The Stanley Cup was awarded, the parade was awesome, but now we have to get down to business and how the team moves forward with their roster. The problem with playing so late into June is that there isn't much time before the NHL draft and free agency frenzy is upon us. In fact we've already seen some trading of significance between teams.
The first matter of business that I am going to try and tackle for the offseason is the Marc-Andre Fleury situation.
As of right now it appears the Penguins would indeed have to protect him in the expansion draft. Unless the team plans on trading Matt Murray that just isn't going to work. Marc-Andre Fleury is one of the most beloved players in the lockerroom and he is certainly loved by the majority of the fan base as well. However, this league is a cold blooded business. Something has to give here and it appears as though the only prudent move to make is moving on from the former #1 overall draft pick.
Moving goaltenders is never easy. The market for them is unlike the player market. It isn't often that a goalie with a sample size like Fleury gets put on the market. The most recent examples I have in mind would be Ryan Miller when he was traded from Buffalo to the St. Louis Blues. This was a larger trade that also included Steve Ott going to St. Louis. Buffalo received a 2015 first round pick (25th overall), Chris Stewart, Jaro Halak (why did St. Louis make this trade again?), and William Carrier. The other trade would be the one that sent Roberto Luongo to Florida for Jacob Markstrom and Shawn Matthias.
Here are some other NHL goalie trades courtesy of
The Hockey News
Devan Dubnyk to Nashville for Matt Hendricks (Then Dubnyk to MIN for a 3rd round pick)
Cory Schneider for the ninth overall pick (Bo Horvat)
Jonathan Bernier for Ben Scrivens, Matt Frattin, second-rounder
Ben Bishop for Cory Conacher, fourth-rounder
Steve Mason for Michael Leighton, third-rounder
Sergei Bobrovsky for second-rounder, two fourth-rounders
Anders Lindback (and Kyle Wilson) for two second-rounders, one third-rounder and Sebastien Caron
Tomas Vokoun for a seventh-rounder
Semyon Varlamov for first-rounder (Filip Forsberg) and second-rounder
Brian Elliott for Craig Anderson
Dwayne Roloson for Ty Wishart
Jaroslav Halak for Lars Eller and Ian Schultz
Kari Lehtonen for Ivan Vishnevskiy and fourth-rounder
Overall, this is what you end up with:
Devan Dubnyk, Cory Schneider, Jonathan Bernier, Ben Bishop, Steve Mason, Sergei Bobrovsky, Anders Lindback, Tomas Vokoun, Semyon Varlamov, Craig Anderson, Dwayne Roloson, Jaroslav Halak and Kari Lehtonen
For:
Matt Hendricks, Ben Scrivens, Matt Frattin, Cory Conacher, Michael Leighton, Sebastien Caron, Brian Elliott, Lars Eller, Ian Schultz, Ivan Vishnevskiy, Ty Wishart, first round pick (Bo Horvat), first round pick (Filip Forsberg), five second-round picks, two third-round picks, four fourth-round picks and a seventh-round pick.
Very few high end assets were involved in a lot of those trades. Cory Schneider went for the 9th overall pick but he's a top five goalie in the league.
OK now back to Fleury. The first thing necessary in trading a starting goaltender is to try and find teams that actually need a starting goaltender. After taking a quick glance around the league I believe you could include Calgary, Dallas, Carolina, Toronto, and maybe Buffalo and Winnipeg. The list isn't long and not all of these options are going to make sense.
Dallas may want a goalie but Pittsburgh won't be bending over backwards to take back one of their terrible goalie contracts. Part of the benefit of trading Fleury is saving money to put back into other positions. Taking back a Dallas goalie contract flies in the face of that logic.
Toronto may need a goalie but nothing about how they currently run things says that they would be interested in trading for a 30 year old goaltender.
That really leaves us with Calgary and Carolina who definitely need a starting goaltender and a couple of maybe candidates in Buffalo and Winnipeg. Not really much to work with here.
EDIT: One less Fleury destination it appears
The best scenario that I have been able to come up with is making a deal with the Calgary Flames.
It is true that Marc-Andre Fleury has a no movement clause. On the surface it seems likely that the Flames would be a part of that no movement clause. However, Marc-Andre Fleury is going to want to be a starter again. He was a consummate professional during the playoff run. You couldn't ask for a better teammate in the situation he was put in. Asking him to be the backup for a full season is a different animal. I think he will be open to moving on.
So what makes sense from Calgary? I hear people talking about the #6 overall pick and that is crazy talk. That is a Matt Murray kind of trade. We can put that kind of speculation to rest right now. You can look at all the goalie trade examples I laid out above and see that the #6 pick isn't in play. My suggestion is simple and straight forward. I would offer Marc-Andre Fleury to the Calgary Flames for Michael Frolik.
Pittsburgh was rumored to be interested in Frolik's services when he was a free agent. He is signed to a very fair contract that pays him 4.3M for another four years. He is currently 28 years old. Frolik would fit in with the kind of style that Pittsburgh plays and would be a significant upgrade over using somebody like Bryan Rust in an elevated role. Acquiring Frolik would also give the Penguins the flexibility to explore the trade market using another right winger that makes around 4.3M, but that is a blog for another day.
Here is a quick look at Michael Frolik
He is a bonafide top six winger. Players are better with him than when they are without him. He is able to drive play while producing tangible top six offense at even-strength.
The thing to remember with any Marc-Andre Fleury trade is that you don't have many suitors and you don't have great leverage because of the expansion draft. This is an incredibly fair deal for both sides. Pittsburgh shaves some salary while receiving a quality player who can contribute to the team immediately. They get to keep Matt Murray protected and Marc-Andre Fleury returns to being an unopposed #1 starter in the league.
Calgary needs a starter. Pittsburgh needs to move one. This trade doesn't drain Calgary of any of its younger assets or futures. This seems like a win win for both teams.
Thanks for reading!
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