With the 2016 Stanley Cup Final now over, what’s next for the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks? Read on to find out.
Marc-Andre Fleury may have played his final game with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
ESPN.COM: Craig Custance believes the rise of Matt Murray as the Pittsburgh Penguins starting goalie in the 2016 playoffs and the possibility of expansion on the horizon should make goalie Marc-Andre Fleury a trade candidate this summer. The Penguins also have limited salary-cap room for 2016-17, and Fleury’s $5.75 million annual cap hit through 2018-19 could be better used elsewhere in the roster. Custance feels Fleury could be a good fit with the Calgary Flames or Carolina Hurricanes, noting the latter has lots of draft picks and cap space.
Custance also suggests re-signing restricted free agent defenseman Justin Schultz if possible to an affordable deal that is less than his current cap hit of $3.9 million, while pending unrestricted free agent blueliner Ben Lovejoy earned the right to return. He also believes the Pens should extend goalie Matt Murray’s contract.
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE: Dave Molinari reports Fleury understands he faces an uncertain future. It’s possible the Penguins could lose him to a possible expansion draft next June. Molinari speculates Fleury could ask to be sent elsewhere, despite carrying a limited no-trade clause. Center Matt Cullen, 40, might opt for retirement, though he intends to take some time to consider his future.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins are currently carrying over $73 million in cap payroll. Even if the cap rises to $74 million they won’t have enough space to re-sign anyone, let alone bolster their roster by promoting from their farm system or signing unrestricted free agents. They will get $3.75 million of cap relief if Pascal Dupuis (blood clots) retires or is placed on long-term injured reserve at the start of next season. However, they still need to free up more room and Fleury is the obvious trade candidate. Calgary or Carolina could be good choices, provided they’re on his list of 18 clubs he’ll accept being traded to.
ESPN.COM: Craig Custance believes the San Jose Sharks should lock up defenseman Brent Burns to a long-term extension, while left wing Tomas Hertl (a restricted free agent coming off his entry-level contract this summer) is also due a nice raise.
He also believes it’s time for the Sharks to part ways with 36-year-old forward Patrick Marleau, who has a year left on his contract worth $6.7 million. The Sharks might have to retain some of his salary, but it would be worth it to invest the savings in bolstering their roster depth.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Marleau has a full no-movement clause. Earlier this season, he listed the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers as three preferred trade destinations. Given the fact the Ducks are a budget club, the Kings have cap issues and the Rangers could look at shedding salary and getting younger, he won’t be going to those teams. If Sharks GM Doug Wilson wants to move Marleau, and if he’s willing to accept a trade, the veteran forward must expand his list.
Burns has a year left on his contract at a cap hit of $5.76 million. His age (31) could be a concern. If he’ll accept between $7.5 to $8 million per season on a four- or five-year deal, the Sharks could do it.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Leafs take a look at Fleury. They are definitely in need of a goaltender & have allot of prospects / picks to offer.
Thoughts?
Works for me. I like the Andersen option better from a hockey perspective but Pittsburgh might take less for Fleury than Murray may want for Andersen. Pittsburgh is in serious need of cap space. Andersen should be signed for less & being 5 years younger might be a better fit. Either work for me though for any team in need of a goalie.
Given their situation and the long-term aspect of their re-build, a 31-year-old goalie with that cap hit is the LAST thing that should be on their menu at a cost of good young prospects. They need to find (draft?) a goalie who can develop along with the kids. There is NO quick fix in their future.
George.
How many years away from being a playoff team do you think the Leafs are?
Until I see a better collection of D I’d say at least 3 years.
That’s a reasonable assumption. Wouldn’t Andersen fit that time line, would just be turning 30.
Hope about Rask he’s 29 and has 6 wonderful years left at a cap of only $7m per year. Boston doesn’t really have a backup plan but maybe take Fleury for what’s left on his contract and go from there.
Caper you don’t honestly believe that the Bruins are moving Rask do you. No need to answer we both know the answer, not really a question.
