Pens sign 13; roster nearing completion
The Pittsburgh Penguins will see 4 rookies dress for the team in the 2014-15 season as Nathan Mackinnon, Alex Galchenyuk, Filip Forsberg, and Ryan Murray all agreed to terms with the club. All 4 will be given the chance to play a big role this upcoming season as a big roster turnover has left a few open spots throughout the lineup. A 5th rookie may get some action as Matt Murray will get a chance to vie for the backup goalie position after setting the AHL on fire last year.
Besides new blood a few key members of the core signed new contracts as well. Ryan Johansen and Oliver Ekman-Larsson both agreed to identical 3 year 7.75 million dollar/season contracts. Patrick Kane and Max Pacioretty signed 2 year deals worth 8.5 and 7.25 million a season respectively. These deals will lead both players into one last RFA contract before they become UFA. Defensemen PK Subban also came to terms on a 1 year 8.5 million dollar contract while Jeff Petry signed a 3 million dollar one year deal.
There will also be battles for the bottom 6 forward spots as Ryan White, Kyle Clifford and Tomas Jurco all inked new contracts.
It is rumoured that the Pens have agreed in principle to a 3 year 8.5million/year deal with star winger Zach Parise. It is expected Parise will sign when the UFA period commences. Defenseman Fedor Tyutin is believed to be heading to test the market.
All in all the Pens are close to being ready to defend their title with only a few spots left to fill. It is expected that the Pens will look to acquire a 3rd line C via either trade or UFA and pick up a few depth players.
As the Pens look like right now here is a potential lineup:
Pacioretty-Johansen-Kane
Parise –Mackinnon – Forsberg
Jurco-Galchenyuk-Gallagher
Prust – White – Clifford
Smith
Subban- Ekman-Larsson
Petry – Bogosian
Emelin-Murray
Beaulieu
Quick
Murray
Of course as per usual in Pittsburgh anyone can be traded at any time and these lines could change pretty fast.
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