Success story tempered by business reality in Pittsburgh—by Brian Jennings
PITTSBURGH, Pa – After a tremendous 2008 season in which the Pittsburgh Penguins grew up just a little bit faster than originally anticipated, the team heads into this year’s free agency period with just a few more questions than answers this time around. Despite going all the way to the Stanley Cup finals, how does General Manager Ray Shero keep intact the team for another run next season?
The answer unfortunately is you can’t. Not when the age for free agency is lower than in the pre lockout days. There were too many good young players who are stepping up that will require pay raises for Shero to keep all of them, and he won’t be able to keep some veterans who were very important to the team’s Cup run.
At forward Marian Hossa is the big name who is commanding big dollars. It looks like he is the Penguins top priority to sign, but it doesn’t look as though the ‘Pens are his, despite his comments that this is not about money. Yeah, right. Who is he kidding? Hossa will surely leave to a team such as Boston, Montreal, or the Rangers. That much you can bet on. Ryan Malone made a name for himself in the playoffs but his rights have since been traded to the Tampa Bay Lighting. That is a shame for Pittsburgh fans as the tough-as-nails Malone did everything in his power at playoff time.
Photo courtesy of the NHL
Gary Roberts (included in the Malone trade to Tampa) will not be back as well. Either retirement or a team looking for a fourth-line veteran who can help be a leader and push kids to do their best place for Roberts.
On defense, Brooks Orpik also had a great playoff run and you can bet garnered a lot of attention around the league. Don’t look for Orpik to return either. The usual suspects will try to gain his services, but it won’t be with the Penguins. The ‘Pens do have Kris Letang and Alex Goligoski to fill his skates when he bolts for a team such as the Rangers.
In net the ‘Pens are solid with Marc-Andre Fluery and Ty Conklin as the backup. This is the least of the Penguins worries.
Still, don’t be surprised of the Penguins make a run at Sharks defenseman Brian Campbell. It might mean moving Sergei Gonchar to do it, but it is a possibility. Campbell wants to move back east due to family reasons so don’t be surprised if you see him in a Pittsburgh uniform.
Contact the author at Brian.Jennings@prohockeynews.com
Offense is the key in gateway city–by Lou Lafrado
ST. LOUIS, Mo–The Blues were down at the bottom of the statistics page this past season in offense. In fact, only the Blue Jackets and Islanders were more inept at scoring than the Blues’ 2.5 goals a game average.
With the likes of Phoenix powering up their offense, the Blues need to shake up the forward lines to match the output of the Coyotes if they hope to make the postseason in the spring of 2009.
And perhaps the list of unrestricted free agents the Blues have will weed out the thin talent for scoring. With 30-somethings Martin Rucinsky, Ryan Johnson and Mike Johnson listed as UFAs as well as Yan Stastny and Mike Glumac the Blues have an opportunity to call up their talent from Peoria. The Blues plan to finalize their purchase of the Rivermen in the AHL by July 3.
This year’s NHL salary cap is expected to rise to $56 million and the Blues have considerable room under the cap with a projected salary of $46 million. So where will Blues’ president John Davidson go for offensive support?
In the first round of the entry draft Davidson went with a defenseman in Alex Pietrangelo in the hopes of getting a quarterback for the powerplay. Pietrangelo has good talent as a puck carrier but may need a few more years to develop those skills for the NHL. Which leaves Davidson hunting for forwards to accept Pietranglo’s passes on the open market.
One hole that was filled by the Blues was their pick up of goalie Chris Mason from Nashville. The 31-year old netminder will provide some relief for Manny Legace who will enter the final year of his contract with the Blues.
And with the thin free agent class this year the Blues are up against the wall.
In an interview with the St Louis Post-Dispatch, Blues owner Dave Checketts seemed disappointed but circumspect about the increase in the cap this year. He told the Post-Dispatch that the team would compete in the free agent market but not to expect any big signings. Both Checketts’ and Davidson’s recent comments suggest the Blues are looking to grow from within and build from the farm system that feed the NHL club with quality players.
The Oakland A’s are the probably the model here. But the danger is that the top quality is lured away by higher salaries from clubs in more affluent markets. Meaning the Blues, or any club, have spent the time, resources and money, on developing young talent only to see it blossom elsewhere.
Regardless, the Blues seemingly have a strong sense of where they and where they want to be. And losing their heads and wallets on a thin free agent class is not likely to happen.
Contact the author at lou.lafrado@prohockeynews.com.
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