Penguins/NHL
Two Stanley Cups in his first four seasons on the job in Pittsburgh will have Jim Rutherford sticking around quite a while longer.
Rutherford today signed a three year extension that keeps him under contract with the club through 2021-2022 season.
As long as Rutherford wanted to keep going, this was always going to happen based on the two Stanley Cups and the close relationship he has with team President David Morehouse.
On basis, the Penguins had to make a commitment to Rutherford based on what he’s done so far.
However, it’s not out of character to question whether this is the right move to keep and extend the Penguins Cup window with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
As the Penguins are sputtering, Rutherford has put together back-to-back poor off-seasons and now enters his toughest task as General Manager in trying to not become what the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks have become this decade after winning multiple Cups with an expensive core in place.
The biggest news in moments won’t be Rutherford’s extension.
Interesting enough, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles have struck a deal in what will be a pure hockey trade, player for player, dollars in and dollars.
Pittsburgh will receive [hide] Tanner Pearson in a deal from Los Angeles as the main piece coming to Pittsburgh, a league source confirms. Pittsburgh will be sending a struggling player with a similar cap hit to LA.
Pearson, 26, carries a $3.75 million cap hit through 2020-2021 season and has 1 point in 17 games. He’s coming off back-to-back seasons with 40+ points, totaling 15 goals and 40 points last season, while setting a career high 24 goals with 44 points in 2016-2017.[/hide]
