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Left Wing Options Moving Forward

July 24, 2016, 4:10 PM ET [44 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Not a lot going on right now so I will extend this offer to everyone. Just send an idea my way on Twitter and it might make for a good blog.

Here is today's topic.





So the Penguins are more than likely going to have to rely on what they have already to make it through the 2016-17 season at left wing. Carl Hagelin put up amazing numbers after coming to Pittsburgh and joining up with Phil Kessel and Nick Bonino. Logic dictates that he will stay in the position heading into the season, or at least I believe that is how things will shake out.

Pittsburgh will need Kunitz to give them another OK to good year in the top six. His impact on possession is definitely positive. His offensive numbers have slipped a little bit, but he isn't a liability at even strength with a points per 60 of 1.70 in 2015-16. Over the past two years there have been a lot of people clamoring for Kunitz to get traded, but even in his decline he is still worth the 3.875M he makes from the Penguins and is worth more to the team than what his market value is. Both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin like playing with him because he gets them the puck with speed and the two stars don't have to work extra hard to catch the puck. Little things matter and Kunitz does a lot of those things. All that said the team will have to start looking past next year and what they plan on doing with Kunitz. The time for replacing him permanently in the top six is obviously sooner than later but for now it looks like that is where he will be in 2016-17.

Conor Sheary did a nice job playing with Sidney Crosby in the playoffs. Will that be his spot in the 2016-17 season? Maybe so, maybe not. The left winger on the Crosby line is probably going to be a guy that doesn't have a huge NHL sample size and Sheary will have some competition for that position. Scott Wilson, who was hurt last year, is a player that some people think has the most offensive upside at the NHL level out of the Baby Penguin options. He very well could beat out Sheary and snag that final top six left winger spot. The competition for the Crosby spot will probably also have an impact on the fourth line left winger opening. If Scott Wilson can make his mark that might be bad news for Tom Kuhnhackl. I find it hard to believe that Sheary won't be a regular in the lineup even if he isn't on Crosby's wing.

If Matt Cullen does not sign with the Penguins I would advocate for the team attempting to land Jiri Hudler. It is a long shot because Pittsburgh doesn't have a lot of money to offer. Hudler would definitely be taking lower than what he could get elsewhere. Would he be willing to sign a cheap one year deal to boost his market value like Justin Schultz did? Who knows, but you can't know for sure if you don't ask. I think Hudler and Malkin would do some nice things together. Hudler had a very impressive 2.10 points per 60 at even-strength last year. Hudler is listed as a right winger but he has played left win in the past. Here is a snapshot of what his past few years have looked like



As far as offer sheeting RFA players I just don't see it happening. They don't have the cap space to do it right now. Somebody should definitely be trying to pry Mike Hoffman out of Ottawa, but I don't see how the Penguins could make him fit at the present moment.

Jimmy Vesey is another option to look at for left wing. If he makes it to free agency the Penguins could try to lure him in. Important to remember about Vesey is that his contract structure is likely to have cap space bleed over into the 2017-18 season and Pittsburgh may or may not want to do that.

So in a nutshell the Penguins are going to probably move forward with what they have already at left wing for the 2016-17 season. I threw the Hudler/Vesey suggestion(s) in there as an example of what they could try to do if they weren't content with the status quo.

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The latest episode of the Hockey Hurts Podcast is out and Nick Mercadante joined the show to discuss the Rangers, goaltending, and the analytics community. You can find the episode
here

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