Picking over the (Winger) Bones
Posted 2:55 PM ET | Comments 0
Is Ray Shero hovering high above the remains of the collective carcass that was the 2012 unrestricted free agent crop, waiting for a scrap (Alex Semin, Peter Mueller)?
Or did he swoop down, get what he could (Tanner Glass and a few minor league-ers), fight for a little more (Suter/Parise), then fly away? One is left pondering...
Shero, Dan Bylsma, and the rest of the Pens brass have gone silent in the past 3 1/2 days, since Shero held a conference call with Pittsburgh and various other media on Wednesday regarding losing the Suter/Parise sweepstakes. And no Penguins beat writer (Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson of the PG, nor Josh Yohe or Rob Rossi of the Trib) has even hinted at any moves being on the horizon. There is, one way or another, a move or two that WILL be made, simply out of necessity. It's just a matter of when.
After allowing Steve Sullivan to walk away and sign with Phoenix, there is now a hole in the top-6 forwards group. Shero's dilemma: fix from within, or make an outside acquisition?
Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke, and Eric Tangradi are current Penguins whose names have been floated out there to play alongside Sid. I'll let you mull that over (I'm against it).
Then there are the remaining UFA options for the Pens: Alex Semin and Peter Mueller, as mentioned above. I've already made the case for and against Semin. As for Mueller, he missed all of 2010-11 with a concussion, and only played 32 games last year for Colorado with the same issue. He does have a tremendous upside. Pair that with Crosby's ability to make his linemates better, and that makes for good theater. Mueller is also only 24, the same age as Crosby, so Shero could bring him on board on a 1-year, between $1-$2 million contract, and hope for the best.
If all goes well, for either of these two, they could expect a longer term deal at the end, I'd say somewhere in the 3-5 year range.
The other solution is via trade. Rick Nash's and Bobby Ryan's names have been linked to the Penguins (and a handful of other teams) since free agency opened a week ago. Nash is the most likely target of these two, since Anaheim wants a 2nd line center in return for Ryan, and Shero ain't tradin' Geno Malkin.
So enter Rick Nash. Bear in mind that Craig Patrick (yes, THAT Craig Patrick, asst. coach of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and former Pens GM who just happened to draft guys like Fleury, Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Orpik) is a scout in Columbus. He is STILL VERY familiar with the Pens farm system, and thus knows what the Blue Jackets could realistically get in return for Nash.
My guess, no matter how off base it may be, is Shero would offer up Paul Martin, Eric Tangradi/Tyler Kennedy (one of them has to go somewhere at some point) and a combination of Jeffrey, Lovejoy, Bortuzzo, Depres, Strait, Sneep, Harrington, Maatta, Pouliot, and draft picks.
My trade (with explanations of each) would be this: Martin, Lovejoy, Kennedy, Jeffrey (NHL-ready puck moving D-men, scoring winger and 3rd line center) Despres, Strait (young D-men with NHL/playoff experience) and the 2013 and 2014 first round draft picks.
I still think the way to go is a free agent signing. If you trade for Nash, you'll probably end up gutting most of what you'd have to offer to get the top-pairing D-man to play with Letang. And scoring was NOT this team's weakness last season. (They led the league in goals scored) So save the trade pieces for a defenseman, and sign either Semin or Mueller.
Later today I'll have a look at the defensemen that might be available on the trade market for the Pens.
The online radio show is coming in two weeks (July 23) so DON'T FORGET!
As always, stay up-to-date here Follow @TDTorrao
Thanks for reading!! Please comment and discuss amongst yourselves
Or did he swoop down, get what he could (Tanner Glass and a few minor league-ers), fight for a little more (Suter/Parise), then fly away? One is left pondering...
Shero, Dan Bylsma, and the rest of the Pens brass have gone silent in the past 3 1/2 days, since Shero held a conference call with Pittsburgh and various other media on Wednesday regarding losing the Suter/Parise sweepstakes. And no Penguins beat writer (Dave Molinari and Shelly Anderson of the PG, nor Josh Yohe or Rob Rossi of the Trib) has even hinted at any moves being on the horizon. There is, one way or another, a move or two that WILL be made, simply out of necessity. It's just a matter of when.
After allowing Steve Sullivan to walk away and sign with Phoenix, there is now a hole in the top-6 forwards group. Shero's dilemma: fix from within, or make an outside acquisition?
Tyler Kennedy, Matt Cooke, and Eric Tangradi are current Penguins whose names have been floated out there to play alongside Sid. I'll let you mull that over (I'm against it).
Then there are the remaining UFA options for the Pens: Alex Semin and Peter Mueller, as mentioned above. I've already made the case for and against Semin. As for Mueller, he missed all of 2010-11 with a concussion, and only played 32 games last year for Colorado with the same issue. He does have a tremendous upside. Pair that with Crosby's ability to make his linemates better, and that makes for good theater. Mueller is also only 24, the same age as Crosby, so Shero could bring him on board on a 1-year, between $1-$2 million contract, and hope for the best.
If all goes well, for either of these two, they could expect a longer term deal at the end, I'd say somewhere in the 3-5 year range.
The other solution is via trade. Rick Nash's and Bobby Ryan's names have been linked to the Penguins (and a handful of other teams) since free agency opened a week ago. Nash is the most likely target of these two, since Anaheim wants a 2nd line center in return for Ryan, and Shero ain't tradin' Geno Malkin.
So enter Rick Nash. Bear in mind that Craig Patrick (yes, THAT Craig Patrick, asst. coach of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team and former Pens GM who just happened to draft guys like Fleury, Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Orpik) is a scout in Columbus. He is STILL VERY familiar with the Pens farm system, and thus knows what the Blue Jackets could realistically get in return for Nash.
My guess, no matter how off base it may be, is Shero would offer up Paul Martin, Eric Tangradi/Tyler Kennedy (one of them has to go somewhere at some point) and a combination of Jeffrey, Lovejoy, Bortuzzo, Depres, Strait, Sneep, Harrington, Maatta, Pouliot, and draft picks.
My trade (with explanations of each) would be this: Martin, Lovejoy, Kennedy, Jeffrey (NHL-ready puck moving D-men, scoring winger and 3rd line center) Despres, Strait (young D-men with NHL/playoff experience) and the 2013 and 2014 first round draft picks.
I still think the way to go is a free agent signing. If you trade for Nash, you'll probably end up gutting most of what you'd have to offer to get the top-pairing D-man to play with Letang. And scoring was NOT this team's weakness last season. (They led the league in goals scored) So save the trade pieces for a defenseman, and sign either Semin or Mueller.
Later today I'll have a look at the defensemen that might be available on the trade market for the Pens.
The online radio show is coming in two weeks (July 23) so DON'T FORGET!
As always, stay up-to-date here Follow @TDTorrao
Thanks for reading!! Please comment and discuss amongst yourselves