Throughout the offseason, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has talked about getting more balance throughout his lineup.
He’s halfway home.
With the framework of a deal in place to acquire defenseman Jack Johnson, the Penguins will likely have around $2 million to spend on a forward capable of improving their fourth line or bottom-six.
That’s the balance Rutherford has talked about — having four lines that are threats to either score a goal or change momentum — and here’s a couple of points on where they stand with everything.
The Penguins remain absolutely interested in adding another forward. But they’re not going to force anything.
“I’m not going to spend the money just to do it,” Rutherford said. “If there’s a guy that we like, we’re going to spend it. If not, we’re going to sit on it for awhile.”
One of the guys the Penguins like is Michael Grabner, an unrestricted free agent who will hit the open market Sunday.
The Penguins have met with Grabner, an industry source confirmed to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Thursday, and they remain very much interested in his services. (They also tried to land Grabner before the most recent trade deadline.)
Grabner is 30 years old and, along with Carl Hagelin, possesses some of the best wheels in hockey. He’s a terrific penalty killer and scored 27 goals in 80 games last season.
Problems arise with Grabner, however. He’s a right wing, and the Penguins are bubbling over with options there. And because of what he did last season, Grabner could easily price himself out of Pittsburgh.
It also might not be a great sell for Grabner that he’s going to be blocked by Phil Kessel, Patric Hornqvist and (likely) Daniel Sprong on the depth chart, not to mention Bryan Rust, who can play both sides.
Matt Cane of Hockey Graphs predicted Grabner will fetch upward of $3.8 million per season on his next contract, and that’s likely too rich for the Penguins’ blood. But they are doing their due diligence and checking on several options, the source said.
If the Penguins do feel strongly enough about something — say, Jeff Skinner in Carolina — they’d probably have to move left wing Hagelin to clear space and goaltender Tristan Jarry as a key piece of the trade that another team might want. (The Hurricanes need a young goalie.)
That, of course, could result in too much moving and shaking for a team that already feels pretty good about its depth.
Smarter, safer options might be players such as Tobias Rieder or Antoine Roussel to give their fourth line a little bit of grit while helping out on the PK. Patrick Maroon, because of his big body and ability to play with skilled players (Connor McDavid in Edmonton), could also be an option.
Rieder made $2,225,000 last year, while Roussel and Maroon carried cap hits of $2 million. If their soon-to-be cap numbers fall in that range, the Penguins could have a move to make.
But the key thing to remember here is the Penguins’ refusal to do anything drastic. They’re only going to pounce for the perfect option.
That’s something we learned with the Chris Kunitz talks. The Penguins talked about what they could offer in money and fit. Kunitz heard from other teams, too. The Penguins could stretch and match and do something uncomfortable for them, but that’s not quite how Rutherford operates.
Patience will be the proper approach. Even if it means waiting until 2018-19 season to find that perfect balance.
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Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: June 28, 2018, 3:53 p.m.
Updated: June 28, 2018, 4:01 p.m.