Yesterday the players cleaned out their lockers. Jim Rutherford spoke. Here are some of the things he said and my thoughts about each item.
“It’s a great situation that we have good goalies, but it could be a tough situation going forward,” general manager Jim Rutherford said. “In a perfect world if (head coach Mike Sullivan) were making a decision right now we’d like to start the season with Fleury and Murray.”
It isn't a perfect world. Cap implications aside the whole expansion draft has thrown a wrench into every team's game plan moving forward. The Penguins are no exception. It has been proven time and time again that finding average goaltending can be cheap and easy in the NHL. Keep Matt Murray and stick an average guy behind him. The core of this Penguins team will continue to win as long as goaltending doesn't sink them. They certainly don't need to be carried by goaltending.
Josh Yohe of DK on Pittsburgh Sports believes that Brian Elliott is high on the Penguins list of candidates to replace Fleury. He is a perfect guy for what they need. Cheap (2.5M) and has a track record of success. No word on if the Blues are shopping him or what it would take to acquire.
From the sounds of it Marc-Andre Fleury isn't down with a time share so his time with the Penguins is coming to an end.
Center Evgeni Malkin played the entire postseason with an elbow injury.
“Most guys play with injuries,” Malkin said. “I played OK, but I feel very good.”
Malkin will have an MRI conducted on the elbow to determine whether or not surgery will be required.
Rutherford put the chances of surgery at 50-50.
“This is a guy that had a real serious injury that played before most guys would have played, and made a contribution to the team,” Rutherford said. “It shows his character. It was pretty impressive.”
Evgeni Malkin finished with the same amount of goals as the Conn Smythe winner (6) and one point less than Sidney Crosby (19). Malkin consistently drove play and his ability to elevate Bryan Rust allowed the lines to be set the way they were. Pretty amazing that Malkin was able to achieve this considering what he was going through. If surgery is needed it would be Tommy John surgery. The surgery usually performed to help baseball pitchers. On one elbow he is still one of the best players in the league.
Nick Bonino had an infection in his elbow that he was battling through during the Final, as well as a fever.
“After Game 3 of the Final I was on antibiotics. If I had a fever of over 101 they were going to shut me down for the year,” said Bonino, who hit 100.5 at one point. “I was getting IVs every day in the hospital. The docs did a really good job getting my elbow healthy.”
Bonino was quarantined in his hotel room because he couldn’t be around his infant child.
“I wasn’t even living at home. They didn’t want me around the baby,” he said. “It was a weird time, but it was worth it to win.”
In one of the crazier injury reveals of the postseason Nick Bonino was incredibly close to being shut down. Quite the performance given how upside-down his daily routine was thrown.
Depending on cap room we would like to take a look at bringing Ben back,” Lovejoy said. “He certainly deserves a raise. We don’t have a lot of room. We’ll see if there are other moves that can be made to free up some cap space.”
The team doesn't have enough wiggle room in the cap to bring Lovejoy back if he is looking to cash in on his playoff run. You can find what he brings elsewhere for cheaper if it came down to it. The Penguins can learn a lesson from the Blackhawks in this regard. Don't "reward" depth players with bigger contracts than they deserve. Pay your best and continue to fill out the fringe positions on the roster as cheaply as possible. If you don't keep your loyalty in check to players you won with in the end it will cost you the better more important players. If Lovejoy wants to stay in Pittsburgh it will have to come at a hometown discount rate. He earned a raise and he should probably go seek that out.
On Matt Cullen
"I would like to have him back. He hasn't made his decision. He is going to take his time."
Oskar Sundqvist will likely get the nod if Matt Cullen rides off into the sunset. Matt Cullen coming back would selfishly be ideal for the team.
Beau Bennett is going to receive a qualifying offer from the team. This is fine. It protects his rights if somebody else makes an offer to him (not likely) and he has no leverage so signing him for under 1M and one year is a good idea. Everybody struggled offensively under Mike Johnston last year including Bennett. Bennett never saw significant action under Mike Sullivan. He can float around throughout the lineup. If he gets hurt again just put him on LTIR. Pittsburgh would be wise to stockpile dirt cheap legit NHL players.
Justin Schultz will not be qualified. That is also fine. For Schultz to fit into the Penguins plans his salary will need to be in that 2M range. He's not the dog that he was perceived to be in Edmonton but he also isn't a top four defenseman. He can do alright in the proper role. You can't overpay for that role.
In the coming days I will discuss the Penguins cap situation and the kinds of things they can do to stay competitive for both the short term and the long term.
Thanks for reading!
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