CRANBERRY, Pa. — Jim Rutherford took some good-natured ribbing from reporters on Friday afternoon about -- of all things -- his haircut. His buzz cut is a three-guard — four, maybe — all around. Rutherford says he cuts it himself with clippers in his garage.
Obviously, the Penguins’ 69-year-old general manager knows the value of a dollar. He’s as old-school as they come.
More than anyone, he knows it used to be that managers didn’t hand out $6 million a year contracts to third-year players who have never scored more than 24 goals or 48 points in a season.
But Rutherford hasn’t lasted as long as he has in the NHL by being stuck in his ways. It's the price of doing business in the new NHL.
In giving Jake Guentzel a five-year, $30 million contract extension on Thursday, Rutherford said he isn’t shelling out for what Guentzel’s done, which has been considerable. They are banking on what the 24-year-old can still do.
“I don’t think he’s gotten to as good as he’s going to be,” Rutherford was saying at the Lemieux Sports Complex.
All things considered, a contract with an annual average value of $6 million is fair for both sides. Guentzel was among a potential bumper crop of pending restricted free agents, including Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Brayden Point, Brock Boeser and others.
“They’re good young players and that’s what you would expect (them to get paid),” Rutherford said. “They are not only the guys for today, but for the future. I’m not surprised.”
The Penguins consider Guentzel, who has 23 goals in 37 career playoff games, part of that group. Rutherford said the organization identifies Guentzel among the organization's core players along with linemate Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Patric Hornqvist and Matt Murray. According to Rutherford, he decided to award the extension to Guentzel in training camp but negotiations only picked up in the last 10 days.
Rutherford said there was never an urgency to get the deal done in-season. Nor was there a fear that he might be poached this summer by an offer sheet.
“We would always have enough cushion if somebody decided to jump in on him,” Rutherford said. “He’s been a good player for us from day one. He’s proven himself to be one of our core players. When we have a good young player like that, it’s important that you get him locked up.”
Guentzel will be just 29 years old when his new contract expires in 2024 and could become the face of the franchise as Crosby and Malkin enter what should be the twilights of their careers.
Guenztel becomes one of six players that the Penguins will be paying more than $5 million to next season though the NHL salary cap is projected to rise to $83 million, up from $79.5 for this season.
“This doesn’t put us in any cap difficulty for what our projections are and what our vision of the team is,” Rutherford said.
But with so many big-ticket contracts, it does mean that the Penguins will have to get significant contributions from players currently down at the AHL. In 2017, Guentzel was one of those players, helping the Penguins to their second straight Stanley Cup.
“If you’re going to be successful in the cap world, you’ve got to have guys coming who are going to be on the lower end of the pay scale,” Rutherford said.