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Trying to figure out what the Penguins are going to do with their defense corp. next year is no easy task. They have UFA's like Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik, they have an albatross in Rob Scuderi, and they have injuries that are going to impact the beginning of the 2014-15 season with Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Penguins are probably going to make the right call on Brooks Orpik and let him test the market. I'm sure they would like to keep Niskanen but the price and the term do not make sense. It is feasible that the Penguins will start next year without Niskanen, Maatta, and Orpik on opening night.
So what kind of options do the Penguins have?
Assuming they help out the forward unit by constructing a proper bottom 6 they could load up on youth players like Despres, Dumoulin, Harrington, and/or Bortuzzo while waiting for a guy like Maatta to return. I personally do not believe you will see a drop off in the level of play between those young players from guys like Orpik and Scuderi. However, that doesn't mean you want to necessarily go all in with that many players trying to make the full time jump to the NHL.
So what can you do?
Do you overpay for Matt Niskanen to fill what will be a short term hole? I can't say I like that idea too much. Niskanen deserves all the praise he receives but he still only saw the 5th hardest competition amongst Penguins defensemen last year. If he is going to make the big bucks he is going to have to take on much harder assignments and there is nothing in his past that says he will excel in that role. You can't buy high when you don't know for sure if the output will match the price tag. I maintain that Letang at 7.25M is better than Niskanen at 5-6M.
Chances are you will need to find a stop gap kind of player to make up for Niskanen's offense, but will not demand a long term contract. The Penguins just need a bit of help in the now to give their pool of young D men another year. It would not be wise to hand out long contracts to players who will be blocking the development of a guy like Pouliot or even Despres.
There is one potential free agent option that might make sense for the Penguins. That option is Dan Boyle. Much like any free agent signing it all depends on what that player is looking to get. Given his age I can't imagine that Boyle will be looking at a long term investment. The real question will be what kind of cash he is looking for. He claims that he wants to play on a contender, the Penguins could potentially fit that bill.
Let's take a further look into Dan Boyle and the kind of player he currently is.
Last year he played in 75 games and had 12 goals and 24 assists for 36 points. He had 6 goals and 18 points on the power play. These are pretty decent offensive numbers.
In contrast Matt Niskanen, who had a career year, played in 81 games had 10 goals, 36 assists for 46 points. He added 3 goals and 15 points on the power play.
Boyle could be a very short term fix for the offense the Penguins will lose if they smartly elect to not overpay Niskanen.
Boyle has certainly been playing in the offensive zone a hell of a lot more than the defensive zone the past 5 years.
Part of getting proper production out of players is understanding how to use those players. Dan Boyle is no longer a top 3 defenseman who will eat 25 minutes on a nightly basis. He is now a guy who can give you 17-20 minutes in a specific role, more than likely as a #4 or #5 guy.
In 2013-14 Boyle was a sheltered player on the Sharks who was given good offensive zone starts. That is OK as long as you know what you have in a player. The Sharks put him in a position to succeed, and for the most part he did. Any team that signs Boyle cannot expect to play him against tough competition while starting him in the defensive zone more often than not.
It makes very little sense for the Penguins to invest heavily into Matt Niskanen. They will be buying high on a player who realistically would only be needed for a year, perhaps two. It makes a lot more sense to go and try and find his production from somebody who will not command a 7 or 8 year contract.
Dan Boyle could be this guy. It all depends on what kind of price range he will command. If he still wants to be a 5M-6M guy, this blog will have been all for naught. If he can come in at the 2.5-3M range perhaps a little more, it may make sense for the Penguins to pick up the phone and contact him.
Building a championship caliber team is all about exploring your options in the offseason. I think Boyle is an option that at least merits a discussion.
Thanks for reading!
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