Offseason 2019

Couldn't come soon enough!


Here is the first bit of action:

Roster filler but if the NHL would only fit in a top 9 role.

Pittsburgh Penguins Will Likely Trade A Defenseman

Noooooooo....really! I am shocked. <sarcasm>

Snapshots: Kings, Checkers, Hornqvist

• Patric Hornqvist will suit up for Sweden at the upcoming IIHF World Championship, continuing his season after a disappointing exit with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Hornqvist joins a squad that needed some help up front, and could very well find himself skating beside rookie sensation Elias Pettersson. The 32-year old winger won a gold medal with Sweden last year, scoring two goals in five games. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that teammate Marcus Pettersson will be an alternate for the Swedish squad.

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Well if all goes well we might find a taker for at least one contract.

The Penguins need to find a winger for Geno. Phil doesn't work with him. I want Phil to stick around, because he works with Bjugstad, and I think he'd be electric with Sid (not to mention being basically the only consistent powerplay performer they have), but Geno needs his new James Neal. Just find a James Neal who isn't an idiot this time.

Gotta move either Kessel or Malkin. Make Letang a winger.

Penguins, arena announce lease extension agreement | TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League

Well WBS isn't going anywhere for at least a decade.

Penguins Notes: Malkin, Kessel, Maatta

Friedman is pretty much spot on what to expect.
Malkin probably won't leave but contemplating waiving the NMC.
Kessel most likely will be traded.
Maatta has zero trade value.

Olli Maatta puzzle frames difficult summer decisions Penguins must make | TribLIVE.com

Well no crap the defense is better when Malkin and Crosby are on the ice.

Penguins Sign Kasper Bjorkqvist to a Two-Year, Entry-Level Contract

Another pick signed.

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Juuso Riikola

Good news.

thedddd said:

Penguins Notes: Malkin, Kessel, Maatta

Friedman is pretty much spot on what to expect.
Malkin probably won't leave but contemplating waiving the NMC.
Kessel most likely will be traded.
Maatta has zero trade value.

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Apparently Maatta had a little trade value. Fetched a decent return from Chicago it looks.

Darkstone42 said:

Apparently Maatta had a little trade value. Fetched a decent return from Chicago it looks.

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Yeah I was amazed it was a very good return for him. Shame we are stuck with Jack Johnson though.

thedddd said:

Yeah I was amazed it was a very good return for him. Shame we are stuck with Jack Johnson though.

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Given the choice, I definitely would have preferred to move Johnson for the same package, but Maatta is a way better defenseman than Johnson. Ideally, they can move Johnson for anything or nothing or whatever, because I think Dumo, Riikola, and Petterson is fine as a ground of LD, with a little unrealized upside from the latter two. Wouldn't mind moving Gubby, as well, and bringing in a better skater/puck mover to replace him on the RD side.

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford confirmed the rumor Monday that forward Phil Kessel had vetoed a recent trade.

The GM did not name the team involved, but it had been widely reported that the Penguins had a deal on the table with the Minnesota Wild in which Kessel and Jack Johnson would go out for Jason Zucker and Victor Rask.

"In Phil's situation, he was just part of a decision ... where we were trying to retool and we had a chance to get a good player, but it doesn't necessarily mean he has to be traded," Rutherford told 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh. "He's been a really good player for us. We wouldn't have won the Cups without him. He's an impact player; he will be for a few more years. So we'll see how that plays out."

Kessel is coming off a season in which he had 27 goals and 82 points -- good numbers to be sure, but the 31-year-old has to shine on offense to overcome some of his defensive shortcomings. He had 34 goals and 92 points the year before.

After being swept by the Islanders in the first round of the playoffs last season, the Penguins are looking to get younger and faster around star Sidney Crosby. They traded defenseman Olli Maatta to the Blackhawks for young forward Dominik Kahun this week.

Rutherford intimated that he had put together the trade without worrying that Minnesota was not on Kessel's list of approved destinations.

"The biggest thing from a team point of view, you can't have the player controlling the trade because if you do it's not going to work out for the team, so at this point and time I view it that Phil will return with the team," Rutherford said.

"I'm not actively pushing to trade him at this point. If someone comes along with a deal that makes sense, we'll take a look at it, just like most of the other players."

Rutherford didn't fault Kessel for exercising his contractual right

"Minnesota was never on his list. To that point, he's a player that deserved to get the position he's in where he had a no-trade and pick eight teams that he would go to and otherwise have some say in whether he'd go to other teams," Rutherford said. "I don't think there's anything out of the ordinary here. He's exercising his right. Obviously it's frustrating for the team when you feel that the trade we were going to make was the right thing for the Penguins, but Phil didn't do anything wrong."

Asked whether Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin or Patric Hornqvist could be traded, Rutherford paused for a while before answering.

"The guys that you mentioned are not guys I'm pushing to trade or feel that I have to trade from the Penguins. They've been great players, they still are and they're the kind of guys you win championships with," Rutherford told the radio station. "I didn't say I was going to actively push to trade the guys you just mentioned, but I didn't say that I wouldn't. The best example of all, people hear this over and over, Gretzky was traded, you know, one of the greatest players of all time. Sometimes there's certain packages [that] come along that you have to look at, and that's why I kept that door open."

Finally, moved Kessel for a young scorer Galchenyuk and a first round draft pick Dman from 2017!

Move Letang and my summer is complete!!!!

Woohoo!!!!

scoutyjones2 said:

Finally, moved Kessel for a young scorer Galchenyuk and a first round draft pick Dman from 2017!

Move Letang and my summer is complete!!!!

Woohoo!!!!

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Apparently the Penguins were interested in drafting him in the first round but when the Yotes took him that triggered the trade knowing they could get the next best on their board in the 2nd round from that deal.