The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed free agent left-winger Daniel Carcillo to a professional tryout contract.
Originally drafted by the Penguins but traded while he was still in the minors, Carcillo played 57 games with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers last season, scoring only four goals and one assist. His career high in points is just 24, achieved seven years ago with Phoenix.
His possession stats don’t suggest that he is due for a huge gain in scoring, either, with a middle-of-the-road 50.5 Corsi-for percentage in 2013-14.
Carcillo is certainly better known for his antics than his scoring. His twitter handle, @CarBombBoom13, describes his style of play with fair accuracy.
He was suspended for six games in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals after elbowing a linesman in the head. That was after being suspended three times for a total of 11 games in the 2011-12 season. He also has 1179 career penalty minutes in just 390 games, for an average of over three penalty minutes per game.
For comparison, noted miscreant and former Penguins forward Matt Cooke’s career average is only 1.1. It’s immediately clear that he isn’t going help on the power play or replace James Neal’s scoring touch.
The team’s focus this offseason has been on improving the bottom-six forwards, and Carcillo certainly would fit in that group. However, General Manager Jim Rutherford has already acquired forwards Nick Spaling, Blake Comeau, Steve Downie, and Marcel Goc to go along with returnees Brandon Sutter and Craig Adams. The Penguins are also very close to the salary cap. Assuming that the team remains relatively healthy, the Penguins will have around $900,000 in cap space after their 12 already-signed forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders. That’s enough room for one more player, but not two.
Carcillo will then be competing for that final roster spot with Jayson Megna, Zack Sill, and Adam Payerl, among others. All of those players are younger than Carcillo, and provide many similar, if not superior, skills. Megna has better possession and scoring statistics, Payerl is bigger, and Sill is tougher. All three of them have played center and wing in the past, providing position flexibility. Payerl and Megna can also be sent down without having to clear waivers, which would provide roster flexibility.
Carcillo’s past has shown that he can be a liability in terms of penalties and suspensions. That liability has also been shown to come with very little upside in scoring or possession. The good news for the Penguins is that there’s no risk in a tryout. If Carcillo can play smart, disciplined hockey, there’s no reason that he couldn’t be an asset to the team. If he can’t, the Penguins will have lost nothing in finding out.
Photo Credit: USA Today Sports
