The Pittsburgh Penguins preseason came to a close on Wednesday night with a 2-0 victory over the Detroit Red Wings. The team finished the preseason with a 3-3 record, and finally got Sidney Crosby back on the ice for the finale.
On Thursday, they released forward Daniel Carcillo from his tryout agreement. The team still has 31 players on its roster. The league’s regular season maximum is 23, so Jim Rutherford, Mike Johnston, and their staffs will have some work to do to decide who will stay and who must go.
Not only will players’ preseason and training camp performances be a factor, but injuries, positional configuration, and the salary cap will determine which 23 players will still be in black and gold for the regular season opener Thursday night against Anaheim.
Here’s how the positions and players break down and who’s likely to stay and who could be headed out. The numbers in parentheses are salary cap figures in millions of dollars and provided by www.capgeek.com
GOALTENDER:
LIKELY IN: Marc-Andre Fleury (5), Thomas Greiss (1)
LIKELY OUT: Jeff Zatkoff (.6)
Rutherford brought in Thomas Greiss from Phoenix this offseason because he felt that the Penguins goaltending situation needed an upgrade. Greiss’ career statistics (.915 save pct., 2.43 GAA) suggest that not only is he an upgrade over Jeff Zatkoff, he could even push Marc-Andre Fleury for playing time if the latter struggles.
DEFENSE:
LIKLEY IN: Kris Letang (7.25), Paul Martin (5), Christian Ehrhoff (4), Rob Scuderi (3.375), Simon Despres (.9)
INJURED: Olli Maatta (.894), Robert Bortuzzo (.6)
ON THE BUBBLE: Brian Dumoulin (.832), Scott Harrington (.589), Taylor Chorney (.55)
The Penguins top four seems fairly set, with Kris Letang and Christian Ehrhoff skating as the top pair and Paul Martin and Rob Scuderi on the second pair. Injuries have complicated matters from there. Robert Bortuzzo and Olli Maatta are both injured. Bortuzzo will be unavailable for the first three weeks of the season. Maatta’s timeframe for return hasn’t been announced.
If Maatta is close to being able to play, he could make the team as the seventh defenseman, leaving Scott Harrington, Brian Dumoulin, and Taylor Chorney one spot between them. If Maatta isn’t close enough to playing, two of those three could make the team.
Bortuzzo’s salary will probably be placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR), which means that team will be able to exceed the salary cap as long as he is injured. Maatta’s readiness (he practiced Tuesday) seems to suggest that he will either be on the active roster or regular seven-day injured reserve, which means that his salary will count against the cap.
FORWARD:
LIKELY IN: Sidney Crosby (8.7), Patric Hornqvist (4.25), Chris Kunitz (3.85), Pascal Dupuis (3.75), Brandon Sutter (3.3), Nick Spaling (2.2), Marcel Goc (1.2), Steve Downie (1), Blake Comeau (.7)
INJURED: Evgeni Malkin (9.5), Beau Bennett (.9)
ON THE BUBBLE: Kasperi Kapanen (.925), Craig Adams (.7), Oskar Sundqvist (.701), Zach Sill (.55), Bobby Farnham (.55), Andrew Ebbett (.55)
The players listed as “likely in” above will combine to make $55.475 million leaving the Penguins with $13.525 million in cap space. Beau Bennett and Bortuzzo are almost certainly headed for the LTIR, so their salaries can be set them aside for now.
Craig Adams is probably safe as the team’s fourth line right-winger, but salary cap implications in addition to his declining play in recent years may have him in jeopardy of losing his roster spot. If Adams doesn’t make the team, it would be advantageous for the Penguins to try to trade him, because his cap hit will only be reduced by $100,000 if he plays in the minors.
The team has been tight-lipped about Evgeni Malkin’s injury, and with six days left before the opener, it is still unknown whether to expect him in the opening night lineup, on LTIR, or somewhere in between. Given that he has yet to practice, it seems unlikely that he will play next Thursday.
If Malkin’s salary must be accounted for under the salary cap, things get complicated for the team. Kasperi Kapanen is the most skilled of the remaining players, and could provide help for the injury-ravaged second line, but his salary is much higher than the other options at forward.
If Malkin’s $9.5 million cap hit is on the roster or injured reserve and he is unable to play, the team will have to scramble to find enough cap space to field a roster. If it comes down to it, Zach Sill, Bobby Farnham, Andrew Ebbett, and Taylor Chorney making the roster would save the team over $900,000 when compared to Brian Dumoulin, Kasperi Kapanen, Craig Adams and Oskar Sundqvist.
In the past, cap specialist and Assistant General Manager Jason Botterill has had to do some roster gymnastics to get the team under the cap and maximize the effect of LTIR. That seems likely to be the case again this season.