We have had numerous discussions about Rask, you even defending him often. Boston needs a top 3 D that will help a whole range of goals against & or win issues but with so many young players now regulars & at least 2 more added as full time NHLer’s this season if not 3, C. Miller, Vatrano & I assume Vesey, just be a happy Bruin’s fan & set your sights on what should be a solid roster & playoff contender post expansion draft.
Sure, Andersen might fit the time-line – but over the course of the first few years he’s liable to be shell-shocked since he won’t have the D he did in Anaheim and could wind up being crucified by the media and crowd – both can be unforgiving – since he’s getting the big bucks and expectations will go well beyond reality. They might be less demanding of a young goalie developing along with the rest of the team.
You need solid goaltending for a successful rebuild. Luongo was the best thing to happen to Florida. Without it, the youngsters can’t make any mistakes. Look at Edmonton.
ONLY a cap hit of $7 mil for Rask, Caper?? That’s some “only” for teams already struggling with the cap.
Arnie, i couldn’t agree more.
Striker no I don’t think they’ll trade him and as George O says “Only” too much money for a goalie imo.
Agreed Caper. I’m not paying any goalie that kind of money.
If the Leafs do attempt to sign Stamkos, might that not indicate that they are quite flexible in their rebuilding plans? Would their efforts have a chance of success if Stamkos were told that the Leafs have a rebuilding plan that will get them into the playoffs in three years? I have a feeling that they will have to promise him something much more palatable. If he requires a goalie, Fleury might be the cheapest in personnel cost,. But then there are cap considerations, of course.
I dont think the leafs want a goalie that age- if they sign Stamkos might change a little – otherwise- stay the course.. I see Anderson more likely…ready to be skewered here…would a JVR and /Leivo/ Percy and Late 1st round pick for Anderson or Gibson AND Vatanen or Lindholm make sense for both?
Although not impossible that Murray would move Vatanen & Andersen in 1 deal I find that unlikely. Nor do I see Toronto moving JVR any time soon. He is Toronto’s #1LW & I see them resigning him eventually.
I don’t think Toronto can fit Vatanen’s contract into the current salary structure. If they can’t sign Stamkos rumors are the will bid hard for Backes. Toronto doesn’t have much cap space until the season starts. Especially if they buy a Stamkos or Backes type player.
Players can’t be put on LTIR until opening day. The day prior when required to submit their 23 man roster Horton & Robidas will count as part of those 23 players as will their cap hits. That’s 8.3 mil unavailable until opening day. Teams can exceed the cap by 10% in the off season or in future seasons, it’s called tagging in the CBA, but again have to be cap compliant the day before the season starts.
Andersen is a distinct possibility but will cost 4.5 to 5.5 to sign for 5 to 7 years. Thinking Komorov & another asset. Possibly a 1st; Pittsburgh’s, & something being a 2nd option.
I proposed yesterday JVR, Loov and Wash 2nd for Andersen and Fowler. The response I got was its not going to happen.
You’re basically swapping Fowler for JVR and Andersen for futures. It’s a buyers market for goalies and Im not sure how high teams would go to get Andersen.
Your proposal is similar but adds a higher pick. Im not sure what the Ducks are going to do but at least its fun to speculate.
I agree with Yankee fan- wont cost much for a goalie- I think a first would be about as high as you get and a late first to boot..As for JVR- appeal is the salary- I don’t think he is as appealing as a 28 year old making 6 mill…
It will be intersesting to see what Prices…. Well price is going to be. I actually think he’ll get a deal as bad or worse than Lundqvists.
Leafs should go after Pickard
I don’t see the Leafs going after MAF. He’s 31 yrs old with a $6M cap hit. I think they will try to find a young goalie with potential of being a starter. I would be sweet if they could offer a nice package to WAS for Samsonov.
You’re not suggesting Maf to the caps are you?
That is a god awful waste of cap space unless they are moving Holtby in a separate deal. which I highly doubt.
That would go down as THE dumbest trade in hockey history – outdistancing Mad Mike Milbury’s worst gaffes!
George O, George McFee at least ties with Milbury when he traded Phip Forsberg to Nashville for Erat and Latta.
