Nothing in Ron Heckstall’s career as a general manager in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh indicates he’d be willing to do something like that, but a man can dream, right?
It is very clear that the Pittsburgh Penguins Need a spark now.
While I still maintain that a lot of their current problems can be fixed simply by bringing Kris Letang, Jeff Petry, and Tristan Jarry back into the lineup, they still need a little more help after that. Especially when it comes to their scoring depth and ability to get something out of the bottom half of their lineup.
Earlier this week Hawks appeared Its some excellent potential options to help approximate this depth.
This is the most likely path the Penguins will take for a number of reasons, from the salary cap, to the business assets, to the slow, methodical, and “patient” approach of the general manager.
But let’s pretend for a moment that Ron Hextall ripped a page out of Jim Rutherford’s book and said, “Let’s get away!” And you did something recklessly aggressive.
With that in mind, let’s talk about Timo Meier.
On the surface, this doesn’t make sense.
Meyer is a top notch player and the Penguins are well set with top level players at the moment. He is also a pending restricted free agent who will require a qualifying offer of $10 million for the season (or a significant contract extension) while also carrying a salary cap of $6 million for the season.
It’s also really good and sharks won’t want to give it up.
All of these facts seem like potential obstacles.
But the only way to overcome an obstacle is to actually try to get over it.
Here’s what stood out to me about the Mayer option this week: The quoted trading price may not be that outrageously high.
NHL insider Frank Serravalle I reported this week that sharks may not get it like Chicago Blackhawks They were able to get out Ottawa Senators For Alex DeBrincat. And if you recall, the Blackhawks didn’t get a ton in exchange for DeBrincat, picking up just three draft picks, only one of which was in the first round.
Seravalli speculates that Meier may come in at a cheaper price given DeBrincat still has a full year left in his deal before a qualifying offer is needed and he’s also a full three years younger than Meier.
Assuming this is true, and the argument around it is certainly true, where else would you get an opportunity to acquire this good player and this product for such a low price in terms of assets and trial capital?
The answer: probably not.
So why not go for it? You’re already in this season and future seasons because of the way the Penguins have kept their core, so I’m not too concerned about losing the draft pick’s origins. I’ve made this argument before, but there isn’t a player picked in the 17-32 range that would so dramatically affect the Penguins’ future and hasten their inevitable rebuilding when Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Chris Letang all stopped playing. . If this selection can help you compete now while these three are still playing at a high level, then you should.
So how can this help the penguins in the short term when their greatest need is deep assistance?
Well, there is more than one way to improve that depth.
You can get a deep player, or you can get a top-tier player who helps push someone else down the lineup.
Wouldn’t the Penguins be better off with someone like Meyer skating in the top six and relegating someone like Brian Rust or Jason Zucker to the third row? Of course they will be better. He still adds another influential player to the lineup and helps balance things out. s
The question then becomes what to do about the salary cap this year and next.
like Tampa Bay LightningAnd Colorado AvalancheAnd even the Penguins themselves have shown us over the years that there are always — always — ways around that to get the player you want. Retained salary, other trades to give up contracts, and involve a third party to take up more retained salary.
If you really want a player, you can get it.
This requires a level of creativity and aggressiveness that Hextall never shows, but the options are all there.
There’s also the fact that the Penguins have a lot of money off the books after this season.
Zucker (who would again create a top six opening) and Brian Dumoulin were the big two.
Is it possible? No. But the penguins need some juice. spark. Something bold to turn things in a different direction now. There is an opportunity to add a great star suite at a price that can be laughably cheap in terms of business assets and ones that don’t come around very often. Try to take advantage of it when the opportunity arises.