We only have about a week left before the NHL regular season begins. The Penguins are approximately 331k over the salary cap and need to be compliant when opening night comes. The Penguins could move forward with a 22 man roster, but there is also the likliehood of Jim Rutherford making a trade.
GMJR had plenty to say last night. He is currently in trade talks. Jack Johnson benched? The Penguins’ young defensemen. And more. Read what he had to say here: https://t.co/vPyRuCIwFl
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) September 25, 2019
“We have several options,… Rutherford said Tuesday night, “none of them that we are totally comfortable with.… Making a trade is becoming more and more likely. “It’s definitely a possibility,… said Rutherford, who admitted during the summer that he was interested in trading Tristan Jarry, only to find no takers. “We just couldn’t do anything in the summer,… Rutherford said. “But in the last three or four days, things have changed. The market is really heating up, especially for goalies.…
The most probable solution to the cap situation will be Jim Rutheford trading Tristan Jarry or Casey DeSmith. Neither goalie can be sent down to WB/S without being exposed to waivers and likely scooped up. Especially DeSmith who had a really good season backing up Matt Murray. The Penguins won’t want to risk losing Jarry, a former second round pick, for nothing. I think the Penguins are just fine with a Murray and DeSmith duo. Jarry has had plenty of time to make his mark in the organization and it hasn’t happened yet. Trade him if you can and if you have no takers I wouldn’t have an issue losing him on waivers. What else are you going to do? There isn’t a clear path for him to have a role with the team at the NHL level as things stand. He is 24 years old and was drafted six years ago. Chances are he isn’t going to make a significant impact at the NHL level.
The other option is to trade DeSmith who will have more value and roll the dice with Jarry as the backup. I don’t think this is the best of the two options.
Another way to become cap compliant is to trade Bryan Rust or Nick Bjugstad. As of right now it looks like the Dominik Simon center experiment is on hold. The Penguins are probably going to want to keep Bjugstad around until they know somebody can take the third line center position from him. That leaves Bryan Rust who has been in trade rumors the past few. Jesse Puljujarvi is currently playing in the Finnish Elite League and has one goal and five points in six games. The Penguins know Rust can move all over the lineup, but at some point they may want to take a chance on cutting salary while getting a 21 year old player who might be able to turn things around at the NHL level. The Oilers did Puljujarvi no favors during his time there much like they did with Justin Schultz.
Time is running out and we will get answers very soon.
Thanks for reading!