Over the weekend esteemed NHL insider Elliotte Friedman tweeted out some news and some of it was potentially Penguins related.

2) Several reports from FLA this week about potential UFAs being available, but hearing there is interest in Boyes. Wonder if a fit in PIT.

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 30, 2014

It is only speculation on his part. Here is a little bit of info on Brad Boyes.





Currently he is playing in a more defensive role for the Florida Panthers. Low offensive zone starts and facing high competition.





Decent enough possession player over the course of his career. Always right at the team average and most times better. This year he is at his lowest point, but usage and sample size are playing a role.

Matthew Coller of Hockey Prospectus and WGR550 in Buffalo wrote an excellent in-depth breakdown of Brad Boyes from his time with the Sabres. You can find that article here


Here’s the deal, Brad Boyes isn’t anybody’s number one option as a top six winger. But you get what you pay for and Boyes won’t come at a high price. If push comes to shove and the Penguins run out of options this could be one of those bargain bin items that Rutherford picks up just to see if it works or not. This would be along the lines of a Lee Stempniak pickup. A guy that can play a little bit, has shown he can play in an offensive role in the past, but if he can’t do that he won’t hurt you bad playing down in the lineup either.

Brad Boyes makes 2.6M but he is not a UFA, he still has one year left on his deal.

If the Penguins were to go the Florida route I would probably lean more towards Tomas Fleischmann. He is not having a great year offensively but he has a long track record of producing OK numbers. Last year he shot 4.3% and so far this year he is shooting 3.3%. His career shooting percentage is 10.8%. If Florida is just trying to make room for their younger players perhaps the price won’t be high.



I think Fleischmann could play that Jussi Jokinen role with Evgeni Malkin and perhaps that is why he is expendable in Florida, they already have a guy to play the Jussi Jokinen role…

Fleischmann makes 4.5M but is a UFA at the end of the year.

Fleischmann has had blood clot issues in the past so he would fit right in with the Penguins.

Just some food for thought.

Thanks for reading!

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