The Penguins have prioritized which of their three prominent free-agents-to-be are most important to re-sign.
Of course, the order in which Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and Kris Letang appear on that list is a closely guarded secret, about as likely to be made public as a detailed breakdown of Mario Lemieux's personal finances.
One thing, though, seems clear: If all three are intent on staying, who actually returns for 2022-23 might be determined by a cutthroat competition worthy of a reality TV show.
That's because, while management hasn't ruled out the possibility that all three will be back -- "People are going to have to be reasonable with their contract expectations," president of hockey operations Brian Burke said. "It's that simple." -- the Penguins simply won't have enough salary-cap space to make that realistic.
That means a limited pool of money will be available, and it likely won't be large enough to satisfy the contract demands of all three.
"The fact of the matter is, some of (who stays) is going to be based on who comes to the table first with sensible deals," Burke said.
MORE PENGUINS
2. Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper is a really smart guy -- he was a lawyer before getting into his current line of work -- so it might not have just been an emotional outburst when, after a 5-1 loss to the Penguins last Thursday, he told reporters this: "For some reason, (the Penguins) are the lowest-penalized team in the league. I'm not sure why, but they are." Sure, perhaps Cooper was just frustrated after being ejected from a lopsided defeat, but it's also conceivable that he was doing a little advance working of the officials. The Penguins and Lightning could meet in the playoffs and if they do, Cooper's comments about the Penguins being under-penalized are sure to resurface. -- Molinari
3. Mike Sullivan has never conducted a "bag skate" -- a grueling workout with no pucks and lots of skating -- during his six-plus seasons as coach, but said he keeps it in his repertoire, just in case a situation ever calls for one. Those have become increasingly rare in the NHL over the years, and a team official who isn't on the coaching staff pointed out the obvious logic behind that: "I'm going to make you play really well on Wednesday, by making sure that you're exhausted on Tuesday." -- Molinari
4. The Penguins haven't decided whether to offer Penn State defenseman Clayton Phillips, their third-round draft choice in 2017, a contract or allow him to become an unrestricted free agent. One personnel staffer said it's "50-50" whether they will attempt to sign him. Another team official said, "we like the progress he's made," but noted that "he's had a couple of injuries." Indeed, Phillips, who has five goals and seven assists in 31 games this season, has a shoulder issue and is listed as "day to day" as the Nittany Lions prepare to face Minnesota in the Big Ten tournament semifinals after upsetting No. 12 Ohio State in Round 1 last weekend. -- Molinari
5. Ron Hextall has to get approval if he wants to make a move before the NHL trade deadline at 3 p.m. on March 21, but it doesn't necessarily have to come from a Fenway Sports Group executive. No, Hextall has to get clearance from Alec Schall. Don't know him? Most people outside the organization probably don't, but he's the Penguins' director of hockey operations -- and their resident salary-cap expert. With the Penguins hovering so close to the NHL's cap ceiling, Schall is the one who lets Hextall know if a trade he wants to make would affect the Penguins' cap compliance, and what repercussions the deal might have. -- Molinari
6. The Penguins have had pretty good luck luring college players who had been undrafted -- that's how they acquired the likes of Conor Sheary, Zach Aston-Reese and Drew O'Connor -- and added to that group Thursday by signing Princeton forward Corey Andonovski. A front-office source says they've "spoken to a few" of the other top ones available this year. If UMass captain Bobby Trivigno, a left winger, is one of them, the Penguins might have an early advantage on their competition, because he attended their development camp in 2019. Trivigno is small (5 foot 8, 152 pounds) but skilled, and the Penguins have proven to be willing to overlook a player's modest stature if he can perform at a high level. -- Molinari
7. In past years, the Penguins have added to their prospect pool by signing AHL-contracted players in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to NHL entry-level contracts. Could any of the current AHL-contracted players get NHL deals? Director of player development Scott Young prefaced his thoughts by saying that he wasn't going to get into Hextall's job, but didn't hesitate when it came to throwing out a name: "Felix Robert. He's been really strong for us. He's brought a lot of energy. He's a smaller guy, but doesn't shy away from anybody, no matter the size. He plays fast and he's got a quick release, quick shot scores some big goals for us. He has played very well on an AHL deal." -- Taylor Haase at PPG Paints Arena
STEELERS
8. The Steelers have not traditionally been a team that has been active early in the free agency process. They often wait until the smoke clears from the early, big-money signings before they dive in.
But expect them to be more aggressive in getting into the market this year. First, they have a need at quarterback, which changes everything. But second, they'd also like to add an offensive lineman of their choice, as well.
Neither will likely be the star names some have bandied about, but they'll be solid starters who fill the need. But don't expect the Steelers to blow their budget, either. -- Dale Lolley on the South Side
9. The most under-discussed need for the Steelers remains at wide receiver. Look anywhere that does draft needs regarding specific teams and it's not mentioned -- certainly not prominently -- for the Steelers.
The Steelers were in 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end, 3 wide receivers) 75 percent of the time last season. Only the Rams and Bengals -- ironically the two teams that played in the Super Bowl -- used that grouping more often.
