Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said that he spoke to Jeff Carter at about 1:30 a.m. on Monday following the latter's trade to Pittsburgh.
"His exact words to me, I think the quote was, 'I'm all in. I can't wait to get there,'" Hextall said of that conversation with Carter.
Hextall said that Carter could take a day or so to gather his things before flying from Los Angeles to Pittsburgh if he needed it, but Carter jumped on a plane Monday and is expected to arrive in Pittsburgh in the evening.
The Penguins are hopeful that Carter will be able to join the team for practice on Tuesday in Cranberry.
The Penguins parted with two conditional draft picks in order to acquire Carter: A 2022 third-round pick that is upgraded to a second-round pick if the Penguins reach the Stanley Cup Final this year and Carter plays in 50 percent of the games, and a 2023 fourth-round pick that is upgraded to a third-round pick if Carter plays in at least 50 games in the 2021-22 season.
It's not mortgaging the future by much, but Hextall said just last week that any trade made "would really have to make us noticeably a better team to make us part with future assets."
Hextall believes this move accomplishes that.
"Jeff offers a lot," he said. "I think first of all, in his game, he's got speed. He's a playoff-proven player. He's got a lot of versatility -- he can play special teams, five-on-five, he can play center, he can play the wing -- so he brings a lot to the table for us. We felt like it was enough of an upgrade."
Part of the reason that Hextall was seeking a forward like Carter is due to the Penguins' current injury situation, which creates an opening for Carter.
Brandon Tanev is believed to be out for the remainder of the regular season, Hextall said. Evgeni Malkin is expected to return during the regular season, though it's not clear when. Kasperi Kapanen is getting closer, and Hextall said he thinks Kapanen is somewhere in the 10-14 day range before returning.
"You can argue that five of our top forwards out for extended periods of time, and we've just kept winning games and guys stepping up," Hextall said. "Colton Sceviour last night, and Freddy Gaudreau. You can go on and on about guys that have stepped up. Obviously you have Sid and Rusty and Jake, and Jared McCann has done a real good job, but it's some of the role players that have really stepped up for us. It proves that we have quite a bit of depth here, and we felt like adding one more forward would really solidify our group. I like our group right now. When we get healtht, hopefully we'll stay healthy. I really like our group and we'd like to have some playoff success."
Hextall said that the Penguins "dabbled" in talks for other moves, but were never close on any others. Part of the reason that Hextall wasn't looking to make too many changes was that he didn't want to disrupt the chemistry of the group, chemistry that allowed them to weather so many injuries.
"The chemistry that this group has this year and has had the entire year is special," Hextall said. "That was a big topic of conversation, the chemistry. You bring in three or four guys, then all of your lines change, your D pairs change, and your room changes. We talked long and hard about that. I know Jeff Carter pretty well, and I know Jeff's just sort of the guy that's going to come into the room and just wants to go out and play hockey and be a good guy and be a good teammate. I know Jeff's not going to affect our chemistry in an adverse way. On the ice we think he's going to give us a big boost."
Carter is in the twilight of his playing career and could potentially retire when his contract expires in 2022, or perhaps earlier in the coming offseason. And Hextall believes that Carter is motivated to add a third ring to his collection before he hangs up his skates.
"We have a player here that's won two Stanley Cups," Hextall said. "And he's hungry to win another."