The Pittsburgh Penguins have been most active team prior to the NHL trade deadline on April 1. Not only did they add veteran forward, Brendan Morrow, from Dallas and defenseman, Doug Murray, from San Jose, they robbed the Boston Bruins of the coveted, Jerome Iginla, Calgary's long-time captain and dangerous goal-scorer.
Following these moves, most comments in the hockey world were of the tone of "the rich get richer" and "why did they even need him". These points are very valid especially since the Penguins are in the midst of a very long winning streak. However, I would argue that the Pens needed to make these moves and stack their deck as much as possible, in an attempt to win the Stanley Cup this year.
Time may be running out on the Penguins. As of right now, the Penguins have four players who will be under contract at the end of next season. Those players are superstar Sidney Crosby, goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, forward James Neal and defenseman Paul Martin. The scariest part of this, is that some of their best players will be in search of larger contracts. The NHL salary cap is decreasing next year from $70 million to $63 million. A quick note on Crosby's contract is that it will boost from $7.5 million this year to $12 million in each of the following seasons
Iginla, Murray and Morrow are likely just rentals for this season and both will hit the free-agent market this summer. It is possible that they resign, but it could be costly. Pascal Dupuis and Matt Cooke could also be free agents come July 1. Tyler Kennedy is a restricted free agent, so the Pens will likely need to up his pay as well. Even without these players, the Pens will still be one of the premier teams in the league next year.
Following next season is when things could go downhill. Evgeni Malkin makes $9 million this season, but his salary drops to $7.5 million next season. Malkin will most likely look for a contract competitive with Crosby's. The Pens best defenseman is Kris Letang is an absolute bargain at his current $3.5 million per season. So you can pretty much expect an increase in his salary as well. Besides those two world class players, you can add Brooks Orpik, Chris Kunitz and backup (?) goaltender Tomas Vocuon to that list.
Crosby may actually be part of the reason for the urgency of general manager Ray Shero. Crosby is an amazing player. I am not a Pens fan and I don't like when Crosby whines, but I can appreciate his skill. There are only a few players that can do what he does and most of them are already in the Hall of Fame. But....Crosby is injury prone and the Penguins had a huge scare over the past few seasons, when it was uncertain that Crosby would ever play again. One more concussion could end his career.
Even with all these moves, the Stanley Cup is not a certainty. Injuries have already began to strike as the season is winding down. Crosby broke his jaw and is likely out the remainder of the regular season. Martin and Letang are both on the injured reserve list. Letang has spent time on the IR on three occasions already this season (the only reason I know this is because he is on my fantasy hockey team). Martin is out 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist.
The Stanley Cup is the hardest championship to win in sports. Right now the Pens look like the team to beat and they keep adding key players to the mix, but things could change quickly. The Pens were a favorite last year and were bounced in the first round to the hated Philadelphia Flyers. Plus, no one expected the Los Angeles Kings to win it last year, after sneaking in the playoffs as an eight seed.
The Pens look very good right now, but I feel they may need to the Cup soon, because their time of being the team to beat may be coming to an end sooner than later.
~Brad
