After being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth-straight season, the Pittsburgh Penguins face an interesting and difficult offseason.
Hoping to send this group of aging stars out with another Stanley Cup run, the Penguins instead find themselves squandering another chance to win it all. General Manager Ron Hextall knew there would be big roster decisions to make during his tenure, and now some very important ones must be made this summer.
The Big Three
After 15 seasons together, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang may have played their final games together in Penguin uniforms.
While the captain remains under contract, both Malkin and Letang can leave for any team if they don't come to terms with the Penguins before the start of free agency (July 13).
The three pillars of the Penguins for nearly two decades have won three Stanley Cups together and have been perennial contenders, but there's a very good chance the trio will break up this summer.
Bryan Rust
At 30-years-old, Bryan Rust has taken his game to a new level. He emerged as an ultra-speedy and hard working bottom six forward with a penchant for scoring big goals. Now, he heads into the off-season as one of the most coveted two-way forwards available.
He's scored 22+ goals in three straight seasons, plays in all situations and is a penalty killing specialist. He's made $3.5 million over the past few seasons and is in line for a substantial raise.
Where will resigning Rust rank on Hextall's priority list? Has he priced himself out of Pittsburgh altogether?
Other Forward Questions
Rickard Rakell was the big trade deadline acquisition for the Penguins this season. He scored 41 points in the regular, 13 of which came in the 19 after being acquired by Pittsburgh. He missed most of the first round series after being knocked out by a vicious hit. In the regular season, he showed chemistry with both Crosby and Malkin and looked invigorated after his trade. He's coming off a contract that paid him $3.8 million per season, and what he'll make on his next one remains to be seen.
In addition to the pending free agents, the Penguins have several players under contract that they may need to consider moving on from. The first of which is Kasperi Kapanen, who will be a restricted free agent.
If the Penguins want to qualify him, they will owe him at least a slight raise over the $3.2 million he made this past season. He had an extremely disappointing season. And while his performance in the playoffs was better than the regular season, it might not have done enough to convince management to keep him around.
The Penguins also have three particular veterans they need to make decisions on: Jason Zucker, Brock McGinn, and Jeff Carter.
Zucker will enter the final season of his current contract next season, which carries a $5 million cap hit. His Penguins tenure has been marred by injury, limiting his effectiveness over the past couple seasons. He appeared in only 41 games this season, scoring 17 points. If the Penguins could get a full season of production from Zucker, he could be a huge boost to
Jeff Carter was given a contract extension this season by GM Hextall midseason, the only player out of the pending free agent group to do so. He scored 19 goals and had 45 points in his age 37 season, an extremely impressive number. The Penguins have had to rely on him a bit too much since his arrival via trade, and they will continue to for the next two seasons where he'll make just over $3 million per year.
Brock McGinn was signed this past off-season to a four year, $11 million contract. In his first season with the Penguins, he put up 12 goals and 22 points over 64 games. He is a solid player, but with all of the looming decisions, he may be moved to make sure other players are retained. The Penguins made a big commitment to McGinn a year ago with a four year contract, but it is unclear if they are still committed going forward.
After taking some time to regroup and take in the end of the season, the Pittsburgh Penguins management have many decisions to ponder and make. With all of the moving pieces that remain to be set, this is sure to be the most interesting and possibly roster shattering off-season the Penguins have seen since before Sidney Crosby arrived in 2005. Fasten your seat belts, folks, it's going to be a bumpy ride.
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