Recently I found an armchair GM tool at the site Hockey's CAP
I decided to play around on it to get a general idea of what kind of money Pittsburgh has to play with and what kind of roster they could ice next year.
I am using this as a template of the kind of things the Penguins could do. This shouldn’t be interpreted as an absolute lineup, just a basis for the potential.
Here are some of the things that I have done.
Rob Scuderi has been bought out. He cannot be on the roster moving forward it's as simple as that.
I traded Brandon Sutter for Alexander Semin at 50% retained. There continues to be whispers about Alexander Semin and a potential buyout in Carolina. The Hurricanes can either trade Semin with 50% salary retention (10.2M) or they can buy him out and be on the hook for 13.88M over the next six years. Pittsburgh wants to trade Brandon Sutter for a top six winger, mission accomplished. Brandon Sutter isn't going to land a top six winger without blemishes. In fact, without using Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot the Penguins aren't going to find a top six winger without some sort of question marks. There is risk with Alexander Semin but at 3.5M it is one worth taking.
I traded both Nick Spaling and Ben Lovejoy for draft picks. You can assign whatever value you want to those draft picks. My goal was more concerned with cutting their salary than what they got in return. Lovejoy’s 1.1M isn’t a terrible cap hit but I would rather free up the roster spot for Brian Dumoulin and/or Scott Harrington.
Ian Cole was given a three year deal at 1.75M. This gives him the ability to cash out as a UFA if he plays well.
I gave Cody Franson 5 years and 25M. Perhaps that isn’t enough, but it is in the ballpark. I found this signing necessary because if Kris Letang or Olli Maatta go down what is left? I did have some concern about paying a UFA defenseman this kind of money because of the looming Olli Maatta extension but I am banking on Kasperi Kapanen giving Pittsburgh some relief in the future with his ELC. Derrick Pouliot will also need a raise but by the time that happens both Kunitz and Dupuis’ contracts are over.
I paid a premium for Brad Richards on a one year contract. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't have to be Brad Richards in that spot. It just shows that Pittsburgh has the ability to spend ~4.0M at the third line center position. If you want to insert Carl Soderberg, Eric Fehr, Mike Santorelli, Matt Cullen, or whoever, you can.
Daniel Winnik and Patrick Eaves are quality players for the fourth line. No more PK specialists who can’t play a lick at even-strength. Both players are capable of playing shorthanded but that is not the driving factor on why they are on the team. Stay away from specialists and focus on even-strength ability.
Other names to keep in mind for the fourth line are Blake Comeau, Erik Condra, Sean Bergenheim, Lee Stempniak and David Moss.
Oskar Sundqvist is a wild card. He may not be ready for NHL action in 2015-16. If he isn't ready I would replace his roster spot with a freshly signed Conor Sheary and bump Daniel Winnik to center. Remember, a fourth line doesn't have to be full of "energy" guys or "grinders". Giving a player like Sheary who actually has puck skills is a better idea than recycling the failed ideas of recent Penguins past.
The overall roster has the ability for some players to move around in the lineup. Players like Dupuis, Kunitz, and Bennett can flip and flop around the top nine. The fourth line players have the ability to jump up to the third line and not drown in that role like so many of Pittsburgh's recent fourth liners. Cody Franson gives the defense corp. some wiggle room by having another known commodity back there.
Remember this is just a template to showcase that Pittsburgh does in fact have the ability to make things happen in this offseason and still have over 1 million in cap space to spare. It is not an impossible task for the Penguins front office.
It will be interesting to see the choices and decisions made by the team and if it looks anything close to what I have mapped out today.
Thanks for reading!
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