Pens steal headlines with roster moves
Just when it looked like the Pirates were going to have the sports headlines all to themselves until the opening of Steelers training camp on July 25, here come the Penguins to grab the spotlight away in the Pittsburgh sports market. General Manager Jim Rutherford and his staff put together the first big personnel move of the NHL offseason that didn’t involve a coach changing benches.
In case you have been under a rock, or, like me, are not the biggest hockey fan on earth, the Pens managed to cross their biggest need/want off their offseason to-do list by acquiring 27-year-old Toronto star Phil Kessel in a trade that included six players and three draft picks. Kessel is coming off a 2014-15 campaign that saw him tally a team-high 61 points on 25 goals and 36 assists. Ironically, he tied Chicago’s Marian Hossa, another superstar the Penguins traded for in 2008, for 46th in the NHL scoring rankings.
Though Pittsburgh had to part with one of its top forward prospects (Kaspari Kapanen), as well as two other players, the franchise was able to hold on to highly-prized defensive prospects Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot. Many speculated that one or both of the young blueliners would have to be part of any significant deal. Rutherford proved those “experts” wrong.
Should Kessel flourish in the Steel City, as well as overcome a reputation for being a bit of a problem child in terms of his maturity, Pittsburgh may have added a piece that could return them to the Eastern Conference’s elite for years to come. The 27-year-old, who has already spent nine years in the league, still has five seasons left on his current deal.
While the team will need to do its usual shifting and shaking to make enough cap room to keep quality secondary players on the roster, Kessel’s addition could elevate Pittsburgh’s core of talent to the level of current Stanley Cup champion Chicago. If the team’s newest addition stays in the ‘Burgh for five years, the Penguins would feature Kessel, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andrew Fleury until 2019. Not too shabby.
Rutherford’s first impact maneuver in his current capacity illustrates a point that I feel isn’t discussed very often in the Pittsburgh sports world. While the Penguins aren’t afraid to partake in some high stakes wheeling and dealing that almost promises more immediate results in exchange for mortgaging the future, neither the Pirates or Steelers would dream of making a move of this caliber. Just imagine the Buccos packaging Jameson Taillon and Gregory Polanco while he was still considered an uber-prospect to the Marlins for Giancarlo Stanton two years ago.
However, there are good reasons for this type of move only working in the NHL. A deal like this is incredibly hard to make in the NFL because of a lack of a minor league system. A low-priced prospect that could transform into the face of a franchise is tantalizing bait for an organization looking to rebuild or gain financial flexibility. In the world of pro football, the draft and free agency make up the vast majority of all personnel moves and have for decades.
When it comes to baseball, the lack of a salary cap makes for an almost unconquerable class gap between the spenders and the developers of in-house talent. Basically, whoever has the most money gets the best players. If Major League Baseball rules were in place on the ice, whoever could suck up the biggest portion of Kessel’s salary likely would have landed the winger.
Perhaps this approach to personnel is why the Penguins have attracted a following with maybe the largest percentage of young fans among the three franchises. For a generation that has grown up with video game sports being a huge business, the Pens’ willingness to wheel and deal for big names almost seems like it could be done from someone’s Playstation or Xbox.
Older fans, like the one I am turning into, are more willing to wait on baseball prospects that are still two, three or four years away, or Steeler rookies that may take a season or two to make an impact on the gridiron. I could go into some rant about today’s youth and instant gratification, but I am out of space and it’s doubtful anyone wants to read a few more paragraphs that would make me sound more grizzled than I already am.