Faceoff Factor

Pens Still Draw Lightning Comparisons

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Sep 23, 12:34 PM | Hype this story!

As the Pittsburgh Penguins signed core players Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Brooks Orpik to long-term contracts this summer, a heavy debate ensued, questioning whether the top-heavy Penguins were more like the Tampa Bay Lightning or Ottawa Senators.

The basis for the argument is that all three teams built a foundation of young, talented, expensive players, leaving limited salary cap space for the remainder of the roster.

After quite some time, it seemed the debate was in the past, but Damien Cox felt the need to rehash in his column.

He wrote:

“The cost of paying so much to so few, as Tampa Bay found out with its now disbanded Big Three, will be instability and yearly turnover with the other 60 per cent of the roster.”

The problem with the comparison is that Tampa Bay paid big money to three forwards and, to an extent, ignored the other positions.

Of the three forward, Vincent Lecavalier is the only player truly capable of carrying a team. Martin St. Louis is a fine player indeed, but certainly not worthy of elite money. And Brad Richards, well, he earned his payday after a breakout playoffs, and never really returned to form.

To make room for their salaries, Tampa Bay let go of their goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, and let their defense — aside from offense-only Dan Boyle — fall apart.

Their penance: a trip down the ladder to the NHL’s basement.

The Penguins, however, have gone about issuing money with much caution.

Sidney Crosby was a no-brainer, as was Malkin. Both are franchise-caliber players who many consider to be the best two centers in the game. And Fleury is the franchise goaltender who will backstop this team to championship glory.

Also in the mix are veteran defensemen Ryan Whitney and Orpik, one offensive and one defensive.

So, with Tampa Bay, we saw a focus on offense alone, with much ignorance for the rest of the roster. In Pittsburgh’s case, general manager Ray Shero has spread out the money to include all positions, creating a core that extends from one end of the ice to the other.

Cox went on to say:

“This summer, the Pens lost unrestricted forwards Gary Roberts, Ryan Malone, Jarkko Ruutu, Marian Hossa, Georges Laraque and Adam Hall, as well as goalie Ty Conklin.

“In their place, the club brought in forwards Miro Satan, Ruslan Fedotenko and Eric Godard and will give some farmhands a chance.

“The Penguins can expect similar roster churn next summer, with nine more unrestricted free agents.”

And here are my various problems with this:

• Roberts played very little last season and clearly was nothing more than a fourth liner in the playoffs. His loss creates room for a cheaper, healthier, younger player to play limited minutes on the fourth line.

• Malone was extremely overpaid by the Lightning after a great playoff run. Dejavu, anyone?

• Ruutu was replaced by a young, more offensively gifted agitator, Matt Cooke.

• Hossa was a playoff rental who cost very little in terms of assets given up for production received. Keeping him would have further pushed the Penguins into the Tampa Bay mold.

• Laraque, who rarely fought, was replaced at half the price, for a fighter who, well, fights. More bang for the buck, as I like to say.

• Hall was a depth player who had a nice playoff run. Hardly worth worrying about.

• Conklin was the team’s third string goalie until Fleury’s injury. Three NHL-caliber goalies isn’t a wise way to spend money.

• And, lastly, Fedotenko and Satan will be more than adequate at making up for some of the lost offense.

In Tampa Bay, the Lightning won a Stanley Cup and fell off the map. Yet, in Ottawa, where a more balanced team with superstars was put together, the team had a string of success that lasted nearly 10 years, but never won a Cup.

Every franchise faces free agency obstacles on a yearly basis. The good ones prevail. The poor ones look back and think of what might have been.

Nothing is certain for the Penguins over the next few years, but with Shero’s foresight and savvy, it seems like the team will look a bit more like the Senators, who filled holes on their rosters with capable players, than the Lightning, who had three forwards, one defenseman, and holes at every other position.