Are you struggling to grasp the Penguins’ strategy when it comes to the expansion draft?
Yeah, me, too.
Over the weekend, NHL teams were required to submit their protected lists for Wednesday’s expansion draft. Among those left unprotected in Pittsburgh were forwards Brandon Tanev and Zach Aston-Reese. Meanwhile, Jeff Carter was protected.
Why?
I’m not slighting Carter. He vastly exceeded my expectations following his acquisition from the Los Angeles Kings, scoring 13 goals and adding three assists during the remainder of the Penguins’ regular season campaign and the playoffs.
I just don’t know why the Penguins front office is worried about the Seattle Kraken taking a 36-year-old with one year remaining on his contract, who might retire as opposed to rebooting his career with an expansion team.
Carter’s success in Pittsburgh was often attributed to the fact that he went from a struggling Kings team to the Penguins at playoff time. So why would the Kraken believe he’d be motivated on the same level going to an expansion team?
Unless their approach would be to take Carter for just a few months until they could spin him off at the deadline for draft picks as the Kings did.
Frankly, I would’ve been willing to take that risk. Especially if it meant protecting either Tanev or Aston-Reese.
Maybe the Penguins have some intelligence that Kraken general manager — and former Penguins Hall of Famer — Ron Francis is partial to Carter and definitely would’ve selected him. Short of that, though, I would’ve dangled Carter and held back Tanev or Aston-Reese.
Specifically Tanev. I think Aston-Reese is more replaceable than Tanev. But in this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of TribLIVE and 105.9 The X joins me to discuss why the Pens may have a different philosophy on the 29-year-old winger.
“I think the Penguins want to expose Brandon Tanev’s contract and hope that either he or (Jason) Zucker gets taken by the Kraken,” Madden said.
That’s a fair point, especially in the case of Zucker. He’s a $5.5 million hit over the next two seasons and has disappointed in Pittsburgh. Tanev is making $3.5 million through the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
Keep in mind, however, Tanev’s contract was crafted by former general manager Jim Rutherford. Not current GM Ron Hextall. That’s a point Madden says we can’t ignore.
“Rutherford signed Tanev. Hextall did not. Hextall clearly doesn’t find Tanev as useful, especially at that price and term,” Madden continued.
The thing is, though, if the Penguins lose Tanev, how do they replace him? And at what cost? How much will they really save between losing Tanev and potentially finding another player who skates and hits with the frequency and tenacity that he does?
Madden agrees with my concerns but offers this counter.
“He’s listed at 6-foot, 180 (pounds),” Madden said. “The reality is he is probably smaller than that. And because of that, his breakneck style of play is compromised by being hurt quite a bit. He missed 25 of 56 games this past year. While I am not enamored with the idea of the Penguins losing Tanev, I can understand why he is being exposed to the Kraken.”
That said, Madden predicts it’ll be Aston-Reese who winds up in Seattle. In our podcast, Madden explains why. We also get into why Zucker and defenseman Marcus Pettersson may be dark horse candidates for Seattle and the topic of Montreal goaltender Carey Price being exposed.
Plus, we talk about Evgeni Malkin, the Steelers and the bizarre Pirates-Mets series at PNC Park this past weekend.
Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at [email protected] or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.
