NHL Rumors: Could the Pittsburgh Penguins sign John Tavares?

The lastest NHL Rumors tie the Pittsburgh Penguins to soon-to-be free agent center John Tavares. Is it plausible for them to afford him?

The Pittsburgh Penguins‘ quest for three consecutive Stanley Cups has come to an end. It was a noble attempt, but ultimately, the Washington Capitals got the best of them in six games in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. General Manager Jim Rutherford is on record saying there will be changes. The latest NHL Rumors suggest a huge one could be coming, in the form of soon-to-be free agent center John Tavares.

In his most recent 31 Thoughts article, Elliotte Friedman notes the possibility.

"Assuming [Lou Lamoriello] does take over, that probably means a new pitch to keep John Tavares. The captain’s done a very good job of staying under the radar… Someone we do not expect is going to come out of nowhere to take a run at him. It’s purely a guess, but Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is the kind of guy I could see staying up at night figuring out how to do it."

Rutherford has proven to be wily when dealing with salary cap space. Remember, he persuaded the Vegas Golden Knights to take on part of Derick Brassard’s contract so he could fit him in under the salary cap. Also, nobody thought the Pens would be able to come up with the cap space to trade for Phil Kessel, but they did (though this was with retained salary).

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The Penguins aren’t entering the 2018 offseason with much cap space. Assuming the salary cap ceiling is at $80 million, they’re projected to have $9.7825 million with 17 players under contract. If Tavares wants an eight digit salary, signing with the Penguins is out of the question.

However, this is a way for him to sign in Pittsburgh that makes sense. Tavares could go the Marian Hossa route. Back in 2008, the wing signed with the Detroit Red Wings for one-year to try to win a Stanley Cup. He turned down larger offers to do so. After spending his entire career with the New York Islanders and only seeing the postseason three times, maybe Tavares wants to go to Pittsburgh for a year to try to win a Stanley Cup.

Hossa signed for $7.45 million, so let’s assume Tavares signs for that too. The Penguins would have $2.5325 million of cap space to sign four players. Pittsburgh wouldn’t be able to fit four guys under that even if they used four players who are making the league minimum. How could the Penguins create salary cap space? There are a few options.

1. Trade Phil Kessel

The only reason trading Kessel makes any sense is he’s coming off his best season. However, considering he has a no-trade clause and how he used it to end up in Pittsburgh, that would kill just about any value he has. There’s no way the Penguins trade Kessel for anything resembling fair value. So let’s rule that out.

2. Trade Kris Letang

This option is more plausible than the first. And it makes more sense. When he’s right, he’s one of the best in the world at what he does. There’s just one problem – Letang hasn’t been right. Brian Dumoulin’s emergence makes him no longer the Penguins best defenseman. For now, anyway.

That said, the Penguins don’t have great defensive depth to begin with. Trading Letang would make it even worse. The Penguins would be wise to give him a full offseason, something he didn’t have last summer. His track record of success is worth betting on.

3. Trade Other Players

This option is probably the best. The Penguins are already considering moving various players. Conor Sheary and Matt Hunwick would clear $5.25 million, assuming they don’t take any salary back. If the Pens sign Daniel Sprong to a $900,000 deal, re-sign Jamie Oleksiak to a $1.5 million deal, and use someone making $650,000 (the NHL minimum), that’s $2.15 million.

The Penguins would probably have to trade Carl Hagelin as well. It’s not ideal, but getting his $4 million cap hit off the books would help them afford Tavares. Replace him with someone making $800,000, that’s an extra $3.2 million.

With these moves, the Penguins would have just under $13 million of cap space with 18 players signed. Factor in Tavares, that’s about $5.5 million with 19 players signed. That’s doable.

Tavares would have to be interested in playing for the Penguins for them to sign him. If he wants money, any number of teams could do that. But the Penguins can’t afford to give him much more than about $8 million.

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So while Tavares in Pittsburgh sounds nice, the chances of it happening are awful at best. Still, you can’t rule it out completely. Let’s be real. The staredown between Tavares and the Islanders has been a farce. Why should fans expect his free agency to be any different?

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