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OK, the Pittsburgh Penguins did not waste any time at all being active on the free agency market. Minutes after the deadline they made a huge signing of importance, no it wasn't for Nikolai Kulemin, it was for Christian Ehrhoff.
Obviously I am on board with this signing as I wrote about the potential of it in detail two days ago. You can find that here.
Ehrhoff signed a 1 year deal with Pittsburgh for a bargain price of 4M. This gives the Penguins options. Paul Martin says he wants to test the market, the Penguins now have a piece in place to replace him if they choose to trade him.
Ehrhoff brings a dynamic to the Penguins that they have been missing since Sergei Gonchar left and that dynamic is an absolute BOMB from the point. The Penguins power play just got better.
Ehrhoff will look to turn this season into another big contract. I still think it would be a good idea to try and extend him before he hits the open market again. This is going to be a signing that works out really well for the Penguins.
The Penguins management team deserves huge kudos for making one of the highest end value signings of the day.
The Penguins also made some very nice value signings. Goaltender Thomas Greiss signed a 1 year deal worth 1M and Blake Comeau will help shore up the 4th line with a 1 year deal worth 700k.
People keep asking how can you find league average goaltending for cheap? Greiss is one of those options that answers that question.
Something to think about with Greiss is that he has yet to take on a full time starting gig in the NHL, but he has consistently been at or above league average his entire career as a backup. This chart is missing 2010-2011 because Greiss played overseas.
Greiss was not brought in to just be a backup, he has been promised a chance to compete for the starting role. This is a good thing. If he wins the job that is great, that means that he is giving the Penguins solid goaltending.
As for Blake Comeau he will fit nicely on the 4th line after coming over from playing in more of a shutdown role in Columbus
Comeau has been near 50% possession each of the last 3 seasons and last year when playing on a quality Blue Jackets team he was at 53.0%.
His goals for percentages have been below the 50% barrier and in 2011-12 and 2012-13 they were extremely low. Some of that can be attributed to playing on bad Flames and Islanders teams. In 2012-13 his goaltenders only had a .904% save percentage when he was on the ice at even strength, that will put a dent in your GF%. In 2013-14 that save percentage saw a bump to .913% and his GF% jumped way up as a result.
The Penguins have also resigned Marcel Goc who has taken a 500k pay cut to stay with the Penguins. Goc signed for 1 year and 1.2M. I can't imagine signing two fellow Germans earlier in the day hurt the cause.
Signing Goc to that kind of money is terrific.
It gives the Penguins even more options, options that I am going to get into more detail in the near future.
Here is what the Penguins current roster makeup looks like
Kunitz Crosby Bennett XXXXX-Malkin-Hornqvist Spaling-Sutter-Dupuis Comeau-Goc-Adams
Martin-Letang Maatta-Ehrhoff Despres-Bortuzzo Scuderi
Fleury-Greiss
The Penguins have 9.53M in cap space HOWEVER that is not including Sutter, Despres, and Spaling RFA deals.
The Penguins if they choose can trade Martin, try to trade Scuderi, and ultimately could always go in a different direction by moving Fleury.
So while the Penguins are making some excellent signings with value the Penguins scraps they let go are cashing in hardcore.
Brooks Orpik joins the Washington Capitals in a 5 year 27.5M deal. This deal is terrible on all fronts. Orpik is an overrated shutdown defensemen who is consistently a negative possession player. His style will lend itself to quick deterioration by the end of this deal. This contract will hurt the Capitals more than the Scuderi one hurts the Penguins. Orpik's deal is a front runner for worst contract of the day along with Dave Bolland's identical 5 year 27.5M deal with the Panthers.
Tanner Glass , one of the worst players in the league, has been signed by the New York Rangers to a 3 year contract worth 1.45M per season. He actually got a raise.
So not only do the Penguins get to watch ineffective players walk away from the team and eat up other team's cap space, they will get to take advantage of them in the division. Good news all around.
Even Joe Vitale is getting in on the action, he got 3 years for 1.2M per season from Arizona.
So far the Penguins are off to a very nice start in free agency. The only potential mishap was seeing Ales Hemsky sign with the Dallas Stars for 3 years and 4M per season. That is incredible value and would have fit in perfectly with Pittsburgh. The Dallas Stars also traded for Jason Spezza, they are going to be one of the most fun teams to watch play next year. Jim Nill is killing it down in Dallas.
Nikolai Kulemin is still on the market. I had anticipated him signing early with Pittsburgh but that is not what happened. They could certainly still strike a deal with him.
Matt Niskanen is pretty much the only high end defensemen left on the market. This is good news for the Penguins as Paul Martin is certain to garner some serious interest if they choose to move him. Look for Detroit and Los Angeles as two teams that may have interest.
Considering Brad Stuart was traded by the San Jose Sharks to the Colorado Avalanche for a 2nd and 3rd round pick that should give you an idea of what the current market is for defenseman that will be a UFA at the conclusion of the 2014-15 season.
I'll update the blog if any other big news hits.
Thanks for reading!
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