It's Getting A Little Crowded Here
Justin Maffei | Pittsburgh Penguins
Jul 2, 06:13 PM | Hype this story!
Upon reading of the resigning of Brooks Orpik, I began wondering what the blue line would look like next year. We have 8 NHL caliber defensemen and one on the fringe. Many would agree that Sydor is one of the defensemen who will be pushed off the game roster. Who else goes though? For this discussion, we will leave Alex Goligoski out. Truth be told, his defense could improve and he could bulk up a bit. That leaves us with 3 offensive defensemen and 4 defensive defensemen. Likely, the Penguins would like to go with 3 offensive defensemen and 3 defensive defensemen. Therefore, we will likely be looking to sit one of the defensive defensemen.
Here is a look at current Penguin defensemen under contract:
Sergei Gonchar is a mainstay. He has always been an above average offensive defenseman, but last season his defensive game improved drastically.
Ryan Whitney struggled this past season, but it is unlikely that he will be moved. He is signed long-term and the Pens still believe he will grow into and hopefully outplay his contract.
Kris Letang was a pleasant surprise last season. After being a healthy scratch for a few games at the beginning of the season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he was called up to the parent team and played very well. His offensive game did not live up to the hype, but his defensive game was markedly better than previously thought. His offensive skills should shine through next season after getting accustomed to the league.
Brooks Orpik just signed for six years at slightly under $4 million per year. He stepped out of Therrien’s doghouse last season and into the spotlight. The Penguins are lucky to have his physical presence back on the blueline, there is no way they are sitting him.
Hal Gill was brought in at the trade deadline last season and played very well once he was accustomed to the system. His skills on the penalty kill make him valuable. Gill will not be a scratch.
Rob Scuderi has been an unspectacular, but very solid force on the blueline for the Penguins. He played much of last year as Gonchar’s partner. The two meshed well until Scuderi was injured. Orpik took over the spot and never gave it back.
Mark Eaton is a good defensive defenseman if he can stay healthy. He has failed to do this for the previous two seasons. He is an excellent shot blocker and plays good positional hockey.
All of these defensemen will make the coaches’ decision quite difficult. Rob Scuderi or Mark Eaton seem to be the next logical choices to be sat. It is hard to believe Eaton was resigned to serve as a 7th defenseman, especially with Goligoski waiting in the wings. However, Scuderi was important to the Penguins defense the previous season. If it were up to me to make a decision right now, I would split time between the two. My defensive pairing would look like this:
Orpik – Gonchar
Gill – Letang
Scuderi/Eaton – Whitney
No matter what the coaches decide, this is a good problem for the Penguins to have. Especially since right now they have only 4 NHL caliber wingers signed for next season.
Comments
Bruce
Jul 2, 06:48 PM
I think you are seeing a rookie GM making uncoordinated moves. He signs Eaton in case he loses ORPIK while still not moving Sydor. For the money he wasted he could have given RUUTIU what he wanted. This is similar to the inexplicable drafting of centers and goalies instead of wingers. Shero is in over his head!
Chad
Jul 2, 06:59 PM
Ruutu wasn’t that important to keep, Bruce. Matt Cooke can do the job if he’s signed.
dizzle
Jul 2, 07:16 PM
Bruce, He signed Eaton as an insurance policy to guarentee we had 7 NHL calibre defensemen for next season. Orpik stated in his comments after signing (sports beat interviewed him) he was “blown away” by some of the money offered to him, but didn’t like where those franchises were headed. I’m sure Shero knew of these offers, and that dollar wise we couldn’t match, he had to act on his contingency plan. Luckily for us Orpik really likes our situation. There was no need to move Sydor until Orpik was re-signed today.
And on the drafting…They take the best player available regardless of position. Countless “centers” have been drafted that eventually had great NHL careers as wingers. Alex Tanguay, Scott Hartnell, Brad Boyes, to name a few. It’s all about the skill set and attitude. Plus very young centers usually have a bit more defensive\2-way awareness than wingers due to their position. And I don’t see how you think the goalies were bad picks, besides Curry, we have absolutely zero NHL potential in the system. Dave Brown is the next closest, but he’ll probably never be more than a back-up.
Matt Bodenschatz
Jul 2, 07:17 PM
How do we know Eaton was signed in case Orpik left? My indications are this is not true, as Orpik has remained in close talks with the Penguins since early yesterday and vice versa. Eaton has been a very solid defender when healthy, and since his two injuries were as a result of cheapshots, it’s difficult to suggest he is injury prone. Maybe there’s more to the defensive signings, such as a trade in the works?
Money was not an issue with Ruutu. The problem was years. Shero wanted two, Ruutu wanted three. The money offered, from my understanding, was more per year than he got from Ottawa. Regardless, I dislike this move.
And the drafting of centers has to do with taking the best player available. This isn’t the NFL where there are swarms of sure-shot players in the draft. When you pick, you take the player you feel to be the absolute best. If he pans out and there’s no room for him you trade him. Period.
What we’re seeing is not a rookie GM. It’s a patient GM in his third free agency period. Is it frustrating right now? Yes, but look at the trade deadline when the only two moves made came with less than an hour left. The first move, Hal Gill, was greeted with hatred and “why did Shero pay so much for Gill” statements. How did he turn out? The other was Marian Hossa, a player not even remotely close to on the radar.
