Changing Of The Guard

What kind of fan would I be if I didn't address the events of yesterday's NHL Free Agent Frenzy?  Not a very good one I'm guessing, because the Penguins as I knew them when I woke up Tuesday morning are a far cry from the Penguins that exist on paper today.

There is a long...well, long is an understatement...let's go with tradition...There is a tradition in Pittsburgh sports that is deeply rooted in the blue-collar town that supports it's teams.  Hard work, gritty, physical, gutsy, call it what you like but the ideals of a primarily working class community have translated to how they expect their sports teams to be.  The Pirates, Steelers, and Penguins have all spent many years (during the era of free agency and salary caps) spending as little as they can for as much as they can.  It's never been about stacking a team with superstars or paying that one big phenomenon $1 billion a season.  It's been about competing at the highest level with rosters that can slug it out with the best of their respective leagues (of course the Pirates are an exception until the last few years but that's a different story).

The argument will be made that some of these Penguin teams have had superstars or currently do (ie. Crosby, Malkin, etc. now and the days of Lemieux, Jagr, Coffey, Francis, Trottier, etc. before) but most of these were obtained through drafting and player development after the fact due to poor finishes the season before.  In many cases, you had players willing to take pay cuts in order to compete on teams they felt would be contenders.  But I'm focusing more on what transpired yesterday in the crazy phenomenon known as the opening day of Free Agency.

The list of Penguins that became a casualty to free agent signings in other cities is astounding to me.  Either this has been the most movement I have seen in recent memory or maybe I have just not been paying attention.  I realize the Pens are cash strapped when it comes to acquiring new talent.  This has much to do with the contracts for the likes of Malkin at $9.5M, Crosby at $8.7M, Letang at $7.25M and Fleury at $5M affecting this years cap.  But with a total salary cap of $69M, some obvious holes in the scoring lines of the roster, and a brand new management team at the helm that's already off to a shaky reception, the Pens walked away from yesterday with about $8.3M left in their pockets and some serious questions left in the minds of their loyal fanbase.

Here are the players that will no longer be suiting up in Pittsburgh after yesterday:

James Neal - - Traded to Nashville

Tanner Glass - - Signed with the NY Rangers

Matt Niskanen - - Signed with the Washington Capitals

Brooks Orpik - - Signed with the Washington Capitals

Jussi Jokinen - - Signed with the Florida Panthers

Deryk Engelland - - Signed with the Calgary Flames

Joe Vitale - - Signed with the Arizona Coyotes

Chris Connor - - Signed with the Washington Capitals

With the exception of maybe Connor and Glass, this is not a list of scrub players or throw-aways by any means.  In fact, you not only have the departure of the number 2 and 3 defensemen but the entire supporting cast of the Malkin line has been dismantled.

Although I was a big James Neal supporter, even when his temper got the best of him, I was not as upset about it as many in Pittsburgh.  I think Neal was a product of his environment and even though he put up some amazing numbers after coming over from Dallas, his production has since declined and he didn't look to be playing on his previous level.  Jokinen bothered me a little but all along, I knew he was just a rental player.  He fits in well with the Florida team he chose to sign with.  The Niskanen deal was inevitable, although highly overrated in my opinion, and I wish him the best of luck.  I don't, however, think he will be putting up the same numbers he did last year in Washington.  Again, like Neal, he was another product of the talent around him and his canon shot from the point flourished because of it.  Of all those guys, I think overall Vitale's services will be missed the most.  You can usually supplant a loss in some of your scoring or get faster guys on the ice.  Vitale wasn't any of those but his face-off skills and penalty killing abilities were top-notch and are something not easily replaceable.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, both these guys found new
homes yesterday, Brooks in Washington and Ryan in
Vancouver.

The one I'm most disappointed with is Brooks Orpik.  Orpik has never been anything else but a Penguin.  He was never the guy that was going to be nominated for a Norris Trophy but he was the guy that helped the other guys do it.  He was never the guy that put up tons of points or even assisted in goal scoring, but he was the guy on the back end that made it happen.  Sure he took some questionable penalties and calls over the years but what defenseman worth their contracts doesn't?  I saw Brooks staying with the Pens for his entire career and eventually retiring and joining the club in some type of behind the scenes roll because of the respect he received from his teammates.  Instead, the management changes that have occurred over the last few months soured his outlook on the franchise and the locker room and he began looking for a change.  The market for aging defenseman seemed to me to be slim but his leadership abilities and intelligence of the game was something the Capitals needed and couldn't pass up.  That's why they most likely overpaid for his services for the next 5 years, something the Pens couldn't afford to do.  I know it was nothing personal but somehow I still feel slighted.  

That's how it goes being a fan in free agency times.  When you lose a player to another team, especially a "rival" team with lots of history, it hurts.  You sometimes take it personally.  You feel like you've been betrayed by your friend that you have known all your life.  But then you see the schedule and make note of the first game you will be playing against their new team.  That first shift where they get matched up with their younger, quicker replacement.  They take a shot into the boards or get dekked on a beautiful move toward the goal by their former "best friend" or bunk mate.  It's at that moment, you finally forget they once wore the same color sweater.

More on the future of the team and the new additions later.

Update #5 - Happy Unrestricted Free Canada Day

Happy Canada Day to everyone north of the border (well north of my border).  It is interesting that Canada Day falls on the same day as the Free Agent Frenzy in the NHL begins.  What a coincidence....or maybe it's not. 

Canada Day is sort of like, in a round about kind of way, like Independence Day in the US.  I'm not Canadian so I won't claim to have first hand experience with this but I was a history major in college and I believe it commemorates the joining of the provinces into a federation...or something like that.  Either way, it is a national holiday and everyone has off work and their is no mail, etc, etc.

