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"Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, and The Stanley Cup" by AxsDeny on Flickr
On June 12th, 2009 the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup. After having a few weeks to relax and celebrate the victory, their thoughts turned towards defending it.
The Penguins knew that they would lose several free agents this summer. Due to the make-up of the team and the realities of the salary cap, it would be impossible to field the same lineup in October as they did in June.
General manager Ray Shero knew that he would have some choices to make. Some players would not wish to re-sign with the Penguins. Others would not fit under the salary cap any longer while another group of players would have earned large raises that the Penguins could not afford to pay.
And thus the 2009/2010 Pittsburgh Penguins will look different from the team that hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup last month.
The loss that hurts the most is likely Rob Scuderi. He was drafted by the Penguins in 1998 and has matured into a very effective defensive defenseman. His play during the 2009 playoffs was top notch and he made several Cup-saving plays in the Final.
However, that strong play translated to a high raise for Mr. Scuderi. He made $750,000 in 2009. As a free agent, the Los Angeles Kings offered him a four-year, $13.6 million contract. The Pittsburgh Penguins can simply not afford to pay Scuderi an average of $3.4 million per season and Scuderi could not afford to turn down such a huge raise. Therefore Scuderi will call the Staples Center home next season.
His defensive partner, Hal Gill, will also have a new address. The Montreal Canadiens signed Gill to a two-year, $4.5 million deal and so the six foot seven defenseman will be wearing the bleu, blanc et rouge when the puck drops in October.
The loss of their shutdown defensive pair will no doubt hurt the Penguins. Gill and Scuderi were very effective in nulifying the opposition’s top lines during the playoffs and their presence on the ice will be missed.
However, their departures don’t drop the Penguins out of Stanley Cup contention.
Ruslan Fedotenko, Bill Guerin and Craig Adams all took pay cuts to remain in Pittsburgh next year. The Penguins also re-signed Alex Goligoski to a three-year contract and he will likely see significant time on the Penguins’ blue line next year – especially with the absence of Scuderi and Gill.
The Penguins will still be able to dress the same top three forward lines that they iced during their run to the Cup. While Max Talbot will miss the beginning of the season with an injury, the team’s offense remains very much intact. Petr Sykora and Miroslav Satan will likely play elsewhere next year, but they did not factor into the Penguins’ game plan very often in the playoffs.
On defense, the Penguins will either sign a veteran, stay-at-home defenseman or promote Ben Lovejoy up from the AHL. They won’t have the imposing pair of Gill and Scuderi any longer, but they will still be able to field a strong group of defenders.
The fact that Sergei Gonchar looks to be healthy and that Dan Bylsma will start the season behind the Penguins bench also lead to a positive outlook for the Penguins. Neither of those things were true when the 2008/2009 season started.
The rest of the league looked to improve their teams via trades and free agency. The Pittsburgh Penguins, last year’s champions, looked to remain as similar as possible. They have succeeded.
Despite losing a few key players the Pittsburgh Penguins will remain a force in 2010 and, likely, for years to come.
Photo: “Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, and The Stanley Cup” by AxsDeny on Flickr.
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Nice read, Rick.
Compared to Detroit’s losses, the Pens’ losses are minimal.
As you said, they should continue to see the emergence of Goligoski. They could probably use another body on “D”.
Sorry to see Talbot be out for a while, but goes to show the warrior he was in the playoffs!
They signed Jay McKee and should health issues not arise, he will be a huge factor on the blue line. He was a monster shot-blocker in Buffalo and put up decent numbers. I had Goligoski in a fantasy pool last season for quite a time until he began being scratched. This kid has great offensive upside, much more than Letang, and should one day skate regularly with Gonchar. Scuderi will have some pressure on him in LA with the big contract now and a lot of guys in his position have failed in the past.
I saw that after posting yesterday Rafal – great value in signing McKee – hopefully he stays healthy.
With the Pens, it’s almost like addition by subtraction. They’ll probably be a better overall team next year!