That was a doozy all right. But Chara, Muckalt and a 1st Round pick Jason Spezza) for Alexei Yashin, and then Olli Jokinen & Luongo for Mark Parrish and Oleg Kvasha stand alone.
I don’t see the Leafs having any interest in MAF at all. There’s no rush to be a playoff team next year, and giving up assets to get an aging goaltender shouldn’t happen at this stage of the rebuild. I thought Bernier had a strong finish last year, and he’s only 28. The next season or two should determine what his ceiling is and I’d rather not sell him low before that happens. There’s no rush.
I might sign a back up guy like Montoya, nobody too high profile. If both fail, then we get another high draft pick, it’s what’s to be expected right now.
Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins & their fans. Well earned & well deserved. They played great, they dominated the Sharks even though the games were close, their speed & puck pursuit allowed SJ no time & space to play their game. Well done.
Now lets get this summer of fun started. 10 days; counting today, to expansion announcement, 12 days to draft day & 18 days to the start of the UFA signings. Should be an exciting 3 weeks.
I’m focusing on draft day! Can’t wait for the hype and inevitable trades that’ll occur on that day. Bruins hold 2 first round picks and I’m hoping at least the 29th is packaged or moved by itself
Speed and puck pursuit my ass,Sharks played bad in that series and should have lost in four games except for 2 players that showed up in that series,Pittsburgh played really well but the Sharks played stupid and stubborn hockey and refused to adjust there game to what Penguins were doing and if you seen that last play by there d-man before the empty net goal you will know what i mean!Sharks have a fast team but they got outworked,outsmarted and outplayed by a more hungury team which made them look slow at times and they got what they deserved. Congrats to the Penguins! (Crosby factor great leadership)
Will be a buyers market now & leading up to the expansion draft.
Cannot see MAF in Pitt for very long.
This will be the most interesting & entertaining off seasons ever maybe. At least plenty of player moves & trades IMO.
Congratulation on the 2016 Stanley Cup Champions, The Pittsburgh Penguins on a job well done. And congratulation’s to their fans as well you guys deserved it you played your hearts out and definitely had the better team in the playoffs.
Add my “Congrats” to the Pens. Now THE BRUINS get #29 instead of 30.
The draft gets pretty murky after the top 10 usually. This season even more so. It’s a deep draft by volume but after the top 2 it starts to get murky fast. Would have liked a higher pick than 29 but still love what Sweeny’s accomplished in 1 year.
I think he could have garnered a better return on Hamilton but who really knows. The rebuild has started, the core of Veterans with a few minor exceptions; Chara & Seidenberg, is actually quite young & will provide for great leadership & a nice transition to yourh that started last season in earnest. Even with SJ’s pick coming in at 29 the return for Lucic was a home run. Not a grand slam but a fabulous deal for Boston allowing for a ton of cap flexibility.
Why did Maf hoist the cup before Murray? That has got to be a 1st?
My guess is respecting the veteran.
His last hurrah in a Pittsburgh uniform?
Great job by Pittsburgh
Opposite of what Boston did.
Changed coach,brought up kids,put the skilled guys on powerplay and got faster. Hopefully Bruins management learned something.
Chara,Siedenberg and possibly Krejci done.
Time to get younger and faster and clear some cap space.
Good observation, Dave. Undoubtedly, as with every Cup winner, other GMs will be imitating the theme of the moves the team made this coming offseason and in the future.
Isn’t that what teams did when Boston won the Cup? got bigger and stronger.
That’s right, Caper the formula changes from year to year but that’s what teams do. We’ve seen it over and over.
The only constant ins the younger movement, which is a longer term trend brought on by the cap. This will accelerate it.
I could see teams trying for a sprinkling of top talent on each of three lines and then young (cheap), fast skaters to fill in.
Pair that with one top Dman and a top goalie and that’s your formula for now.
Whoa!
Boston had the 7th best PP in the league last season, Pittsburgh 16th. Pittsburgh has done little to change their PP in years. Hornqvist took Neils spot, Kessel Kunitz’s otherwise no changes.
