Orpik Stays In-House. More on Hossa and What's To Come

Before I spew venom on Hossa abandoning the Penguins, kudos to defenseman Brooks Orpik for agreeing to re-up with the squad for 6 years. The 22 million he got for that period averages to be about 3.6, which is a fair amount less than he reportedly could have received from the New York Rangers (4.25 million per) or San Jose (4 million per). According to Orpik, it was the term of the deal that was most significant to him. It seems as if the contracts being offered by the Rangers and Sharks were only for 4 years.

Contract term also was an issue for Jarkko Ruutu, who signed with Ottawa for 3 seasons as opposed to 2 the Penguins offered. The Senators are going to fork over a relatively reasonable 1.3 million per season to Ruutu during that time. On one hand, it's hard to wonder why, at that salary, the Penguins would not have signed him for an extra season. On the other hand, most players of Ruutu's type and value throughout the league usually don't get that type of security. 3 years is a long deal for that type of player.

As far as #18 goes, where can I possibly begin with him? His signing with the Detroit Red Wings yesterday represented one of the more unusual situations I've ever seen in free agency. First, Hossa turned down a fair amount of money, which is something free agents almost never do. The Edmonton Oilers had reportedly offered him a 81 million dollar contract for 9 seasons. The Minnesota Wild and Montreal Canadiens also supposedly made offers for Hossa in the 8 million dollar range for unspecified terms. It seems as if the last offer the Penguins put on the table was 7 years at between 50 and 52 million.

All of that was rejected for a 1-year, 7.4 million dollar deal with the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

One thing is for sure. Hossa was true to his word -- expressed after the season -- that he would take less money to play for a contender. But his quotes to the Detroit media after the season represented a kick in the you-know-what for the Penguins. Hossa said he wanted to go to a team that had the best chance to win the Cup. He said there were 2 teams in that mix. The Penguins were one of them. He signed with the team that beat the Penguins.

It's one thing for a free agent to pick between 2 teams he feels are the top cup contenders and sign there if he wants to. But that scenario usually doesn't happen when the free agent was last playing with one of them, especially when that team offered you more money, more security in a longer term deal (don't blow out that knee Marion!), and a chance to play with the 2 finest centers in the game for at least the next 5 years. In essence, Hossa feels Detroit is better than Pittsburgh and true or false, that's a tough pill for me and a lot of other Penguin fans to swallow.

Gulp.

Hossa is an incredible player that will fit in well with Detroit, and make them a tougher out in the playoffs next year. Let's hope the Penguins show him in next year's Stanley Cup Final that he picked the wrong team.

At this point, Penguins GM Ray Shero is said to be chasing Marcus Naslund to try and replace Hossa. Reports are that he offered Naslund a 2 year, 7.5 million dollar deal. Pittsburgh apparently isn't the front runner for Naslund, though -- who could decide where he goes today. Minnesota seems to be leading that pack, supposedly having offered Naslund more than 4 million a year. Maybe the Penguins will come through and find a way to bring back the former-Penguin. He potted 25 last year and would still make an impact playing with #87 or #71.

The Penguins also were reported to have made a 1-year, 2.5 million dollar offer to Todd Bertuzzi, before backing out of those talks. Let's hope they stay out of them. Bertuzzi is a past-his-prime player who isn't going to contribute much. The same is true of Miroslav Satan. I don't know of the Penguins having interest in him, but he supposedly has interest in Pittsburgh. I hope the Penguins stay away from him, too.

Kristian Huselius, who signed last night in Columbus for 4+ million a season, was also another player the Penguins were supposedly targeting. Personally, I'm glad Huselius didn't become a Penguin. I don't like him as a player either. He has put up a decent amount of points the last 2 years in Calgary after several average years in Florida, but I still believe he's too inconsistent and doesn't go into the high-traffic areas to score.

The Penguins also have inquired into whether Jaromir Jagr is available and interested in returning to Pittsburgh. Some outlets even report that the Penguins offered him a contract, although Shero denied that yesterday. It's hard to get a read on whether things with Jagr may go anywhere. I do not believe he's a good fit in our locker room, but feel he can make an impact on the ice for another season or two. Depending on what's left in free agency, the Penguins may need to go there because they have been pillaged more than just about any other club (Hossa, Ruutu, Hall, Malone, Roberts & Laraque all are already gone or won't be back). That's six (half!) of the team's forwards that need to be replaced. Jeff Taffe will probably be asked to fill one of those spots next season. Beyond that, it depends on who Shero signs.

One guy I'm hoping the Penguins target among those that are left in the free agent crop is rugged LW Matt Cooke -- formerly of Washington and Vancouver. He had 10 goals and 13 assists last year and is an agitator. He would replace a lot of what Ruutu brought to the table.

The other guy I like is C Jason Williams -- formerly of the Blackhawks. Like Cooke, Williams has fallen under-the-radar a bit in free agency, probably because he missed the first half of last season with an injury. When he returned, however, he posted 36 points in 43 games for Chicago. He could be a productive pick up at a good price.

Rumors continue to persist that defenseman Ryan Whitney might be moved to fill one of those spots up front, too. A lot of teams have asked about Whitney the last 3 weeks. Although nothing concrete seems imminent, it's an option for Shero. At Shero's press conference yesterday to announce the Orpik signing, he praised #44 for being able to mesh well with our skilled defensemen, mentioning Gonchar, Letang and Goligoski, but not Whitney. And moving Staal to the wing next season also is something that may happen. Shero said yesterday that Staal was "in line" to replace most of Malone's missing minutes on the power play and otherwise.

More after we get into day 3. Fleury's signing may also be announced soon ....