The Penguins had the highest-paid defense corps in the NHL last season. The 7.5 wins above replacement they received from said defense corps ranked No. 7 in the league.
It's not that they were an awful unit (they weren't), but several of the individuals were simply making more than they were worth. That's OK if it's a single player. Not so much if it's four out of six regular defensemen.
Two of the four, John Marino and Mike Matheson, are employed by new teams as of Saturday afternoon.
Brian Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson aren't guaranteed to live up to their cap hits next season, either, but the difference is that the Penguins have more versatility and options on their blue line now that Jeff Petry, Ty Smith and Jan Rutta are in the fold along with P.O Joseph, Chad Ruhwedel and Mark Friedman rounding out the depth.
Let's get one thing straight: Petry is the most impactful player the Penguins have acquired via trade since they went out and got Phil Kessel in 2015.
Yes, Petry is 34 and under contract through the 2024-25 season. No, he isn't quite what he was a couple of seasons ago. Yet the player he is right now is a player who can put the Penguins in a better position to compete for a Stanley Cup next season -- the only season that really matters -- than Marino would have.
The upside and potential is obviously there with Marino, but the Penguins don't have time to sit there and hope for his offensive game to come around. It wouldn't surprise me if Marino outperforms Petry over the next three seasons, even, but I'd be shocked if that were the case next season alone.
Don't lose sight of the fact that Kris Letang, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell all received six-year contracts not because the Penguins are expecting those players to be valuable contributors relative to their cap hit in the latter half of those deals, but because it meant keeping them around for this window.
Which is right now.
Grounded in reality, the window has all but shut. The Penguins aren't the Avalanche, and they don't have a Cale Makar about to sprout out of nowhere. But that isn't a reason not to try.
That magic pill to make the Penguins younger, faster, stronger and better this offseason while immediately positioning themselves to be among the Cup favorites? Yeah, it didn't -- and doesn't -- exist. That's the harsh reality of going for it year after year ... after year.
This is what going for it looks like in the Penguins' sense. I had reservations regarding the way Hextall would handle this offseason. Personnel choices aside, I wasn't convinced he would have the aggressiveness to make the moves he has.
Despite having nine defensemen under contract, Hextall said he isn't necessarily going to trade one of them at this point. Whether you believe that or not, let's assume the same nine defensemen are available on opening night in October.
Is there any argument that the following pairings aren't better than what was trotted out most of last season?
Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Petry
Smith/Joseph-Rutta
Extras: Friedman, Ruhwedel
Petry is a major offensive upgrade on Marino. And it's on the right side of the ice. That's important when considering the loss of Matheson's offense.
Rutta, if nothing else, addresses an area of concern both at the net-front and in the physicality department. He has the potential to do very well with a player who commands the puck like Joseph and Smith do.
As long as Dumoulin doesn't entirely fall off a cliff, each pairing has a bit of size, a steadying defensive presence and some offensive skill.
It's far from the perfect group of defensemen. I don't think many teams would be too happy with five defensemen over the age of 30, but this boils down to getting the best players available who will help you win right now. It would be nonsense to fill those spots with inferior players for no reason other than their youth.
If the best fit happens to be older, so be it. The Penguins are on borrowed time as it is, so forget the drawn out rebuild plans and the convoluted trade proposals to stock draft picks. You're witnessing the Penguins' last push for a Stanley Cup in the Sidney Crosby era. Buckle up and enjoy, because the lights will be out before you know it.
• It kind of feels like the Petry acquisition hasn't really hit home for some people yet. If it hasn't for you, let me reiterate: Petry is still a very good hockey player. Over the past three seasons, he ranks No. 27 in points per hour among defensemen. Marino ranks No. 94 in the same timeframe. Points aside, Petry's isolated impact toward his team's ability to generate quality offense at even-strength ranks No. 12 -- higher than Letang.
• Petry's offensive generation doesn't really come at the cost of his defensive impact, either. His defense has been slipping a bit, but he still grades out roughly league-average in his own end. Although his overall defensive impact isn't anything to write home about, his ability to defend the blue line on the rush remains at an elite level thanks to his skating, reach and anticipation.
• For as strong as he is offensively at evens, don't expect Petry to challenge Letang for the quarterback spot on the top power play unit. At least some of it can be attributed to the way the Canadiens ran their power play, but Petry has been a negative asset with the man advantage due to incessant low-conversion point shots. His shot is one of his greatest weapons, just not when he's railing it into shin pads from distance.
• So much has been made of Evgeni Malkin's decline at 5-on-5, but not much at all is made of Marino -- a hinderance to generating offense -- being the defenseman Malkin shares the ice with the most. Last season Malkin suffered from some of the worst finishing from linemates of anyone in the NHL. It can't be understated how much of a difference it will make for Malkin to get a larger chunk of time with a right-handed defenseman who can make offensive plays from the point, and not someone who frequently sees the play die on their stick.
• Back in March I stuck my neck out and tweeted that, if forced to pick between Marino and Pettersson, I'd go with Pettersson. I don't necessarily believe Pettersson is the better player, and I certainly don't believe Pettersson is the one with a higher ceiling. That said, the problem with hanging onto Marino was that his contributions are mostly felt defensively despite wanting the puck on his stick when exiting the zone and in transition. In the event of a Pettersson trade instead, the most sensible partners for Marino would have been Matheson or Joseph, two other players with more offense to give who also want the puck on their stick. Hanging onto Pettersson means keeping an equally as impactful defensive presence while providing a stylistic fit for Petry.
• Don't let the revamped blue line distract you from the stinker of a bottom six the Penguins are projected to ice on opening night. I wrote last month that Radim Zohorna and Drew O'Connor were ready for full-time roles and that the Penguins could squeeze some value out of their cheap cap hits, but after signing Josh Archibald and Drake Caggiula, it's unclear how much of an opportunity they'll be given. Based on their recent performances, the Penguins would be lucky to have either of Archibald or Caggiula in the lineup and not be below water when they're on the ice. There might be another forward addition in the works, but as things stand, the Penguins' forward depth is as weak as it has been in several seasons.
• I'm willing to chalk some of it up to playing on the Devils, but Smith absolutely stunk last season. His passing ability stands out, but the rest of his game needs serious work if he's going to be a positive contributor. Hextall believes the second-year slump was just part of the development process for young players adjusting to the NHL. 22, Smith is younger than Joseph, but has 114 games under his belt to Joseph's 20. If you're still hopeful about Joseph, there's room to be hopeful that Smith can recapture the performance of his rookie season.
• In all likelihood, the Penguins moved Matheson at his absolute peak. Last season was, by far, the best season of his career. It was a great development, but is he really to be expected to repeat that performance? With four seasons still remaining on his contract, it would have been a major gamble not to take the opportunity to clear his future money off the books.
• Outside of scoring a hat trick in his NHL debut -- which was years ago at this point -- Ryan Poehling is nothing more than a warm body until he proves otherwise. He struggles to keep the pace up when the puck is on his stick and often gets swarmed before making a play, however, he is a strong finisher from short-to-medium distances.
• There isn't a soul out there who can say this Penguins team is stale after the trades on Saturday. This is the largest shakeup, especially on defense, the team has seen in quite some time. Unless you want to throw Crosby, Malkin and Letang into the stale category, you best reserve that term for the nine-month old box of Frosted Flakes in the bottom of your pantry. Change for the sake of change is silly. Change for the sake of improvement is what they went for. We'll find out if the improvement part actually comes to fruition.