The draft is only a few days away and with it provides an opportunity to drastically improve the team. The Pittsburgh Penguins own the 21st overall pick in the NHL draft. It isn’t often they have a first round pick to use in the Jim Rutherford era and there aren’t many first round picks made by the Penguins still playing on the team. In fact, Sidney Crosby is the most recent first round pick the Penguins have on the roster that they drafted, pretty crazy.

Given those facts it makes sense on the surface to start stocking the cupboard because the farm system is really barren these days. Unfortunately, the timing of the Penguins window to win and how long it takes players taken at #21 overall to make an impact (if they ever do) does not line up. You have to ask yourself if the risk/reward of actually using the pick will positively impact the closing window of the Crosby and Malkin era. I personally do not believe the odds are in the Penguins favor to get an impact player who can contribute right now. If that’s the case then what are you drafting for? What are you getting out of that asset? The post Crosby/Malkin era is going to be depressing place. Using a 2019 first round pick isn’t going to change that. So instead of using the pick at #21 you have a few other options.

Trade down

If you really want to stock the cupboard and do so without significantly decreasing your odds of getting a functional NHL player the best option is to get more cracks at the “lottery”. The more chances to play the luckier you can get. Trading down would be prudent if the goal was to really stock the cupboard.

Package it to get an impact player

If the Penguins want to get an impact player their best path might be to package their first round pick with a rostered player. This is a path that Rutherford is very familiar with. As mentioned above it isn’t often Rutherford actually uses a first round pick

Package it to cut your losses

This is the option I am most in favor of. I think the Penguins need to do whatever necessary to get rid of Jack Johnson. The team cannot move forward if they continue to pretend he is a top four defenseman on the team. There is way too much statistical evidence that every player he shared significant time with saw a horrendous drop in their production. It isn’t a coincidence. He is a toxic asset and Rutherford needs to cut this cancer off the team. I would definitely package the #21 overall pick with Jack Johnson if it meant him leaving the team for good.

Sure, you could buy Johnson out, but that is an eight year penalty. The thought of this mistake lingering for eight years is absurd.



Again, what are the actual odds of Pittsburgh getting a player at #21 who will provide a positive impact in the short/long term than what moving Johnson off the roster would? I say it isn’t very high. The positive impact of removing Johnson from the team is better value than using the draft pick. There probably aren't many roster moves out there that would improve the team as much as ditching Johnson.

Catastrophic roster mistakes are going to come at a cost. Pittsburgh should pay the cost now and be done with it.

Thanks for reading!

Join the Discussion: » 178 Comments » Post New Comment

» Penguins news and notes

» Getting your Penguins fix

» My thoughts on Penguins thoughts

» It's their fault

» Still alive, for now