Penguins/NHL
Team submits official offer
The Pittsburgh Penguins have begun their pursuit of defenseman Jay McKee as the team has submitted their first official offer to the veteran blueliner this week.
Pittsburgh has been trying to sell McKee on Pittsburgh all week, offering him the opportunity to play for a contender and cash in next season as a free agent on the open market.
Pittsburgh is pulling out all of their strings as a source tells me team owner Mario Lemieux has even placed a call to McKee.
McKee has drawn significant interest around the league and is believed to have higher offers on the table than the Penguins could go.
Some sources believe, Pittsburgh may have to clear some salary and offer more than $2 million per season but that doesn’t appear to be the case as the Penguins remain confident they will sign McKee, a reason they didn’t make an offer to Nick Boynton.
For Pittsburgh, their best hope is selling him on the idea of playing for a contender and cashing in at a later time.
McKee was bought out by the St. Louis Blues on July 30th. He was due to receive $4 million per season and will receive a portion of that money this season.
