Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to the latest file on THN.com’s ongoing analyzes of NHL team off-season moves. On this day, we’re taking a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins.
2021-22 record: 46–25-11
Finish In The Metropolitan Division: 3rd
Available salary cap space (per CapFriendly.com): $0 ($480,175 above salary cap)
What penguins have: He remains a dominant Grade-A force at superstar center and captain Sidney Crosby; a returning goalkeeping tandem with starter Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith; high-impact veterans in Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Jeff Carter; a fully signed list
What penguins need: Better luck on the health front; a better shooting performance (they went 3-7 last season); more production from winger Jason Zucker, who had just eight goals and 17 points in 41 games last season; immediate salary cap flexibility; a resupplied group of prospects; more young people to their defense corps; a way to get past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in five years
What’s realistic for The Penguins next season: Pittsburgh operates under relatively new ownership. Still, his competitive goals haven’t changed, and neither has GM Ron Hextall’s faith in his core of longtime talent. The team could have taken a major turnaround this summer, with pivotal stars Malkin and Kris Letang as unrestricted free agents. Instead, Hextall re-signed both of them, even if it meant slightly over the upper limit of the salary cap.
Consequently, the Pens will continue to have one of the oldest rosters in the NHL, particularly on defense, where five of their blueliners are at least 30 years old. Years of trading prospects have taken their toll, and Hextall will continue to struggle to compete in the merchant market. They re-signed former Ducks winger Rickard Rakell, but fellow veteran winger Jason Zucker is the fourth-highest-paid forward, and Zucker struggled hard for the second year in a row. He would be a prime trade candidate if he wasn’t making $5.5 million in the final year of his current contract and if Pittsburgh was interested in trading a first-round pick to consummate any deal. Right now, they aren’t, but they don’t have enough depth not to consider moving a top pick at some point during the 2022-23 season.
It’s kind of funny that Hextall stayed out of the UFA market to trade the Pittsburgh tandem on the net. Starter Tristan Jarry always came back, but backup Casey DeSmith was a UFA, and his numbers (including a 2.79 goals-against average and .911 save percentage) weren’t spectacular enough to warrant his return, even if only on a relatively small increase in salary. If Jarry struggles during the regular season or the playoffs, it’s hard to see DeSmith as a behind-the-scenes answer.
Hextall made one of the few trades this summer when he traded for former Canadiens D-man Jeff Petry. Petry, 34, saw his offensive numbers drop noticeably on a lousy Montreal team last season. He’s also had a hard time staying healthy: He’s missed a combined 41 games in the past two seasons, and he has a salary cap of $6.25 million for the next three seasons, $150,000 per year more than it cost them to bring Letang back for the next six years. That’s a significant gamble on behalf of Hextall.
Inevitably, there comes a time of reckoning for every NHL team in its competitive cycle, and while Pittsburgh continues to employ talent every GM in the game would kill for, it really does feel like the law of diminishing returns is at the beginning. , if not intermediate stages of the current trajectory of the penguins.
Sometimes familiarity is a good thing for teams; it can sometimes be a crutch to satisfy the longstanding faith of the fans and the management at its core. We should find out shortly what kind of team Pittsburgh is, and if the Pens can turn Father Time around and embark on what could be their last deep playoff run with their current group.