Just a few quick thoughts on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
We have really reached the slow point in the offseason and I have a few random Pittsburgh Penguins thoughts rolling around in my head that are probably not enough for a full article on their own, so we are just going to talk about them briefly in one spot.
I don’t know if “dull” is the right word to use, but it feels like it is the right word to use because there has not really been anything significant to move the needle for the Penguins this offseason.
For the better part of the past two decades the Penguins have not only been in a win-now mode, they have consistently been at the center of the NHL universe and always in the market for a blockbuster move or major change. Either somebody is getting extended, or signed, or hired or re-signed, or traded for to try and put them over the top.
But this offseason?
There has been nothing of the sort.
No general manager or head coaching changes.
No long-term free agent signings, with the longest deal being signed this offseason being just two years.
No blockbuster trades, with the biggest moves being the deal that sent Reilly Smith to the New York Rangers and the acquisition of Kevin Hayes in a salary dump trade with the St. Louis Blues.
No new top-line forwards or top-four defensemen joining the team.
There has not even been, to this point, a new long-term contract extension for anybody (though that could change at any moment if and when Sidney Crosby signs his next contract).
It’s not really necessarily about any missed opportunities, either. It is just the nature of where the Penguins currently are.
After being a constant Stanley Cup contender, it is a lesson in how so many other teams have spent their offseasons in recent years. And it is really boring.
Maybe it means something. Maybe it doesn’t. It probably doesn’t. But we are a couple of weeks out from when Crosby and the Penguins were apparently “nearing” a new contract extension, and as of Thursday there has still been no new contract extension actually signed.
That does not necessarily mean something is wrong, or that something went wrong, or that Crosby does not want to re-sign here.
I just find it all ... interesting.
The previous two times Crosby signed contract extensions he did so almost as soon as he was eligible to sign them (July 7, 2008; June 28, 2012), quickly agreeing to $8.7 million salary cap numbers.
Given the ease of those previous deals, as well as the salary number that seemed to be set in stone, I just figured this would be a quick and easy negotiation that would get wrapped up early in the offseason.
We are almost into August and there has not only not been anything signed, things have also become relatively quiet on that horizon.
And it is not like there have been a lot of other pressing issues for the Penguins front office to deal with over the past few weeks because there really has not been anything else done.
I am not saying it will not get done. I am just saying this is taking way longer than I anticipated, and until something actually gets signed it is going to remain a curious situation. Especially given the uncertain nature of what direction the Penguins want to go in.
As slow and dull as the offseason has been for the Penguins overall, Bunting is one relatively new player that I am intrigued to see over a full season.
He was acquired as part of the Jake Guentzel trade at the deadline and made an immediate impact, scoring 19 points (six goals, 13 assists) in his first 21 games with the team. While I was originally underwhelmed with his inclusion in the deal, his style of play quickly won me over because he brought an element the Penguins have been lacking in their forward group since the departures of Patric Hornqvist and Chris Kunitz. He is basically the type of cage-rattling, chaos-producing, fecal-stirrer that can get under the skin of opposing players and collect the type of garbage goals the Penguins have been lacking.
They need that.
And I think over a full season he has a chance to do really well with the Penguins, especially if he gets an opportunity to play alongside Crosby over the course of a full season.
I could see his style of play translating into a career year with just a littie bit of puck luck and the right opportunity.
He is not technically a “new” addition since he spent a quarter of the season with the Penguins a year ago, but getting him for a full season is going to bring a different type of element.
I could see him pushing 30 goals this season.
