
While the team does have some undesirable anchor contracts, they have a fair amount of roster flexibility to retool in free agency this off-season. The team has $17.15MM coming off the books in unrestricted free agents, including Jason Zucker and Brian Dumoulin, but they’ll also need to either extend Tristan Jarry or decide to let him walk. While he’s posted solid numbers in recent years, injuries continue to plague a promising career, and the team could opt to shop for a different starting goalie in free agency or on the trade market.
Those are the types of dilemmas the new regime in Pittsburgh will have to solve, aiming to inject some life into a team that’s grown stagnant over the past few seasons. Pittsburgh has not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2018 when they defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. It’s a trend growing reminiscent of the mid-2010s Detroit Red Wings, who sustained three consecutive first-round losses to end a 25-year postseason streak.
Hextall departs his post as GM after just two and a half seasons. He and Burke were hired to replace Jim Rutherford on February 9, 2021.
Minnesota Wild Sign Frederick Gaudreau To Extension
The Minnesota Wild announced that they’ve taken care of some offseason business early as they have inked forward Frederick Gaudreau to a five year $10.5MM extension. Gaudreau was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, but his extension will keep him with the Wild for the next five seasons.
Gaudreau originally signed a two year $2.4MM contract with the Wild in July 2021 after spending a single season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. While that contract carried some risk, it turned out to be an absolute bargain for Minnesota. The 29-year-old has put up 80 points in 157 games for Minnesota and added some cheap depth scoring.
Minnesota has been hamstrung by the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The veterans buyout will account for nearly $15MM of the Wild’s salary cap space next year. Despite the cap issues, GM Bill Guerin has been able to bargain shop on multiple occasions and hit more often than he misses. Even more impressive for Guerin is that he’s been able to build a competitive team without cap space and while also not mortgaging the future. Minnesota has all their first and second round draft picks for the near future.
While getting the Gaudreau contract done early is a tidy piece of business for the Wild, they do have some other pending free agents who will be much more difficult to extend and just $6.8MM in cap space to do it. John Klingberg, Matt Dumba, Gustav Nyquist and Oskar Sundqvist are all unrestricted, while defenseman Calen Addison and goaltender Filip Gustavsson are restricted free agents. Minnesota will likely have to make some tough decisions this summer, but with one of the best farm systems in the NHL, they should be able to remain competitive while getting younger and cheaper.
Mark Friedman Clears Waivers
April 13: Friedman has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minor leagues before tonight’s game.
April 12: As the team is getting healthier with their season on the line, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed defenseman Mark Friedman on waivers today, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
While it’s rare for a player to hit waivers after the trade deadline, let alone this late in the season, the move comes out of salary cap necessity for Pittsburgh. Defenseman Marcus Pettersson has progressed in his recovery from a lower-body injury and will be a game-time decision tomorrow night, per head coach Mike Sullivan, meaning the team needs to clear some cap room to activate Pettersson from long-term injured reserve.
Friedman and his $775,000 salary are the odd factors out here, and assuming the near-given scenario that he clears waivers, will be assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tomorrow. The 27-year-old has split the season evenly between the two teams, playing a total of 47 pro games and recording nine points.
After dropping their last home game of the regular season to the Chicago Blackhawks last night, 5-2, the Penguins must rely on the 68-point Montreal Canadiens to defeat the New York Islanders in regulation tonight to keep their playoff hopes alive. Pittsburgh would then need a regulation win against Columbus on Thursday to continue their 16-year postseason streak.
Friedman, strictly a depth defender, had suited up in 12 straight games for Pittsburgh before he was a healthy scratch against Chicago.
Former Penguin Philip Samuelsson Staying Overseas
- Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Philip Samuelsson is on the move overseas, joining the DEL’s Straubing Tigers for the 2023-24 season, per the league. Samuelsson, a 2009 second-round pick, recorded 31 points in 47 games last year for the DEL’s Fischtown Penguins and last played in North America in 2018-19. He recorded only 13 games of NHL action during his time with the Penguins and Arizona Coyotes, failing to record a point.
Dmitry Kulikov Activated Off LTIR
- Prior to their game tonight against Chicago, the Penguins announced that they activated defenseman Dmitry Kulikov off LTIR. The 32-year-old was brought in from Anaheim at the trade deadline but suffered a lower-body injury in just his fourth game with his new team. Kulikov has 16 points, 107 blocks, and 93 hits in 65 games this season and suited up on the third pairing.