Boston played 11 players last season with 3 years or less of NHL experience the majority far less than that.
Next.
The stats have long proven that special teams are far less important than Even Strength play. The commentators haven’t caught on yet – likewise with faceoff winning and other minor details of the game.
I should say, I’m speaking in relation to the Hockey Night in Canada coverage. I haven’t seen as much of the US coverage, but from what I’ve seen it is much better.
a 40% change is not even close to ‘no change’
Striker
Marchand the leading scorer was on the second unit and not even in shootouts.
Vatrano,Griffith,Colin Miller and Koko were buried in Providence.
Julian kept playing Hayes,Connolly and other non performers.
The deadline deals were a joke. Would rather have the young guys than those two.
I think Julian’s a great coach but the players are not listening anymore.
Dave.
Here is the inexperience Boston dressed last season. 1st # is total NHL games played when the season started; 2015-16, 2nd is games played in Boston last season.
Spooner 56 prior, 80 last season.
Krug 160, 81.
Hayes 168, 75.
Pastrnak 46, 51.
Connolly 139, 71.
K. Miller 88, 71.
C. Miller 0, 42.
Vatrano 0, 39.
Ferraro 75, 10 Det/58 Bos.
Morrow 15, 33.
Trotman 29, 38.
Randell 0, 27.
Kemppainen 0, 44.
Acciari 0, 19.
Koko, Griffith & Cross had a cup of coffee.
That’s a ton of youth & inexperience that played significant roles & games for the Bruins last season. That’s called a rebuild. More youth is coming this season.
I would suggest you think about finding a different favorite team as if you didn’t like the transition to youth last season your going to like it less next season.
Give the GM credit too – Pens’ 3rd line was great.
This is a no-name defense, other than Letang.
I thought trading for Lovejoy was a huge mistake – he played great, gonna cash in July 1.
As was the 4th. It pains me that I seriously slagged almost everything Rutherford did.
Surprised he did all the good things he did.
Given myself a half a pat on the back. Picked Pitts to win the cup in 6 games, but over LA and not SJ. Wonder how much I could’ve made making a grand bet in Vegas. I guess the east isn’t that weak after all. Nice to see a display of skill.
I had Anaheim as my cup winner out of the gate. I had SJ to win in 5 just prior to cup starting. Finished 10 for 16 in bracket selections, won 5 of my 7 playoff pools & finished 2nd in 2, unfortunately 2nd in the most expensive snake draft pool. Needed StL to get by SJ lost by 8 points but a winner take all format. Bummer.
I don’t know if I would ultimately claim that the “east isn’t that weak after all.” Sharks had to go through LA, NSH & STL to get to the final and just appeared to be out of gas by the time the cup came around. I too picked an Eastern Conference team to win the cup this year (albeit TBL) for that reason alone
I am thinking that Rutherford should hold onto MAF to see how Murray comes back next season. If he has a sophomore slump then you have MAF to step in. If Murray takes off where he left off this season then you trade MAF before the trade freeze in December were. Just my opinion.
I agree. I like Murray and what he has done is incredible! Patrik Lalime and Jim Carey come to mind.
I’m not saying Murray looks to go in that direction…. But neither did the above mentioned.
You just really never know with goaltenders.
Ah yeah, good old Jim Carey. lol
Blaine Lacher, Michael Leighton.
Steve Penny, Bob Mason
Just a reminder to those of us who are superstitious the Pens touched the Prince of Wales trophy.
Nor did they grow “superstition” beards to the extent that they looked like skating advertisements for Smith Brothers cough-drops or a hockey version of baseball’s House Of David! Lafleur was right in calling those ridiculous beards a “disgrace.”
Man I hope Cullen comes back for one more year!
I’d trade Rask for can Ragu right now! Always blames his defense Tummy ache( over eating wings night before)before most important game of the season! Over rated over paid Hate the guy!
