Pittsburgh Penguins: Cody Franson Highlights One Big Miss This Summer
By Mike Necciai
For GM Jim Rutherford and the Pittsburgh Penguins, this summer was nearly a perfect storm of wheeling and dealing to field a deep, offensively robust team for 2015-16. But, today’s announcement that the Buffalo Sabres have agreed to a two-year deal with Cody Franson highlights one big miss for Pens’ management.
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First, let me be clear that not acquiring Franson isn’t the end of the world for Pittsburgh. He hasn’t yet proved that he’s a consistent top-four defenseman and still has some work to do in that regard. But, with the blue-liners available this summer and the price that lured them in with their new teams, it raises a question about some of the decisions made by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
When you consider the Phil Kessel deal, along with acquiring Nick Bonino and signing Eric Fehr, it’s impressive what Jim Rutherford was able to do in a cap league. Also, signing Matt Cullen to an inexpensive deal was a smart move in my eyes due to the depth concerns with this organization’s youth and question marks for the fourth line. So, where did Rutherford go wrong?
The Pittsburgh Penguins Needed to Buyout Rob Scuderi
Let’s revisit an article I wrote roughly four months ago discussing buyout possibilities and cap implications for the Pens. The financial fallout from a Rob Scuderi buyout would be as follows.
2015/16 – $1.3 million
2016/17 – $1.8 million
2017/18 – $0.9 million
2018/19 – $.09 million
According to NHLNumbers.Com, the Pittsburgh Penguins currently have $.980 million in cap space. A Scuderi buyout, with his buyout penalty accounted for, would leave the Pens with $3.055 million available at this moment. Consider that Franson’s annual cap hit is $3.3 million and another familiar name in Christian Ehrhoff signed with the Kings for $1.5 million on a one-year deal and you have to wonder what stopped Rutherford from pulling the trigger.
Clearly, there was no way to know that very good defensemen would be signed for the low amounts that we’ve seen in recent weeks. Despite that, it’s really hard to imagine there was hidden upside in keeping Scuderi around given the direction of this team. Unfortunately, it’s now coming back to bite Pittsburgh.
Remaining Options are Scarce to Address Defensive Needs
I’ve said numerous times that I’m on board with the Pens testing the waters with a youthful blue line. However, many still question whether or not it’s the right decision to go into a season with such high expectations but a lack of experience on defense. At this point though, they aren’t really left with a choice.
The remaining top names in free agency are 38-year old Marek Zidlicky, 39-year old Lubomir Visnovsky and 29-year old Andrej Meszaros. The Pittsburgh Penguins will also have veteran Sergei Gonchar at camp on a professional tryout contract. But, the question is whether or not any of these names can offer more than the folks you already have. The answer is ‘no’.
The best option for Pittsburgh is to attack 2015-16 with the current makeup of this blue line, sans Sergei Gonchar. Let it ride out and see what these young defensemen can do. This team is going to score in bunches, so it’s a pretty good situation for these guys to learn and develop.
Next: Which Pens Prospect Fills the Final Open Roster Spot After Camp?