Pittsburgh Penguins: Thoughts on Brandon Saad and Free Agent Frenzy
By Mike Necciai
In my mind, I imagine Jim Rutherford and the Pittsburgh Penguins in line, outside of a retail store on Black Friday. The doors will open at noon, and GM’s will steamroll each other to win the services of very few valuable assets available via free agency this summer.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins feel terrible about Brandon Saad getting traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The organization has now missed on him twice, once by the Ray Shero regime and once by Rutherford and company. But, the love affair with Brandon saad among Pens fans is mostly due to him being a local kid. The Pens missed a good player, but it isn’t the end of the world. Plus, $6.5 million per year is a steep price for him.
The Pens are reportedly still in on Phil Kessel, and according to David Pagnotta of TheFourthPeriod.Com talks are still significant of Kessel being moved. My hope is that the Pittsburgh Penguins don’t feel obligated to make a move simply because of what happened with Saad yesterday. Stay patient, as they’ve done so far, because the complimentary pieces that this team needs can be acquired through many different avenues.
The T.J. Oshie chatter has died in Pittsburgh, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t someone that they’re interested in. Look for the Pittsburgh Penguins and St. Louis Blue to re-engage in discussions if the Pens don’t land Kessel. I still believe that Oshie is a great fit for Pittsburgh and should be a priority in their plans.
There are multiple names that the Pittsburgh Penguins are interested in going into the free agency period. Michael Frolik, Cody Franson, Jiri Tlusty, Mike Santorelli, and of course Sergei Plotnikov. Also, rumblings that the Pens would like to sign Viktor Tikhonov remain rampant, though we haven’t seen a finalized list of his preferred teams as we had originally thought we would.
My biggest concern today is overpayment. I can imagine the Pittsburgh Penguins giving Michael Frolik a five-year deal worth $5 million annually, and that simply isn’t worth it. The same goes for Jiri Tlusty. He would be a nice addition, and could play up and down the lineup, but neither of those two are concrete top-six forwards. The dollar amounts may be a necessity to land someone of that caliber, but if the term goes past three years I’d recommend walking away considering you’ll have Kasperi Kapanen and Daniel Sprong battling for those spots in the near future.
The interest in Santorelli is intriguing to me. In a way, it shows their willingness to move Brandon Sutter and slot Santorelli into the third line center role. I say that assuming that Oskar Sundqvist is the plan for fourth line center. Or, maybe they don’t have complete confidence in Sundqvist and feel that they need Santorelli for that role. My preference would be Eric Fehr, but Santorelli will be cheaper and can also play wing. The fact that they’re considering him just adds more questions and confusion as to what the Pens are planning.
A name that has stirred up a lot of debate among the Pittsburgh Penguins faithful is Alexander Semin. Are the Pens interested? Should they be?
Here’s the thing about Semin. Despite all of the talk surrounding his laziness and attitude, the guy can produce at elite levels. He didn’t pan out in Carolina, but he also wasn’t playing alongside Evgeni Malkin. Below is Semin’s HERO chart via ownthepuck.blogspot.ca.
Is he a sure thing? Absolutely not. But, if the Pens can ink him to a short-term deal at the right price they almost have to take a waiver on him. The potential to blow up is simply too much to pass on. His compete level was cited as the reason for his buyout, and there’s very little in hockey that I dislike more than the term “compete level”. The numbers speak for themselves.
News and rumors will be flying today. Give me a follow on Twitter at @Michael29Angelo, as I’ll keep everyone updated with information from around the league. Despite the lack of talent in the free agent pool, today is shaping up to be a lot of fun for hockey fans.
Next: 5 Free Agent Options for the Pens in a Weak UFA Market