One of the more important decisions that Ray Shero will have to make this offseason will certainly be the Pascal Dupuis contract extension. Dupuis has been nothing short of terrific in his time with the Penguins. A strong argument could be made that Dupuis’ cap hit of 1.5M per season was one of the best cap values in the entire league.
Most of the league knows Dupuis as the guy who gets to ride shotgun with Sidney Crosby and benefit from playing with such a great center, but is that the whole story with Dupuis? I say it is definitely not.
Over the past 3 seasons Pascal Dupuis has missed 1 game. Over that same time period Sidney Crosby has missed 113 out of a possible 212 games due to injury. While Dupuis is certainly a beneficiary of playing with a great talent like Crosby, he is also capable of playing well away from Crosby.
Pascal Dupuis has had very good offensive numbers the past 3 season, especially given his cap hit. In the past 3 seasons Dupuis has 62 goals, 72 assists for 134 points in 211 games.
In the past 3 seasons nobody has scored more even strength points for the Pittsburgh Penguins than Pascal Dupuis. Since the 2010-2011 season Pascal Dupuis has 109 even strength points, Kunitz has 106, Malkin, Crosby, and Neal all have 99 even strength points. During this same time period Dupuis has scored 47 even strength goals, only 3 behind current MVP Alex Ovechkin, who has 50.
The reason I am stressing Dupuis’ even strength accomplishments is that he is putting up quality offensive numbers with minimal power play time. In fact since coming over to Pittsburgh in 2008 Dupuis has only two power play goals and two power play assists. His offensive numbers have been accomplished the hard way, 5 on 5.
Here is the Penguins player usage chart for 2012-2013 amongst forwards who played in at least 20 games in the season:
As you can see, not only does Dupuis earn his offensive totals the hard way by earning most of it even strength, but his even strength minutes are amongst the most difficult on the team. Dupuis plays the third toughest minutes amongst Penguin forwards and has the third worst offensive zone starting percentage. Despite the responsibility of those hard minutes Dupuis has a very solid relative Corsi numbers (larger bubble = larger relative Corsi number, blue is positive, red negative). Players who are able to provide the amount of offense that Dupuis has, while playing in a shutdown style role, do not grow on trees.
Another side of Dupuis’ game that has been very beneficial to the Penguins has been his penalty killing skills. Last season only Craig Adams (2:39) and Matt Cooke (2:11) averaged more shorthanded time on ice per game than Dupuis (1:55). Dupuis’ excellent speed and willingness to get into shooting lanes have made him a great asset to the Penguins penalty kill the last few seasons. Dupuis’speed has led to offensive chances as a penalty killer. In the past 3 seasons Dupuis has 8 shorthanded goals, quadrupling his power play goal totals during his entire Pittsburgh career.
Given Dupuis success at even strength and ability to kill penalties at a high level it is imperative that Ray Shero make a strong offer so that Dupuis remains in Pittsburgh. When scanning over the UFA market there are not a lot of good options, and none of those options will come “cheap”.
The Penguins have a known commodity in Dupuis. There is no wondering about the level of play the Penguins would get from Dupuis. There will be no learning curve like there would be with a new free agent. There will also be no replacing his presence in the locker room. Shero is known to be hesitant about giving out 3 year deals to players who are in their mid thirties but this is one time where he should have no reservations. Dupuis is a top 6 forward as it pertains to the Penguins and he has only missed 1 game in the past 3 seasons.
The Penguins top 6 for next year with Dupuis in the lineup would still be very formidable:
Bennett Crosby Dupuis
Kunitz Malkin Neal
If the Penguins are willing to make a competitive offer there is little doubt that Dupuis would most likely stay put. By all accounts he loves the area and it has been a good situation for him and his family. As long as Shero is in the ballpark with other offers, Dupuis will remain a Penguin. If not, the Penguins will have a huge void to fill and it won’t come cheap. There is really no option for the Penguins other than to make a competitive offer to keep Dupuis’ services.
Thanks for reading!
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