It isn’t out of the question to think the Penguins window to make noise in the playoffs is over. Then you see the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Pittsburgh played great against them. A healthy Sidney Crosby and a normal backup goalie and the Rangers probably don’t even make it out of Game 5. There are players from the roster last year that they will need to hang on to in order to entertain the idea of making a run like the Rangers just have.
Must keep
Evgeni Malkin
I don’t think I need to go into too much detail here. There is a very vocal minority with brain worms who seem to think that, even at age 35, Malkin is very replaceable. It just isn’t true. The Penguins have nothing of substance to trade for a second line center. This means you have to entertain free agency. Free agents are in the 30ish year old range. They are susceptible to aging curves and without guarantees themselves. Nazem Kadri (31) is coming of an outlier season and will command both money and term. I think Malkin will come in lower on both money and term than Kadri. Vincent Trochek is the other notable free agent at center. How did he fare?
For everyone who wants to dump Evgeni Malkin after his 6 points in the Rangers series, just fyi that Vincent Trocheck had 2 points in 7 games with much better wingers and playing PP1
— Dan Hopper (@DanHoppOPS) May 31, 2022
Could you imagine the uproar if Malkin had these results? This is the backup plan? Here’s another fun nugget; Malkin has lived in Pittsburgh longer than Trochek ever did so even coming at it from that angle is flimsy.
Sign Malkin.
Kris Letang
John Marino top pairing defenseman is what the future might hold if the Penguins don’t get off their rear ends and sign the guy that keeps the defense unit churning along. I’m not at all concerned with Letang’s ability to give the team a few more years of top level play. His fitness is elite. Is John Klingberg even an option for the Penguins? He will have a ton of teams looking his way. This will drive up cost. I think Letang, much like Malkin, will come in lower for term and at worst market rate for money. If the Penguins don’t have anything to trade for a second line center what makes you think they have enough to acquire a top pairing right-handed defender? They don’t have anything.
Sign Letang.
The salary cap is a very real thing. There is only so much money to go around. I have suggested moving on from Brian Dumoulin, Kasperi Kapanen, and Brock McGinn to free up some money to help with keeping more important players. Jason Zucker could be another candidate, but I’d rather see those other three go first. I don’t think the team will actually move on from all three so money is tight. Here are the players I’d like to see back, but unless the team is serious about trimming the fat from the roster they are very much up in the air.
Rickard Rakell
He was a great addition to the team. Rakell really rounded out the top six. Having both Rust and Rakell allowed Malkin to have at least one legit top six winger. Something I think is very important. Rakell has spoke about his interest in returning to the Penguins. You have to remember he has been biding time on a declining Anaheim team for years. Coming to a team with Crosby and Malkin and playing in a hockey market had to be reinvigorating for him. Rakell is aware of the situation and has stated he will let the Penguins take care of other parts of the roster first (Malkin/Letang). I think a 5x5M contract would easily get things done. There might even be a chance to shave a year off or shave that AAV down a hair. This all depends on how serious the Penguins are in ridding themselves of players who don’t live up to their AAV. Finding a way to bring Rakell back along with Malkin and Letang (and Rust) would be huge.
Danton Heinen
I would like to have him back. The reality is he probably priced himself out.
He had a great season given what the Penguins signed him for. It was a win-win for both player and team. Heinen chose a spot he thought could help him boost his reputation again. The Penguins were looking for cheap offensive depth on a player who had been down on his luck. Each party got what they needed. Heinen set a career high in goals with 18 with 15 of them being at 5v5, also a career high.
If Heinen wanted to come back for 2M or under I think you do it. For his sake I hope he finds a better deal. He earned it. The Penguins are going to have to throw darts at players like Heinen every year. It is tricky because most times they aren’t going to hit like Heinen did. When the players do hit they likely price themselves out of town.
While I would like Heinen back it would have to come at another discount, which isn’t likely. Evan Rodrigues
It might be realistic to keep Rodrigues around. His second half was so abysmal offensively that it undid the insanely impressive start to his year. Rodrigues was a huge reason the Penguins never dipped out of playoff contention. He was great. His underlying numbers were decent throughout the entire season. Fortunately, for the Penguins offensive numbers drive contracts and this might be a situation where Rodrigues doesn’t price himself out of town. I think he is a decent skater and when he plays with confidence I like that he tries to make plays instead of the generic stuff a lot of bottom six players do. I think he has the ability to play some center which is a nice bonus even if the team doesn’t utilize it often. I would be willing to double his money to 2M and keep the term to two or three years. He is a reliable enough depth player. You need those players.
Thanks for reading!