Penguins/NHL
Team exploring trade options and free agency options
Quick late night run down of defensemen the Penguins have looked into.
One day 1 of Free agency the team looked into Nick Boynton. They reached out to Boynton’s camp about a one year deal. We could see some movement on that front in the coming days.
On Thursday, Pittsburgh inquired about Jay McKee. Market value is believed to be around $2 million, plus he’s getting buyout money.
Many insiders see Pittsburgh as a great situation to take a one year deal, play on a contending team and hit the market next season looking for a multi-year deal. Pittsburgh exploring same scenario with Nick Boynton.
A third player the Penguins were actually engaged with in negotiations was Karlis Skrastins. Pittsburgh only offered a one year deal and he moved on elsewhere.
Pittsburgh is monitoring the price range of Derek Morris but he is looking for a multi-year deal. A player Pittsburgh has had interest in for sometime. We’ll see if that goes anywhere, but Pittsburgh doesn’t expect to be in play.
Two names Insiders expect to hear are Greg De Vries and Martin Skoula. Pittsburgh isn’t that interested in either player but don’t be surprised if you hear them linked to Pittsburgh for connections to Front Office personnel and the coaching staff.
As for two-way contract possibilities, Pittsburgh likes Shane Hnidy. They offered him a contract two summers ago. A player I’ve been hearing for a few weeks.
Trade Front
Ray Shero has also mentioned he will explore the trade route. Nothing brewing on that front right now but of course we’ll hear the Jack Johnson trade speculation mentioned nation wide.
On the Francois Beauchemen Front
No clue how Beauchemen’s name got linked to the Penguins weeks ago but Pittsburgh is currently not in on him. He has offers upwards of $3.5 million per season.
Only scenario the Penguins could sign him is if Beauchemen came to Pittsburgh and would sign a 6-7 year deal worth $2.2 million per season.
