The Steelers cut Steven Nelson, their best cornerback. The reaction: “Oh, well, they had to.”
That’s true. It was for salary cap reasons. (But with David DeCastro released, why not bring Nelson back?)
The Penguins traded forward Jared McCann to Toronto for a seventh-round draft choice and prospect Filip Hallander, who was the Penguins’ second-round pick in 2018. Hallander went to the Maple Leafs in the 2020 deal that brought Kasperi Kapanen to Pittsburgh.
The Penguins might have lost McCann to Seattle for nothing in Wednesday’s expansion draft.
You’d nonetheless think the sky was falling.
With Penguins Twitter, McCann’s stature increased to a level never known while he was here. The analytics crew started bashing everybody over the head with their bludgeon of numbers. Former GM Jim Rutherford got blamed, and he resigned in January.
McCann became Ron Francis — not the current version, the Seattle GM who might have poached him Wednesday, but the Hall-of-Fame center who played for the Penguins.
But, in reality, it’s an inconsequential deal involving a 25-year-old player who is now, already, with his fourth team. McCann is OK, but only that. He’s a journeyman.
Every team is going to lose somebody useful in the expansion draft. That’s how the process is designed.
Seattle might now take winger Zach Aston-Reese, another darling of the analytics crew. There could be rioting in the streets, except those geeks never leave their basements.
Winger Brandon Tanev is another possibility to get crackin’ to the Kraken. His grit would be a big loss, but his size (6 foot, 180 pounds, if you believe what’s listed) compromises his physical style and leaves him frequently hurt. Tanev played just 32 of 56 games last year.
The Penguins exposed Tanev in hope of shedding his contract: $3.5 million cap hit through 2025.
The same people who complained that Tanev cost too much when he signed are screaming bloody murder because the Penguins might lose him for nothing.
It doesn’t much matter who goes. When the Penguins miss the playoffs or go out yet again in the first round, no one will say, “Gee, if the Penguins had only kept (whoever Seattle selects).”
The constant dissatisfaction regarding just about every move the Penguins make stems from heightened expectations that result from being a legit Stanley Cup contender non-stop from 2008-18. They won three Cups and made another final.
Of course, that’s not good enough for those who live vicariously. The Penguins have been the best team of their era, in hockey and in Pittsburgh, but the great unwashed wants more.
They’re not going to get it, and that’s nobody’s fault.
The Penguins’ window closed when they lost to Washington in the second round of the 2018 playoffs. The team has been aging out since.
Rather than reload at the time by, say, trading Evgeni Malkin for what would have been ginormous return, the Penguins opted to keep their core intact. That’s not an unreasonable approach given what Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang have done, and can still do.
But it hasn’t worked, won’t and was never likely to. The Penguins grew stale.
That’s OK. It kept the fans’ heroes on the ice, kept ticket and merchandise sales strong, and the team is still very good. It won its division this past season. It just won’t win another Cup, though a long, random playoff run is possible. Witness Montreal this year, Dallas last year.
No more Cups doesn’t bother me. The approach taken doesn’t bother me.
Having to blame somebody, acting like it’s a crime that more wasn’t achieved and gratuitously overreacting to insignificant roster adjustments is what bothers me.
McCann rarely and barely made a difference since joining the Penguins in February 2019. Why would he start now? He got scratched in the 2020 playoffs, for heck’s sake.
No matter who gets taken by Seattle on Wednesday, the reaction is guaranteed: “OH MY GOD, HOW COULD SOMETHING LIKE THIS BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN?” The Kraken could take the Penguins’ stickboy and that’s what gets said — shouted, rather.
As some (ahem) have said since 2018, the Penguins are organically disintegrating. Like Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles before them. Nobody wins forever. It’s Tampa Bay’s time.
If anybody’s at fault, it’s a too-big percentage of the fan base for being ungrateful jerks. The Penguins provided three championships, legit contention and unparalleled star power for a solid decade, and that’s still not good enough for you jackals. Go watch the Pirates.
This is a topic which is close to my heart… Thank you! Exactly where are your contact details though?