Niskanen Re-Signs
The Pens now have 6 defensemen on the NHL roster as they re-signed
Matt Niskanen to a 2 year deal with a cap hit of $2.3 million each
year. He will actually make $2.1 million
next year and $2.5 million the following year, a smart move with a potential
lockout looming as ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun noted.
Niskanen went from one of the most hated to one of the most loved
Penguins in the span of a year as he adjusted to and thrived in Bylsma’s quick
moving system.
Does Staal score this goal without Niski? No he doesn't. |
Analysis: My guess
was 2 years, $4.5 million total so I think it’s a solid deal! It falls right in line with a contract I had
mentioned on Friday’s podcast when Columbus defenseman Nikita Nikitin signed a
2 year, $4.3 million deal. I imagine
Niskanen wanted a longer deal and Shero probably would have liked a 1 year
deal, so they settled on two. When this
deal expires, many of the Pens young defensemen will be ready for the NHL, so
Niskanen will certainly have to play well in the second year of this deal to
stay in Pittsburgh.
Thiessen Re-Signs
After not being tendered a qualifying offer as a restricted
free agent, Brad
Thiessen still re-signed with the Penguins for 1 year on a two-way contract
that will pay him $525,000 at the NHL
level. Thiessen saw limited NHL time
last year while Brent Johnson was struggling/injured. He will likely start for the Baby Pens,
sitting 3rd on the depth chart behind Fleury and Vokoun.
Thiessen will face tougher opponents in the AHL than he did in the NHL last year. |
Analysis: I am quite
surprised Thiessen is back after the Pens signed Vokoun and acquired 3 goalies
last weekend (2 drafted, 1 via trade with Phoenix). But at the NHL minimum, he does bring a
plethora of AHL experience and success, along with some NHL experience if
Fleury or Vokoun get hurt. This will probably be his last year with the franchise I would think.
Parise Watch
With less than 24 hours to go until Free Agency opens up,
Parise watch is in full swing. He will
be with his agent in Ontario tomorrow basically fielding
offers/visits/calls/singing telegrams (call me maybe?).
Rob Rossi, Josh Yohe, and some others have
reported they expect the Pens to offer a deal around $75-$80 million over
10 years. It is not expected to be
front-loaded (Shero hates giving out front-loaded deals, Crosby is truly the
exception). Here’s my take on the
front-runners for Parise:
At least one jersey won't change for Parise. |
Minnesota – Parise is originally from Minneapolis and
Minnesota is looking to make a big splash by luring him back home. They will certainly offer a lot of money, I
would guess around $10 million per year, and likely a similar length to the
Pens deal if that’s what Parise wants.
They may be the worst of the teams with a shot to get him, but don’t
discount the fact that Minnesota was in first place in the West for a little bit last year. They aren’t as bad as
people think.
Strengths: Hometown, Money
Detroit – The Wings have a plethora of cap space and
will look to sign both Parise and Suter in one swift move. There had been rumors that the 2 players were
interested in going to the same place, so keep that in mind. I’m guessing Detroit will offer the longest
term in the same way they have given Zetterberg and Datsyuk long deals. The Wings have the potential of offering the
most money, years, and a chance to play with a winner. Don’t forget, as Pens fans bank on Parise
wanting to play with Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk is kinda a decent and well-respected
player too…
Strengths: Money, Winner, Datsyuk?
New Jersey – New Jersey has put themselves in quite
the pickle with money. News came out
earlier this week that they could not commit money to Martin Brodeur yet, so
Brodeur hired agent Pat Brisson (Crosby’s agent) and will test out the free
agent market tomorrow. The wording of
this was very telling, “commit”. My
hypothesis is they cannot commit the money because they want a final answer
from Parise first, only after that can they commit money to Brodeur (if he even waits for them). Parise has played for the Devils his entire
career and will certainly be drawn to return based on the Cup Final run that
ended just weeks ago. He knows what he
is getting into with New Jersey, and to some players, that means a lot.
