Penguin Free Agent Fallout

As we enter the Dog Days of August, so too are the Pittsburgh Penguins.  With school starting in just a couple of weeks, so too are NHL training camps.  As you may or may not know, the Penguins opted to sign many of their own upcoming Free Agents.  With No Big Free Agent Splash, what is the Fall-Out from these Penguin decisions?

Only a handful of NHL Teams are considered to have a legit shot at Winning the Stanley Cup in 2022-23. Did the Pittsburgh Penguins do enough to actually have a shot at Winning the Cup?

September is a busy month for all of us, however, for an NHL Team September brings hope.

That said, let’s take a look at how the Penguins 2022 Free Agent Frenzy panned out.

Free Agents

Well for starters, I wrote about 4 Free Agents whom I felt the Penguins could actually sign and would fit in rather nicely.  Vincent Trocheck, former Carolina Hurricane, and Pittsburgh native, was #1 on my hit list.   As we know now, the Penguins went in another direction, and Trocheck signed with our Division rival New York Rangers.  Ouch that hurts.

Note:  They did not sign any of the 4 players I suggested.  sheesh.

Penguins Re-Signing

The Penguins opted for signing what they already knew they had.

Letang-D signed for $6.1 Million over 6 years.

Malkin-F signed for $6.1 Million over 4 years.

Rackell-F signed for $5Million over 6 years.

Kapanen-F signed for $3.2 Million over 2 years.

DeSmith-G signed for $1.8 Million over 2 years.

Heinen-F signed for $1 Million over 1 year.

Tokarski-G signed for $775k over 1 year.

Some people like this, others feel the Penguins should have gone in other directions.

Penguin Trades

Knowing what they already had, the Penguins opted to trade defenseman Matheson and a 4th round pick in 2023 to Montreal for Jeff Petry-D and Ryan Poehling-F.

The Penguins also traded Defensemen Marino to New Jersey for Ty Smith-D and a 3rd round pick in 2023.

We shall see how re-vamped the Penguins D-core actually is in October/November.

My View from the Cheap Seats

Well, I must admit, I never thought I would be seeing Letang and Malkin still in a Penguin uniform beyond last season.

I suppose you can say they addressed their Goalie, Defensemen and Forward depth by re-signing what they already knew and had…However with No Cap Room, where do they go from here.

Time will tell eh?

I guess if you lose in overtime of game 7, you can feel oh so close to holding Lord Stanleys Cup.

I suppose, so too did Penguin Management.  They must feel really good about the group they had last year and the make-up of the team chemistry going forward into this season.

I did like last year’s team.  They did play some exceptional hockey from Mid-November until Mid-March.  Here’s Hoping.

Quote of the Day:

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Martin Luther King JR