July 1, 2015
Podcast: All Kessel on 105.9 the X with Madden
Here’s the podcast of my weekly appearance on 105.9 the X with Mark Madden, all of which was, not surprisingly, focused on the Phil Kessel trade.
Pittsburgh Penguins
July 1, 2015
Penguins wrap up Russian winger Plotnikov
The Penguins have signed Russian winger Sergei Plotnikov to a one-year, entry-level contract. His background was covered in great detail on our site last week.
Phil Kessel scored 25 goals with a minus-34 rating last season for the Maple Leafs. -- GETTY
July 1, 2015
Penguins acquire Kessel for prospects, pick
The Penguins have acquired star winger Phil Kessel from the Maple Leafs for two prospects, right winger Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman Scott Harrington, and a draft pick.
The pick hasn’t yet been disclosed, and there’s also no immediate word on cash changing hands. But the glaring aspect of this trade at first glance is that Jim Rutherford was able to get his No. 1 target from Toronto without giving up either of the two defensemen the Maple Leafs truly coveted, Olli Maatta or Derrick Pouliot. Kapanen looks like a promising talent up front, so that’s a serious loss for an organization that has almost none of that in the younger age bracket. Harrington has potential, as well, though most in the front office expressed over the past year that he’d fallen behind Brian Dumoulin.
Kessel, 27, has been one of the most highly productive wingers in the NHL for half a decade now, with 247 goals and 520 points in 668 games. He was a 30-goal scorer in his past five full NHL seasons up until this past one, when he had 25 in 82 games, as well as a minus-34 rating for the last-place Maple Leafs. He’s also been strikingly durable, not having missed a game in six years.
Update 1:15 p.m. from Josh: It would appear that Rutherford forced the Maple Leafs to cave a bit. This isn’t much different from what the Penguins offered at the draft. And really, this has the potential to be a marvelous deal for the Penguins. Scouts are very divided on Kapanen. Harrington will be a solid NHL player, but he’s no Olli Maatta. And Kessel never played with a talented center in Toronto. That won’t be a problem any longer. The Penguins did give up a first-round pick in this deal, but they aren’t worried about the future. They want to win now.
Blake Comeau scored 16 goals in 2014-15 but missed a quarter of the season to a broken wrist. -- GETTY
July 1, 2015
Penguins lose Martin, Comeau, Downie, more
NHL free agency opens at noon, and the Penguins’ clear plan is to allow all of their players in the unrestricted category — notably Paul Martin, Christian Ehrhoff and Blake Comeau — to test the open market, though Jim Rutherford has made equally clear his hope that at least Comeau will return.
Beyond that?
Remains to be seen, obviously, though Josh Yohe and I will follow the process all through the day and night, including staying in touch with the local franchise’s front office for tips.
To repeat from Josh’s reporting earlier in the week, Michael Frolik, formerly of Winnipeg, will be the Penguins’ top target in free agency, though there remains the strong — maybe very strong — possibility that they’ll also continue pursuing trades, all in hopes of adding a top-six winger or two.
Update 11:42 a.m. from Josh: It’s almost noon, so action is about to heat up. I’m hearing the Penguins are very much interested in Alexander Semin, which I’m sure will create a mixed reaction from fans, should such a signing be made. At least Rutherford wouldn’t figure to give him $7 million per season this time.
July 1, 2015
Morning Java: Call the Property Brothers
This week’s Morning Java is lowlighted — right up front, no less — by the most unfortunate of fashion coincidences. And yes, that’s all it was, just a coincidence. No jokes will be tolerated at our expense.
Brandon Saad raises the Stanley Cup during the Blackhawks' parade earlier this month. -- GETTY
June 30, 2015
News/views: Saad to Columbus in mega-deal
News: Brandon Saad to Columbus. Yes, really.
Views: Did not see that coming. But then, judging by the surprise level across the hockey world, it would seem no one else did, either.
Here’s the full deal: Saad and two propects, defenseman Michael Paliotta and center Alex Broadhurst, go to the Blue Jackets, and the Blackhawks get forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp and a 2016 fourth-round draft pick.
For Saad, of whom it now easily can be stated that he’s the greatest hockey player ever to emerge from the Pittsburgh area, it’s a chance to play only a three-hour drive from home, as well as a chance to join a burgeoning group of power forwards in Columbus. And that latter point can’t be stressed strongly enough, especially with the Blue Jackets being in the Penguins’ division: Saad joining Ryan Johansen, Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and others makes them formidable.
