The Pittsburgh Penguins are interested in shoring up their defense with another right handed shot. Chad Ruhwedel is signed and available, but they are always looking to play somebody over him.
The Penguins don’t have a ton of space to work with yet Chris Tanev’s name is still out there.
The Penguins have some money to play with and they’re ready to make a move in free agency. Or perhaps another trade.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) October 8, 2020
Here’s the latest on what â¦@Real_RobRossiâ© and I are hearing.
🚨$1 sub per month still available
Click here to read and sign up: https://t.co/9ll0eOAIjP
The Penguins like plenty of players on the market, most of whom are out of their price range. Some of these players, however, could “slip between the cracks,… as Rutherford likes to say, because teams around the NHL are exercising major financial prudence right now. The Penguins don’t want to spend foolishly but would like to add at least one player in free agency.Chris Tanev is a player they like very much. He’s right-handed, good defensively and good in the locker room. He also would command around $5 million annually in the typical market. He may yet get such a contract, but it’s unlikely. If his number drops substantially, they might be players for Tanev.
I think the Tanev idea is a very bad one. He is going to cost way more than his actual value and the Penguins are already overpaying a Tanev. No need to make it a second. The Penguins should instead be looking to another Vancouver defenseman potentially hitting the market who is also right-handed. That player is Troy Stecher
I have Stecher with a three year deal at a 2.7M cap hit. It is close a raise of almost 400k . I think it is a reasonable cap hit for a bottom pairing player. I also won’t lie. I don’t have a great handle on Stecher’s open market value.
It wouldn’t a sexy signing, but if they are dead set on getting more depth on the right side of the bottom pairing you could do worse, like Tanev
This is what Tanev looks like at 4M which is below the 5M you hear thrown around. It still isn’t great value and Tanev is already in this thirties while Stecher is going to be 26 next year. You can see what you should be getting at the 4M range (he will probably sign for higher) and what he is projected to get you. Not a great value. Stecher at 2.7M should slightly outplay his cap hit.
I certainly don’t think the Penguins have to sign Stecher, but with their limited cap space and apparent desire to sign a depth defenseman on the right side he seems like an OK value even if I would focus more on a signing for the third line.
Thanks for reading!