With Dionte Johnson, Chase Claypool, Anthony Miller, Cody White and Steven Sims as the top options on the roster, the Steelers need to add to that group. Why that's not seen nationally is beyond me. -- Lolley
10. One thing to remember in free agency is that the players who have been released by their former teams are more valuable than ones whose contracts simply expired.
Why? The players who released don't count at all toward a team's compensatory formula, while players whose contract has run out with their former teams do.
If you're looking at two guys who are close in talent and one is going to affect a potential compensatory pick and the other will not, that's a pretty big tiebreaker. -- Lolley
11. While a lot of fans protested the Calvin Ridley suspension for placing $1,500 in bets on a legal gambling site earlier in the week, know that NFL players are constantly warned that they are not permitted to wager on league games in any way, shape or form.
In fact, the first sign you see walking into every NFL locker room in the league says exactly that.
So, while it might seem extreme for Ridley to be suspended for a year for something you or I can do, it's the rules. And the players are well aware of it. -- Lolley
12. The Steelers seem intent on allowing their unrestricted free agents to get to next week and allowing the market to dictate the asking price on players such as Ahkello Witherspoon, Joe Haden, Terrell Edmunds and Chuks Okorafor before making an effort to bring them back.
It's a two-edged sword. Another team could simply blow any offer the Steelers might have for those players away. But with more than 40 percent of the league's players becoming free agents next week, that's probably unlikely. The guess is that a lot of players wind up signing for less money than they thought they would get. It's going to be a buyer's market.
The top players are still going to get big contracts. But the middle guys aren't going to break the bank. The Steelers just have to be prepared to pivot if they walk. -- Lolley
13. On Ryan Clark's podcast "The Pivot" this week, Antonio Brown spoke about how Ben Roethlisberger stood up for him when Bruce Arians, the the offensive coordinator, didn't think Brown was "smart enough" to play the X-wide receiver position in the team's offense.
Brown isn't wrong. In fact, Arians wanted to break camp in 2010, Brown's rookie year, with Brown on the practice squad. But Mike Tomlin and Kevin Colbert put their foot down on that one, feeling Brown would get plucked off the team's roster if that happened.
Imagine how that would have changed history had Arians gotten his way. -- Lolley
14. Tomlin has expressed a desire to obtain a mobile quarterback, and one league insider said that would be big step in helping the Steelers’ maligned offensive line. Roethlisberger’s immobility made life difficult on an inexperienced and patchwork unit.
"Defenses are definitely afraid of two seconds after the ball is snapped. Mobile quarterbacks get out of the pocket and start creating," a league source told me. "That’s where all the plays are made. That makes the job of the offensive line really easy because you know the (defenders) can’t leave their rush lanes, they can’t take risks by putting two guys in a gap or overload blitzing. It makes your job easier and it makes everyone think those O-lines are playing great. You got a guy like Ben and all he could do was throw the ball quickly or get sacked. That makes it really hard on an O-line because the defense has every tool available in their tool belt. Once they get someone in there that can move and play outside the pocket, the story in Pittsburgh will become, ‘Look how much better the offensive line is playing,’ when it’s really a bigger function of what the quarterback can do and how it dictates the way a defense can play." -- Tom Reed in Columbus
PIRATES
15. Speaking of the trade market, everything I’ve heard on the Bryan Reynolds front is the team is doing due diligence by listening to offers, but they aren’t actively trying to trade him. Of course, they said the same about Jacob Stallings, and that deal came together quickly. Just something to keep in mind when his name pops up in rumors. -- Alex Stumpf
16. Now that free agency can restart, expect the Pirates to be active on the pitcher market. There are plenty of openings in the bullpen in particular, considering Chris Stratton and David Bednar are the only two established relievers on staff. -- Stumpf
17. Part of the reason why the option for an international draft was pushed in this collective bargaining agreement was due to national reports this winter outlining how corrupt the current system is, which includes teams and trainers entering verbal contracts with players in their early teens and trainers giving steroids to players under 16. For the Pirates, Ben Cherington had the team investigate internally to make sure they weren’t taking part in those, or similar, actions. -- Stumpf
18. I heard in Bradenton that rosters could be expanded at the start of the season because of the shortened spring, like MLB did at the start of the 2020 season. As of the time of publication, the plan is for 26-player rosters with a 13 pitcher max. -- Stumpf
19. One proposal that was brought up in CBA talks was to limit the number of times a player can be optioned in a year to five. Max Kranick was the lone player the Pirates optioned that many times last season, taking the responsibilities of the sixth starter. I heard in-season from a team source that all that bouncing around did take a bit of a toll on him, especially early on. Hard to blame him taking it tough that he was optioned after throwing five perfect innings in his debut. -- Stumpf
20. Scrapping the Rule 5 draft is almost certainly a plus for the Pirates, who had several candidates to be selected, most notably Mason Martin and Cal Mitchell. I heard there was also some interest in Cody Bolton, a former top-10 prospect in the system who battled injuries last season. If he bounces back, keep an eye on him having his contract selected at some point this year. -- Stumpf
21. Quinn Priester and Mike Burrows will be among the non-roster invitees to major-league spring training once camp officially boots up. Henry Davis is someone to watch as well, especially since extra catchers are always needed. -- Stumpf