Alexander Semin scored six goals while the Hurricanes paid him $7 million last season. -- GETTY
June 30, 2015
On Penguins and Semin, Comeau and more
DETROIT — ‘Tis the season for big names in free agency to be associated with the Penguins, and the clock on the NHL’s open market as a whole strikes at noon Wednesday. Here’s what I’ve learned in the past few hours, but please keep checking throughout the night, as this will be updated:
• The Penguins are interested in Alexander Semin, but only on their terms. It is well known that Jim Rutherford has been previously seduced by Semin’s talent, having signed him to a five-year, $35 million extension in Carolina in 2013. He certainly wasn’t worth that, producing only 41 goals in three seasons and just six in 2014-15, which is why Ron Francis today announced the Hurricanes will buy out Semin’s remaining three years at a still-heavy cost of $14 million. The Penguins, like everyone else, have the opportunity to sign him at a greatly reduced rate. And they are considering it, but only on a short-term basis. If Semin is willing to play cheap — the Penguins would prefer a one-year deal, giving him a chance to prove himself without giving him a chance to destroy another team’s cap situation — it could happen. One member of the Penguins’ organization told me interest in Semin is “so-so.” In other words, if he’ll play cheap, he’s a maybe. The Penguins would likely play Semin on a line with Evgeni Malkin.
Pedro Alvarez, the No. 2 overall pick in the same 2009 draft when Buster Posey went fifth. -- GETTY
June 30, 2015
Tuesday 10 Qs: Gayo, Frolik, Art II, Polanco, Olli
Thanks to all who submitted Qs, and without any ado whatsoever …
cdbrewer: Is the Pirates’ front office getting what they should out of the draft? Are we not making a deal of their draft failure because of breaking the streak, making the playoffs, foreign signings and previous front office draftees?
I live in San Francisco and the Giants have drafted Buster Posey, Madison Bumgarner, Joe Panik, Brandon Crawford, Chris Heston, Matt Duffy … and they aren’t drafting really early obviously. Maybe that is exceptional, but the Cardinals seem to do pretty well, too.
DK: Well, for fairest context, Posey was drafted fifth overall and Bumgarner 10th overall, and those are the two best of the fine San Francisco players you cited there. So those were very early.
But it sounds like we’re certainly on the same page in this regard: The only meaningful evaluations of any draft is how many players get to the majors and how many have an impact. Dissect all the Baseball America rankings you want, but they don’t mean a whit compared to getting it done in the bigs.
Tom Fitzgerald, center, and Bill Guerin welcome top draft pick Daniel Sprong on Saturday in Sunrise. -- GETTY
June 29, 2015
Josh’s Good Dudes: Tom Fitzgerald, Penguins
Welcome to a new feature I’ll write every Monday about the “good dudes” of the Pittsburgh sports world.
People commonly ask about athletes with whom I come in contact, and whether or not they’re good people. The truth is, most of them are. Not all of them, of course, but the majority of people around the Steelers, Penguins, Pirates and our other teams are likable enough human beings.
But there also are certain guys and gals who go above and beyond. Those are the people I’ll choose to feature prominently every Monday.
Our first-ever good dude: Tom Fitzgerald, assistant GM of the Penguins.
Phil Kessel had 25 goals but a minus-34 rating for the Maple Leafs last season. -- GETTY
July 1, 2015
Column: Rutherford crushes it, top shelf
by Dejan Kovacevic • Columns • Penguins
It really isn’t that complicated.
I mean, sure it’s a minor miracle that the management teams of the Penguins and Maple Leafs consummated this mammoth Phil Kessel trade Wednesday, one of the most seismic in both franchises’ histories, one in which a wholly legit NHL megastar changed hands, as well as five other players, three draft picks, a mess of lawyer-ese conditions attached to those, and the meticulous division of tens of millions on Kessel’s remaining tab.
Seriously, here’s that fine print on those picks alone, right from the official ledger:
This was, as Jim Rutherford described it to me at Consol Energy Center, “a hard month of talking to Toronto, a hard day at the draft, a hard few hours from last night to today.”
READ MORE / COMMENT