Adam Proteau says the Pittsburgh Penguins should upgrade their bottom six forwards and find a reliable backup goalie to improve their grip on the playoffs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently in a delicate position in the NHL standings.
With 63 standings points in 56 games, they’re occupying the ninth-overall spot in the Eastern Conference, and they’re one point out of the second wild-card spot held by the Florida Panthers after holding the first wild card Monday morning.
But they are only two points behind and have four games in hand on the New York Islanders in the first wild card. They’re also just one point ahead of the 10th-place Washington Capitals and three points ahead of the 11th-place Buffalo Sabres and 12th-place Detroit Red Wings. The Penguins have two games in hand on the Caps, and four games in hand on the Panthers.
To say any team has a firm hold on a playoff slot would be untrue, although the Penguins have the best win percentage of the bunch. This is why Pittsburgh’s next bunch of games is so crucial to its post-season aspirations this year.
When you look at the Penguins’ next 10 games, you see that the schedule-maker hasn’t done them many favors. After Monday's 4-2 loss to the Islanders, Pittsburgh has seven games against legitimate playoff contenders – two games against Tampa Bay, one more against the Islanders and one matchup with the New York Rangers, Panthers, Nashville Predators and Edmonton Oilers. Only three of the Penguins’ 10 games are against teams they should defeat: Columbus, St. Louis and Philadelphia.
Complicating matters for the Penguins is they’re almost capped out on the salary-cap front.
As per CapFriendly, they have $1.225 million in cap space now and at the NHL’s March 3 trade deadline, but they're projected to have $18,430 by the end of the season. In all likelihood, they have to go dollar-in and dollar-out on the trade front, and they don’t have many fringe assets that would interest other teams.
In essence, that puts them out of the race for rumored trade targets like San Jose winger Timo Meier and Arizona defenseman Jakob Chychrun.
That said, the Pens should be able to make a deal that improves their bottom six forwards. Bringing a veteran like Coyotes center Nick Bjugstad or Anaheim pivot Nick Bonino back for a second stint in Pittsburgh would help them in that respect, and it wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg. Penguins GM Ron Hextall would probably have to surrender a third-or-lower-round draft pick for Bjugstad and a fifth-rounder or lower for Bonino.
But there’s an argument to be made that the Pens are most in need of a veteran goaltender. Playing in place of injured No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry, longtime backup Casey DeSmith posted a subpar 10-12-4 record .904 save percentage and 3.28 goals-against average. Although Jarry returned for Monday’s tilt against the Islanders, DeSmith just doesn’t seem like a reliable above-average performer and insurance policy in case Jarry is injured again.
The good news is some solid veteran options between the pipes could come in and support Jarry: Arizona’s Karel Vejmelka, San Jose’s James Reimer and Columbus’ Joonas Korpisalo are available, and only Vejmelka is under contract beyond this season. All those goalies would be upgrades on DeSmith, who is signed through the 2023-24 season and could have that final year of his contract bought out. But it may take some creativity to make a deal for a goalie fit under the cap, and that’s on Hextall to make it work.
We know the Penguins’ aged core still has fight left in it, but they will need more than that to outlast the five teams they’re currently battling against for one of the wild-card berths. A trade may cost them a first-round draft pick, but they have all three of their first-rounders in the next three seasons, and they’re in win-now mode, so Hextall could peel off one of his top draft picks if necessary.
Standing pat for the rest of the season doesn’t seem like an ideal direction for Pittsburgh. They don’t need a superstar to be added to their lineup, but they do need some tinkering and depth moves. It’s incumbent on Hextall to get that job done by March 3.