Strengths: “Home”/Familiarity, Winner
Pittsburgh – The Pens are banking heavily on the “Crosby
effect” to lure Parise in. Their offer
will be for a long term, though it will likely be one of the lowest offers
Parise receives and it will not be front loaded. Much of the fanfare around Parise coming to
Pittsburgh surrounds the idea that he would want to play with Sidney Crosby,
would take less money to do so, and would come here to try and build a
long-lasting dynasty. Fans want winners,
owners want winners, but we don’t quite know what every player wants. Also, don’t expect Shero to offer anything
that could possibly jeopardize Malkin’s long term contract coming after next
year (10 yrs/80 mil does not fyi).
Strengths: Winner, Crosby
Rest of the League – Undoubtedly there will be at
least 10 more offers in addition to the ones I have listed above. Free Agency is pure insanity, so who knows
what team comes out of left field with a big offer that might draw Parise in. The Rangers?
The Kings? The Flyers? Who wouldn’t want Zach
Parise? So while those 4 may be the
front runners, anything could happen.
Final Thoughts: Years and a front-loaded deal could
be the tie-breakers when it comes to the Parise sweepstakes. I would not be shocked if this goes beyond
July 1st as he considers a dozen offers and plays teams against each
other in a bidding war. Unfortunately,
the Pens cannot keep up in a bidding war, or even in the original bids. While Pens fans want to say Parise should
come to Pittsburgh if he wants to play for a winner, the other 29 teams are
trying to build a winner too, and New Jersey (and many others) came closer to
it than the Pens have in the past 3 years.
To be honest, I do not foresee Parise taking less money to play in
Pittsburgh. I’ll make my final
prediction tomorrow, but unless something drastically changes in the next 19ish
hours, it won’t be Pittsburgh.
UPDATED: KDKA is reporting that Parise's top 2 choices are Minnesota and Pittsburgh at this point. While I find this hard to believe since free agency doesn't begin for another 17 hours and Parise has no clue what he will be offered by other teams, if that's the case, my prediction is Minnesota. Again though, I find this very hard to believe.
UPDATED: KDKA is reporting that Parise's top 2 choices are Minnesota and Pittsburgh at this point. While I find this hard to believe since free agency doesn't begin for another 17 hours and Parise has no clue what he will be offered by other teams, if that's the case, my prediction is Minnesota. Again though, I find this very hard to believe.
Other Free Agents
Ryan Suter – Suter will be hanging
out at his farm in Wisconsin tomorrow and taking phone calls throughout the
day. Pittsburgh will be in the mix,
though they will surely be beat in terms of money. Detroit is the heavy favorite according to
many, and Minnesota, Tampa Bay, Anaheim and Edmonton are expected to also make
offers (along with others). Nashville isn’t quite out of the
running yet, though it looks unlikely that Suter will return. Suter places a high value on comfort and
lifestyle for his family, so money may not be the biggest factor in this
decision. One thing that may hurt
Pittsburgh: the treatment of Paul Martin.
If Suter does not live up to his contract, I’m not sure he wants to risk
putting his family through what Martin has dealt with in Pittsburgh.
Shero has a thing for acquiring former Predators. (O'Reilly and Sullivan) |
Jason Garrison – The hopefully not one hit wonder
defenseman for the Panthers is still in negotiations with the team, though they
do not look very fruitful as he is due
a major raise from his $700k salary.
There is a slight chance that the Panthers may trade his rights late and
Vancouver is inquiring about it after missing out on Justin Schultz (agreed to
terms with Edmonton). Is a Luongo trade
in the mix with this one in the next 18 hours?
PA Parenteau – The pass happy Isles forward is
certain to test free agent waters tomorrow, though he will continue talking to
the Isles after the clock hits noon. It’s
rumored that the Avs and Sens will be in hard on him, and the Avs have a lot of
cap space to overpay offer him. I
would expect every team that loses the Parise sweepstakes to give him a call as
well, further driving up his price. It’s
a good year to be Parenteau.
Shane Doan – Much like Parenteau, every team that
loses on Parise will quickly turn to Doan.
There have even been rumors that Jonathan Toews was trying to recruit him
personally for the Blackhawks. Doan has expressed a
preference for staying in Phoenix, but uncertainty around the team will
likely lead to him listening to offers on Sunday. Look for Chicago, Detroit, Vancouver,
Pittsburgh, and Phoenix to lead the rush to Doan pending the Parise situation.
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