The Pittsburgh Penguins made an offer to Vladimir Tarasenko, but he signed with the Detroit Red Wings. In hindsight, would it have been the right move?
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a handful of moves this offseason, trading Reilly Smith and signing Matt Grzelcyk and Blake Lizotte while retooling the farm team.
However, General Manager Kyle Dubas made a play for two-time Stanley Cup champion Vladimir Tarasenko.
On paper, a multiple-time titlist would make sense since that level of veteran leadership would be only shared with a few other players in the dressing room, like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust, the only ones remaining from the last franchise win in 2017.
At 32, Tarasenko was among the more sought-after free agents for the second consecutive summer. But, unlike last summer when he sat on the market for 26 days, the Detroit Red Wings signed him on July 3 for $4.75 million.
For those keeping score at home, the Penguins only have $3,524,233 left in cap space, which means that Tarasenko had priced himself out of Pittsburgh and that the Red Wings may have overpaid the Russian winger.
He is still a productive player with 105 points in the past 145 games with four franchises, the St. Louis Blues, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and Florida Panthers.
But is he worth close to $5 million a season, or are teams paying him for his veteran presence?
After skating in the postseason in the last two campaigns, Tarasenko has tallied 13 points in 31 games, with eight goals and five assists.
Interestingly, with 55 points in the regular season, split between Ottawa and Florida, he would have been the Penguins' fifth leading scorer behind Crosby (94), Malkin (67), Rust (56), and Erik Karlsson (56).
He missed six games in 2023-24 and 26 games over the past three seasons after skating in only 34 from 2019 to 2021 while dealing with a shoulder injury.
Acquiring a player of Tarasenko's caliber would inject some energy into the Penguins fanbase and indicate that management is willing to remain a contender in Crosby's twilight years.
Yet, due to cap constraints from decisions made by former GM Ron Hextall and now Dubas, Pittsburgh has limited funds to pursue high-priced free agents.
However, the Penguins dodged a bullet on Tarasenko because if he had been brought in for 2024-25, this might have caused more problems later on.
If the team couldn't contend or were barely clinging to a wildcard spot, they could consider moving Tarasenko and having to eat a portion of his contract, like Smith and Jeff Petry.
Currently, Pittsburgh is paying $3.7 million to players who no longer skate with the club, which would have been more than enough to offer him a reasonable contract a few days ago.
As Dubas continues to balance the books and try his best to fill in the lineup holes and hope that the Penguins can have a better season in 2024-25, signing Tarasenko would have complicated things in the long run, even if he put up 50 points.
Former NHL GM Brian Burke often gripped about teams overpaying players on July 1, and Dubas didn't jump the gun on one player, instead spreading out the money to keep the core intact and finding supporting pieces to complement them.
Considering that Pittsburgh has one of the oldest lineups in the league, they don't need more players in their 30s but impactful skaters in their mid-to-late 20s who can bridge the gaps when the current core departs or retire.
Ultimately, we won't know how all these signings will work out until April 2025. But in hindsight, not acquiring Tarasenko won't be the difference between winning and losing.