The Penguins added some bite to their bottom six. But they now might have to sacrifice a veteran player — perhaps another Cup-winning fan favorite — to fit it in.
Shortly after NHL free agency began at noon Monday, the Penguins signed veteran winger Brandon Tanev to a six-year contract with an average annual value of $3.5 million.
The feisty forward, who is listed at 6 feet and 180 pounds, seems like a good bet to help the Penguins accomplish their stated goal of becoming more difficult to play against.
Last season, Tanev, playing for Winnipeg, finished third in the NHL with 278 hits. Jets coach Paul Maurice this spring called Tanev a “fantastic” penalty-killer. And the 27-year-old also received a vote for the Selke Trophy, which is awarded to the NHL’s top defensive forward.
“We’re really happy about it. Everybody in the organization thinks very highly of him,” general manager Jim Rutherford said of the signing. “He’s a really good skater. He’s a good penalty killer. He’s a guy that when he’s playing makes [his] team harder to play against.”
He can contribute a little offensively, too. Last season, the left-shot winger played a career-high 80 games for the Jets and finished with career highs with 14 goals and 29 points.
“I think I’m a very physical, fast and tenacious player,” Tanev said on a conference call. “I look forward to bringing that style of play to the Pittsburgh Penguins."
Tanev, a Toronto native, played at Providence College and scored the game-winning goal in the national championship in 2015. After going undrafted, he joined the Jets in 2016. In 195 career games over three-plus seasons, he has 24 goals, 27 assists and a plus-16 rating.
“He’s made himself into a player. He’s worked hard at it. Some guys develop later in their career,” Rutherford said. “One of the things we like about him is his character and how hard he works. He’s one of those guys that had to work hard to get to where he’s gotten.”
Adding Tanev along with a pair of former centers expected to play on the wing in Pittsburgh, Alex Galchenyuk and Dominik Kahun, gives coach Mike Sullivan more options for his top three lines. Last season, the Penguins too often only had one or two lines clicking at once.
But the commitment of $21 million over six seasons is a lot for a role player who has never topped 30 points in a season. Pointing to Tanev’s age and the way the winger “takes care of himself,” Rutherford said he isn’t worried about the salary or the length of the contract.
“It’s the way things work on July 1, [the first day of free agency],” Rutherford said. “You either give the player close to what he wants or you don’t get the player. And we felt so strong about Tanev that we were willing to go as far as we had to go to make sure we got him.”
But given that the Penguins now have about $1.6 million in salary cap space after signing Tanev, with deals for restricted free agents still left to be finalized, Rutherford acknowledged that the Penguins likely must shed some more salary to eventually become cap compliant.
“There’s a good chance we will have to make another move,” Rutherford said.
He would likely opt to trade another forward to free up the necessary cap space.
Veteran forwards with significant salaries include Bryan Rust, a clutch contributor during their back-to-back Stanley Cup champion squads who got a new deal last summer, and Nick Bjugstad, who was not as productive as they had hoped after they traded for him in February.
Patric Hornqvist has a $5.3 million cap hit but a full no-trade clause in his contract.
Rutherford added he is “comfortable” with the group of blue-liners currently under contract. Yes, that includes Jack Johnson, the team’s oft-criticized signing from last offseason.
"Can we make it better? Sure,” he said. “You can always make your defense better. I’m not saying it’s the best defense in the league. But it’s a solid defense. It’s good enough.”
The Penguins signed two others Monday to add organizational depth. They brought back defenseman David Warsofsky and added forward Andrew Agozzino on two-year contracts. Their two-way deals both carry an average annual value of $700,000 at the NHL level.
Rutherford indicated that those players will be given opportunities to win NHL jobs during training camp. If not, they could start the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.
Without much cap space, if any at all, to work with going forward, the next deal Rutherford could look to get done is with Sullivan. He is entering the final year of his contract.
Rutherford explained that improving the roster for Sullivan has thus far been the priority this offseason. He indicated he would like to hammer out an extension with his "terrific" head coach, but he also stopped short of saying that it will definitely get done before next season.
“He’s done a very good job here. He has good communication with the players," Rutherford said. "I would like to see him here long-term. But when I’ll get to that, I don’t know.”
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel
First Published: July 1, 2019, 4:15 p.m.
Updated: July 1, 2019, 8:23 p.m.