It hasn’t been a pleasant off-season for the Penguins in some respects as they are starting to pay the price for all that young talent. They lost, or threw away, hometown hero Ryan Malone who went on to sign a 7-year deal with the very busy and freshly deconstructed Tampa Bay Lightning. They lost Malone for a number of reasons not the least of which was the fact that they spent most of the free agent period focusing exclusively on speedy winger Marian Hossa, whom they’d acquired at the trade deadline. Sidney Crosby had gone on record saying he didn’t want to start this coming season the way he’d started the previous, which is without a true scoring winger. He was essentially looking for the Jaromir Jagr to his Mario Lemieux or the Jari Kurri to his Wayne Gretzky.

Despite the pressure being applied by the young captain the Penguins had to be careful. It’s always been Pittsburgh’s plan to retain and preserve the powerful nucleus that is Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jordan Staal and Marc-Andre Fleury. Both Malkin and Staal will be due new contracts next year while Fleury needs one now. This prevents the Penguins from being particularly aggressive and their antiquated building, one of the oldest in the league, also limits their ability to turn a profit. With this in mind, the Penguins offered Marian Hossa a long-term deal, reportedly around 7 years, for a little over $7 million a season. This was less than he would get on the open market but Hossa had stated that he wanted to stay and that he wanted to be on a winning team. Surprisingly, Hossa asked Pittsburgh’s management to give him time just to see what the open market would bring. The Penguins, trusting like a small child with a questionable stranger, obliged.

The result was, to Penguins fans and management, a slap in the face as Marian Hossa ultimately took less money for a one-year deal to sign with the very team that had eliminated them in the Stanley Cup finals only a few months earlier, the Detroit Red Wings. Now, I don’t necessarily begrudge Hossa for his decision. Right now, they’re the best team in hockey and he kept true to his word in that he wanted to win and it wasn’t about money. There were a number of reports claiming that Edmonton Oilers were offering $9 million plus for 7-8 years and yet Hossa took less money to go to a team that, at least on paper, should be battling for the cup again next year.

My problem with the Hossa situation has nothing to do with Hossa but everything to do with Pittsburgh’s management. Why, on earth, would you allow Hossa to go to free agency and still put everything, and everyone, else on the backburner? Doing so cost them shots at more productive wingers like Michael Ryder and Radim Vrbata. The Penguins should have given Hossa a deadline and moved on without him when it wasn’t met. They may have found that they got a different result or at least would have had a better shot at higher caliber replacements. Instead, they were left with the poor man’s version of the consolation prize with Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko.

It’s not all bad news though as the Penguins were somehow, despite reports of him clashing with Michel Therrien, able to lock up the hard-hitting Brooks Orpik to a six-year $22.5 million contract. Orpik was a monster in the playoffs for the Penguins and his take-no-prisoners approach to dealing out punishment is unique amongst a defensive core built around puck movement and the transition game. The Penguins also signed Evgeni Malkin to a five years worth $43.5 million contract, which is nearly identical to the contract Sidney Crosby signed last year. The Penguins also secured another important, if not vital, piece of the nucleus when they announced that Marc-Andre Fleury had signed a new seven-year deal worth $35 million. However, getting Jordan Staal resigned is going to be more difficult as he’s reportedly looking to play a more offensive role, something that is difficult when guys’ named Malkin and Crosby play in front of you.

The team appears to have some stability moving forward, something that’s desperately needed after an off-season that showed a number of fan-favorites the door, I’m looking at you Jarkko Ruutu. Speaking of agitators the Penguins did make another signing yesterday when they snagged Ruutu’s former linemate Matt Cooke and brought him into the fold for two-years. He plays a similar game but has more offensive upside and is an effective penalty killer. He was one of the players I was quietly hoping to see in Pittsburgh and I think he’s going to be a valuable piece of the team moving forward. In fact, I’ll make a bold prediction and say that he’ll get close to his career best in goals (15 goals in 2002-03) playing with Jordan Staal on the third line. He should consistently play more minutes than Ruutu.

The last signing the Penguins made is a very interesting one and it’s a name few in the US have heard before. Janne Pesonen, a left wing currently in the SM-Liga, has signed a one-year two-way deal with the Penguins. Little is known about Pesonen other than the basic stats. He’s 26 years old, 5-11, 180lbs, shoots left and was originally drafted by the Ducks in the fourth round of the 04 draft. Like many players in the Elite Leagues overseas, he seemed to develop a bit later than expected and has been tearing up that league for the last few seasons. Last season he scored 34 goals and added 44 assists in only 56 games. The scouting report on him claims that he’s got great speed and tremendous hands, two things that we’ve come to expect from players coming out of the Elite Leagues. In fact, some scouts have claimed that he’s better than the highly sought after Fabian Brunnstrom, who signed with the Dallas Stars a few months ago. The level of competition overseas is higher than most developmental leagues in the US or Canada so he may be able to jump right in, but the game is a bit different. It’s played on international ice rinks, I believe, and, as a result, emphasizes skating and transition. In fact, a number of NHL players who went overseas to play during the lockout were sent home due to “poor conditioning and skating ability.” They simply couldn’t keep up on that surface. It’ll certainly be interesting to see if he’s the real deal. It won’t take much for him to secure a spot on the top two lines as the Penguins are desperate for wingers with speed and a scoring touch. While few know his name now, the Penguins are quietly hoping that that won’t be the case for much longer.

Tags: Free Agency