I wouldn’t read to much into the Leafs signing Stamkos or trading for an established goalie and such, Lou and Brendan have been loud and clear,stock up on young players and draft picks, rid of contracts and continue the rebuild. As I have stated before, its Lou and helm and no one ever predicts what he does. I bet more players out and have less players on contracts as he did with the Islanders.
I agree, but some folks just have not learned their lesson.
When was Lou with the Islanders?
Was referring to the trade he did with the Islanders by dumping off about 4 or contracts prior to the season
Dream on of Fleury being a Hurricane. Ron Francis is getting rid of a 31yr old goalie why would he take another high cap number 31yr old Goalie? with Andersen & Reimer/Greiss available and the cap $$$ to outbid any other team? sorry not happening.
I agree, the hurricanes have so many issues and imo, so far from contending it just makes little to no sense from either side.
GeorgeO, wrong chara and spezza for yashin was way worse than the forsberg deal. especially when you count the contract milbury then gave yashin of 10 years 87.5 million which even now 15 years later is still outrageous
the forsberg deal isnt even close to Molbury at his worst
I agree Bill – but if you scroll back you’ll see it wasn’t me who mentioned the Forsberg deal.
true, not many can say they traded a #1 Center and A #1 defenseman for a guy whose contract was bought out
TO needs a young goalie (25 or younger) with potential or some proven experience. Signing Stamkos might speed up the rebuild just because he is an excellent player. The key is stick with the plan and if the team improves to make the playoffs that is still the planned rebuild. Trading for young pros like Barrie is still sticking with the plan. The Leafs have prospects and picks to go after any trade they want but I expect Lou to do some unexpected moves this summer.
When a team with a certain style wins the cup then other teams go in that direction. The Wings stay with their direction and I see the Penguins as playing that style. The Sharks were big and fast but did not move the puck quick. They also hit everyone they could but if the puck isn’t there you can’t hit the player.
No team is going to take Rask unless the Bruins keep salary. The days of the seven million dollar goalkeeper is gone except for Price. Bishop won’t get more than six if he becomes a free agent.
If you want to look at bad trades what do the Bruins have left for Thorton, Kessell, Seguin and Hamilton?
I am a Leaf fan but decided that because they were rebuilding I would adopt a team from each conference to cheer for once playoffs started. I picked Ducks and Penguins. I sure looked stupid in December. Not so bad today? Now people know what Kessell is capable of. I am happy for him because he was never appreciated in TO. Neither was Phaneuf.
Lol. Adopted a new team? As a life long NY Jets fan , that almost seems appealing to me.
Hahaha. I’ve been close several times. Ironically in 3 of the trades Boston made that Tugboat identified above, Thornton, Seguin & Hamilton. Not that they were necessarily traded but that they weren’t properly marketed before being traded nor did they necessarily get full & proper value in any of them.
Tugboat. The last asset from the Thornton trade just signed in the KHL, Khokhlachev. From the Seguin trade we have Morrow, Hayes & the roster spot & cap space moving Savard & Smith to get Hayes provided; essentially became Belesky. The assets from the Hamilton trade were all futures & years from being NHL regulars.
To Dallas.. Marc-Andre \Fleury and Chris Kunitz
To Pittsburgh ..Antti Niemi and Valeri Nichushkin and Ian Cole
Done do it
I mean Cole to Dallas!! OOPS!!
If the Leafs were smart, they’d do a deal for Pickard from the Avalanche. The kid is very underrated and is much cheaper and younger than other options. Huge upside. They also should trade for a future Martin Hanzal big guy type center in Oskar Sundqvist.
I actually don’t feel pens have a serious cap issue. Kunitz is officially over the hill and they can probably move hiM and his last year of 3.875 (although probably not for much). Dupuis won’t retire for the same reason pronger, savaRd, and Horton won’t, he’s gonna get paid. So they will get that 3.75 of relief on ltir either way. Then there’s fluery at 5.75. The possibility of shedding 13.5 mill for 3 players who didn’t contribute much to the cup is pretty enticing for them. They should get at least 1 decent asset for fleury but maybe not much more than a 4th for kunitz. Either way I don’t see either one of them being extremely difficult to move.