The Obvious:
Let’s get the big guns out of the way first. Can Burke and Hextall convince Letang and Malkin to take “hometown discounts”? The offseason won’t really begin until this question gets answered. The team starts the offseason with $23.2M in available space, and likely will use more than half of that on these two. As noted by Jesse Marshall, of The Athletic, Evolving Hockey projects them to command around $13M combined. That is about $3M less than they currently make.
If they cannot sign both, it behooves them to put their focus on Letang, as the Defense market is quite thin this offseason. As for the Center market, they have a few options they could consider. Vincent Trocheck and Ryan Strome would be the primary targets.
Priority 2:
Rickard Rakell had a brief tour here in Pittsburgh, but he made his presence known. He was brought in to bolster the second line, but showed immediate chemistry with Sidney Crosby. His absence, following a game 1 injury, was very noticeable in the playoffs. If the Pens can move some money this offseason, re-signing Rakell would move up to the top of their to do list.
One of the greatest enigmas in all of hockey is analysts and pundits trying to make a correct observation on who the real Evan Rodrigues is. Prior to the All-Star break, Rodrigues set career marks in all of his major statistical categories. Following the brief layoff, the versatile forward was less visible than the strings in those ghost chasing TV shows. His shot lends itself to 40 goal potential, but his accuracy forces him more into the 10-15 goal range. I have a hard time putting a price tag on his next contract, but I wouldn’t be against another short term deal to solidify our depth.
Let’s get contentious now, if I haven’t already offended you. I think the most important UFA we have is Casey DeSmith. He was another player that basically had two different seasons encapsulated into this one. Prior to the All-Star break, he had a .892 SV% and a 3.37 GAA. Following that he posted a .927 SV% and 2.44 GAA. In the absence of loyalty, he was the more deserving netminder to start the playoffs, regardless of Tristan Jarry’s status. Given the depth of the Free Agent Goalie market, and the number of teams looking to improve that position, it is very unlikely the Pens can match offers he receives after July 1st. It best serves the Pens to get him to the table before then.
RFA’s
The team has an abundance of restricted free agents to look into. The two main pieces being Kasperi Kappanen and Danton Heinen. Both players are arbitration eligible. Kappanen has a Qualifying Offer value of $840K, and Heinen is valued at $1.1M for his offer. While Heinen outpaced his contract, Kappanen was quite the opposite. I have to assume that both end up in the $1.25M range.
The next crop of RFA’s would include Pierre-Oliver Joseph, Jordy Bellerive, and Alexander Nylander. I am not sure that the Pens will be able to convince POJ to sign a two-way deal, given the state of his development. Bellerive and Nylander should be easy enough to keep in the fold.
Tradeable Assets
The front office can potentially move out some salary to aid in their offseason quest. Here are a few assets that they could potentially move.
Jason Zucker- 1YR @$5.5M
Brian Dumoulin- 1YR @$4.1M
Marcus Pettersson- 3YR @$4.02M
John Marino- 4YR @$4.4M
Brock McGinn- 3YR @$2.75M
While none of these assets, on their own, represent a great value, if properly packaged, could fetch the team some much needed cap relief.