More importantly though, it is Free Agent day in the NHL.  There are so many UFA's and RFA's out there on the wire that it would make your head spin.  To give you an idea, head over to The Cap Geek and their pretty thorough list.  Some interesting names you will find on there include the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Nabokov, Sergei Gonchar, Ray Whitney, Teemu Selanne, and many many more. 

But in typical DFG fashion, I want to focus on the quagmire of cap issues that are affecting the Pens.  In all my years of watching the Penguins, I never remember a year where so many players were on the free agent list.  If you include all the players the Pens have contracts with, Pittsburgh has 15 guys on the bubble.  Of those 15, 8 players saw playing time on the Pens last season and 1 other player saw NHL time (that being Hamhuis).  The rest are all two-way contracted players that spent last season bouncing between Wilkes-Barre Scranton and Wheeling.  So, for argument sake, we will say there are basically 8 pressing issues to deal with.

#1  Sergei Gonchar $5M cap hit- Bottom line here is that he isn't getting any younger.  He did not win any support from the club with his disappearing act in the final few games of this years playoffs and I think the fact that Shero didn't moved on him sooner is a sure sign that they are looking elsewhere for help on the D.  What that means to the team however, is that the leader of the powerplay is now gone, along with a solid 40-50 points of offense.  With very little room under the cap, he is going to be difficult to replace.

UPDATE:  Gonchar signs a three year $5.5M contract with a NTC for Ottawa.  I didn't know they still had a team in Ottawa.  When he can't finish or goes down with an injury, they will see.


#2  Alexei Ponikarovsky $2.1M cap hit- I think I was the only one that liked this trade in the beginning.  What's the saying...hind sight is always 20/20?  We just simply gave up too much to get Poni from Toronto.  He failed to live up to expectations and with the exception of a handful of games, his on ice presence was virtually non-existent.  The organization would be better off letting this one go and trying to tap the market for a sub $2M forward. 

#3 Mark Eaton $2M cap hit - I will admit, I actually like Mark.  Maybe it's because we are about the same age.  Maybe it's because I have followed his career since he got into the NHL.  Maybe I'm just an idiot.  (maybe all three).  Eaton is a stay at home defenseman and only gets noticed when he does something bad.  That's how I was in elementary school.  Maybe that's why I like him.  He doesn't score goals and is hardly seen on offense.  But, that's the thing, he isn't paid for that.  His downfall and possible doom when it comes to staying is the fact that he was non-existent in the playoffs.  Recent memories burn brightest.

UPDATE:  Mark is shipping off to Bos...I mean New York...Islanders that is.  He is taking a $2.5M contract with him.  Mark was the first player to emerge as an offensive capable defenseman in the Bylsma led Pens-era but I'm going to guess his string of injuries shortened his tenure. 

#4  Dan Hamhuis $2M cap hit - This could be a bigger issue than it has been made to this point.  They acquired his rights from Philly in return for some draft pick in 2011.  That doesn't mean they get him, though.  Hamhuis is a solid 20 point D-man that could help pilot a top line corps in the absence of Sarge.  He has been a reliable player for the last 5 years and would most certainly be a welcomed addition to Pens.  However, his agent has already committed to shopping him on the open market.  Pittsburgh doesn't have that much negotiating room, especially if they want both Dan and Gonchar.

UPDATE:  Dan Hamhuis is signed by the Canucks!!  Six years...$4.5M per year.  So we could have had a quality D-man for less than $5M...I guess Dan didn't want to play in Pittsburgh.  That's okay though.  There is now potential room for Billy G.  Wishful thinking I know.

#5  Bill Guerin $2M cap hit - Okay. Okay.  I get it.  He's old.  Well so what?  He is by far the elder statesman when it comes to the team.  The tangibles in this case are fare outweighed by the intangibles like experience and leadership, in my opinion.  I'm biased, I know.  But that doesn't change the fact that Billy G is the undisputed leader of goalie screening.  No one else on the team is going to do the dirty work.  We need him.

#6 Ruslan Fedotenko $1.8M cap hit - Two words...I don't care.  Okay that was three words but, guess what?  I don't care.  I have nothing good to say here.  Ruslan, you are dead to me.  Let him slip.

#7 Jordan Leopold $1.75M cap hit - Leopold was a solid trade deadline pick up for the Pens.  He is a great skater and a good puck handler.  He came in and did exactly what he was supposed to do.  That is until the Expert took him out for good.  He just wasn't himself after that.  If it was between him and Eaton, I would still pick Eaton but I would hate to see Jordan end up as a rent-a-player. 

#8 Jay McKee $800K cap hit - 137 blocked shots for under $1M?  I say, "More, Please!!"  You can't buy that kind of grit and heart in the NHL these days.  Guys don't want to get dirty or risk injury.  McKee is a steal at this price, in my opinion.  If it wasn't for injuries, that shot block number could have easily been over 180.  The reality though, is that he did little else than give up the body.  His chances of staying in black and gold are slim to none and slim just left town.

When noon arrives today, we will see how this circus unfolds.

UPDATE:  Ray Shero goes for the gusto to replace Gonchar and signs Zbynek Michalek.  The contract is a 5 year $20M contract that will count as a $4M cap hit/year.  Michalek is going to be a great addition to the Pens as he is very underrated and has flown under everyone's radar for some time.  He is an excellent passing D-man with the ability to set up and captain the powerplay.  that is going (hopefully) to be well worth the $4M.   The Coyotes are going to be sorry they let him go.

UPDATE:  With another stretch play, the Pens sign defenseman Paul Martin, one of the top three D-men in the UFA market.  He only played 22 games because of a broken arm and missed the Olympics but there is no doubt that he is a offensive minded D-man.  The terms of the deal look to be $5M/year for 5 years.  From where I'm standing...defense looks to be done.