At this point, there are at least four top-notch players left: Jagr, Naslund, Huselius, Williams. Add in Demitra, Bertuzzi, Nagy, Fedotenko, Satan, and a few others, and you’ll see that the pickings aren’t that slim. Crosby doesn’t need superstars as his wingers, he just needs talented players.
I understand the frustration, but we’re less than 48 hours into free agency and many people are ready to claim the first overall pick in the 2009 draft. Let’s have some patience and confidence in the GM who has put together a solid team in each of his first two years as GM.
Eric
Jul 2, 07:20 PM
Rookie GM, please… He’s done a fine job at managing his salary structure so that he doesn’t ruin a good thing.
Also, I have to say with the Orpik signing I do think they’ll be trading a defenseman fairly soon.
Dan
Jul 2, 07:51 PM
I’ve warmed up to Whitney- but I say ship him to Montreal and pick up Kovalev.
Meh, heck, Whitney can play wing again… we have a need there. /joke
Pens1967
Jul 2, 08:00 PM
I think you have to look past this year to next year to understand the signings. Both Sydor and Gill plus Scuderi are UFAs in 09-10. I’d say odds are that neither Sydor nor Gill will be back. Since Sydor signed when he was over 35, there’s nothing the Pens can do to lose his salary for this year. But, perhaps there are teams out there who need to come up to the salary cap floor and need or would like a vetern defenseman and the Pens will find a taker. As much as I liked Gill’s play after the trade, he’ll be 34 next year and isn’t getting any faster or quicker.
The coaches love Scuderi, so I think he’ll be re-signed.
Personally, I could see Goligoski being trade bait as the Pens have both Sneep and Straight in the pipeline on defense and won’t need to rush their development now.
Chad
Jul 2, 08:12 PM
Pens1967, wouldn’t Sydor be off the Pens’ books completely if they trade him?
c
Jul 2, 08:39 PM
Why on earth is anyone fretting over having TOO MANY capable d? Look how the Philthy Cryers fell apart in the playoffs when their top two went down with injury. They didn’t have any capable replacements for those guys. A team can almost never have too many good d-men, even if someones delicate ego gets bruised sitting once in a while!
Pens1967
Jul 2, 08:47 PM
Chad, I believe so, yes, if they trade Sydor. But that’s the only way they can clear all or part of his salary.
henkegbgskea
Jul 3, 03:31 AM
Well i totally agree with “C” !
Orpik is very important to pens.
and w do need
About Hossa i am a little puzzled i dont think i will play in their first line.
that line is set to be:
Datsyuk-Zetterberg-Holmström
most likely it willl be the n umbder 3 line for Hossa, but hey, Red wings are the best team in the league so u cant be to angry with Marian…
Hopefully Shero can sign Cooke to replace Ruutu in my eyes thats an upgrade,am i wrong?
to replace Hossa well i feel we have to get 2 snipers …..
dont no who of the free agents to choose yet…..
;=)
Tom
Jul 3, 07:14 PM
Justin, Unless the Pens intend to keep eight roster defensemen, one will have to be traded, cut or waived to the baby Pens. I should think the only defensemen with significant trade value are Gonchar, Letang, Orpik, Whitney and Goligoski. I doubt than there would be takers for the others. Since Whitney seems untouchable and difficult to trade with his contract and cap hit, I question whether he will be traded. Gonchar and Orpik are probably untouchable. Thus, if a trade is to be made, it will have to be Letang or Goligoski. Since that is trading away the Pens’ future, I should hope that they would not do so. Possibly waive Sydor to the baby Pens and hope someone is sufficiently demented to pick him up. If not bring him back and eat half his contract if someone takes him or buy him out. Here is what is available under the cap: The hype about the salary cap seems a bit absurd. A simple look at the numbers I have updated shows that the cap is quite high enough to accommodate the Pens’ needs. I have now updated the cap and salary figures to give some idea of what can be done.
Player…....2008-2009…......2009-2010
Crosby…...$8,700,000….....$8,700,000
Malkin…....3,834,000…......8,700,000
Fleury…....5,000,000…......5,000,000
Staal….....2,200,000…......4,500,000
Sykora…....2,500,000
Orpik….....3,750,000…......3,750,000
Gonchar…...5,000,000…......5,000,000
Letang…......835,000…........835,000
Gill…......2,100,000
Scuderi….....725,000
Dupuis…....1,400,000…......1,400,000
Talbot…......700,000
Whitney…...4,000,000…......4,000,000
Sydor….....2,500,000
Eaton….....2,000,000…......2,000.000
Sabourin…....550,000
Satan….....3,500,000
Fedotenko….2,250,000
Godard…......750,000….......750,000
Kennedy….....550,000….......550,000
The Pens’ current cap hit is $52,844,000* in 2008-2009 with some $3,856,000 left for others out of a salary cap of $56,700,000. The problem arises in 2009-2010 when Malkin and Staal receive big money; however, considering that Satan, Fedotenko, Gill, Sykora and Scuderi all become free agents, some financial / personnel decisions may need to be made, although there is no salary cap for 2009-2010. A good idea is to be conservative about handing out no-trade clauses.
* The list includes eight defensemen. The Pens carry only seven;therefore, there is more cap space due to the trade, demotion or cut of one defenseman.
Sorry about the columns as Word Perfect and your comment software are somewhat incompatible.
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