The first wave of roster decisions have been made by Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Jim Rutherford.
Pittsburgh will not be looking to retain the services of UFA’s Paul Martin, Christian Ehrhoff, and Max Lapierre.
Penguins have decided to go for a full youth movement on defense, won't bring back Martin and Ehrhoff. They'd rather invest on wingers.
— Marc Antoine Godin (@MAGodin) June 11, 2015
Max Lapierre won't be back with the Penguins and will be UFA on July first. #tvasports
— Renaud Lavoie (@renlavoietva) June 11, 2015
Each decision has sound logic on why the Penguins would choose to go in a different path.
While it is not a tough decision to move on from Martin because of his age and the term he will command on his next contract it will sting to lose a player of his caliber.
Paul Martin was terrific for the Penguins all five seasons he was with the team. That includes his first year with the club which for some reason was perceived as an underwhelming campaign. The fact is Martin’s only downfall was his ability to stay healthy at times not his actual play.
His first year with the club he was driving possession at an elite level. I truly believe that a lot of the criticism thrown toward Martin in his first year with the club is that people expected to see a flashier player for 5.0M per year. What that got was an understated anchor that consistently drove the puck towards the other team’s goal.
You will notice I included the defenseman that played the most minutes with Martin in that particular season. No shock that his worst years were when he had to drag around Brooks Orpik. Even so his numbers were still above the 50% barrier.
Christian Ehrhoff was a good signing that did not yield good results. He could not stay on the ice in 2014-15. He is still a good defenseman and will help his next team.
Pittsburgh is clearly going with a youth movement on defense which carries risk with guys like Brian Dumoulin and Scott Harrington, but will cost way less.
A shame the Penguins only got about 20 games with Letang, Martin, Ehrhoff and Maatta in the lineup together. Would have been fantastic group
— Adam Gretz (@AGretz) June 11, 2015
Moving on from Max Lapierre is potentially a sign that the team is finally getting it. He is a bad NHL player who has consistently come up short. Mild success on the PK doesn’t merit a job in the NHL anymore. He is well below average at even-strength. His playoff success is a fallacy. His possession numbers and offensive numbers are just as bad in the playoffs as they are in the regular season. Him yapping more or noticeably skating harder on the forecheck doesn’t mean he is more effective.
Rutherford did add the following from this Jason Mackey article
Wondering what Pascal Dupuis had to say about yesterday's news? Here you go: http://t.co/7KMNoGc8vw
— Jason Mackey (@Mackey_Trib) June 12, 2015
Rutherford said no decisions on UFAs have been made, other than Craig Adams not returning“I don't want to cross anybody off the list because you don't know what happens here in the next month,… Rutherford said.
Paul Martin's agent, Ben Hankinson, said the Penguins are still in play.
“No decisions have been made yet on Paul and the Penguins,… Hankinson told Trib Total Media in a text message. “Not ruling out coming back.…
If Paul Martin really wants to be back he it is going to take sacrifice from his end in the form of a 1-2 year deal. I just don’t see it happening, but would be delighted if it did.
Blues GM Doug Armstrong says he has NOT received confirmation from Sobotka's agent that he'll stay in the KHL and called reports "premature"
— Jeremy Rutherford (@jprutherford) June 11, 2015
This tweet is brought up because if Sobotka is brought back somebody from the Blues is bound to be on the way out and Pittsburgh’s best means of acquiring a better forward is via trade.
As we get closer to the draft there should be some interesting rumors to discuss.
Thanks for reading!
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