Inside Access

Latest Buzz on the Penguins losing Brandon Tanev to the expansion draft The Pittsburgh Penguins will come out of expansion draft losing two useful forwards off their roster with the trade of Jared McCann on Saturday and Seattle selecting Brandon Tanev. What’s been clear over the last week is this: Seattle planned to take Teddy Blueger as their No. 1 target if left exposed, multiple sources have said, so Blueger became a top priority for the Penguins to protect as the team put a premium on trying to keep their center depth intact and with the Penguins planning to protect Blueger, Jared McCann was going to be the selection by Seattle if not traded and left exposed by the Penguins. Yes, the Penguins got something for McCann who they didn’t plan to protect and added a prospect who could be a useful bottom-6 player in 2-3 years, but whether McCannRead More »

Latest Expansion Draft Buzz The Pittsburgh Penguins protected list for the expansion draft is as followed: Forwards Sidney Crosby Evgeni Malkin Jake Guentzel Bryan Rust Kasperi Kapanen Jeff Carter Teddy Blueger Key Forwards Exposed: Brandon Tanev, Jason Zucker, Zach Aston-Reese (RFA), Buzz: The Top-5 was clear cut for months. No. 6 and No. 7 is a different story. Even at his age, Pittsburgh see’s Jeff Carter as part of their core for next season and some say Ron Hextall believes Carter has more hockey left in him than just this season (Don’t be shocked to see Carter agree to a one year extension). The Penguins rationale for protecting Jeff Carter, though, remains to be seen as the chances of Seattle selecting Carter were always thought to be minimal due to Carter’s age and his salary being so low for next season that he would just retire if selected by Seattle.Read More »

Latest on the Penguins Protected List One of the wildcards on the Penguins expansion list is whether the team would actually protect 36 year old Jeff Carter who enters the last year of his contract. The answer is

Latest Expansion Draft Buzz Surrounding the Penguins Pittsburgh’s resigning of center Teddy Blueger this week to a 2 year, $4.4 million extension fell right into the ballpark of what a Teddy Blueger extension was projected to be. “Teddy has proven to be a versatile, two-way center, as well as a fixture on the penalty kill. He’s a valuable player for our team,” said General Manager Ron Hextall of Blueger.” Pittsburgh bought out a UFA year and known for his defensive metrics, the new regime see’s Blueger as an ascending player where they think the offensive numbers can fall into the range of 15 goals, 35-40 points next season, though, that might be an optimistic view. Pittsburgh’s top-5 forwards to be protected have been set for a while now, while the final two forwards to protect has been a different story. Sounds like the organization came to an agreement on theRead More »

Best Case Scenario For Pens in Expansion Draft The NHL offseason is about to hit high gear. Expansion draft protected lists are officially due into the league office by 5:00 P.M. on July 17 with the expansion draft happening days later on July 21. One major difference between Vegas and Seattle is how much more guarded Kraken GM Ron Francis has been with clubs on who they would take in Scenario A, B or C. There’s going to be some side deals but not to the extent that McPhee sought out in 2017. Seattle has more teams guessing, multiple league sources say. Pittsburgh went the 4-4-1 route in 2017 and will go the 7-3-1 this time around. The Penguins brass in recent weeks has been bracing to lose based off intel they’ve gathered, sources say. A best case scenario for the Penguins? Seattle selects