PITTSBURGH — What am I missing here?
The Penguins need a goalie, and the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, who happens to be a civic treasure in Western Pennsylvania, was just made available for ... let me double-check this ... nothing.
So why isn't he here already?
Why didn't the Penguins jump on Marc-Andre Fleury when Vegas put him up for sale and spend the $7 million for one season? Jim Rutherford would have snatched him up in five seconds and left a tip. The Penguins could have figured out the money part later. They just spent $5.25 million on Brock McGinn, Evan Rodrigues, Taylor Fedun and ... let me double-check this ... Dominik Simon when free agency opened Wednesday.
Timeout here for a Simon rant. What is the fascination with this guy? I realize he'll only cost $750,000 if he plays in the NHL (less in the minors), but that's $750,000 that could have been better spent.
Simon went from doing very little here to doing even less in Calgary, where he played 11 games and literally put up zeroes across the board. He might as well have been a ghost. No points. No assists. No penalty minutes. He did manage four shots. So yes, by all means, bring him back.
I wish him luck. I really do. He seems like a nice man. But Simon says, "Cut the cord already!"
As for McGinn, I appreciate a quality penalty killer as much as anyone. He's a good player. But if the Penguins do not upgrade in goal, every other move is pointless. If this was their big offseason move, underwhelming would be too light a word to describe it.
Apologies here, but if the Penguins use McGinn in one of those promotions where a player visits somebody's house to hand out season-tickets, he's so unrecognizable he might get the door shut in his face. (Note to Penguins front office: DO NOT send Dominik Simon on one of those missions.)
Literally nothing else matters if the goaltending issue isn't solved. We saw graphic evidence of such in the Islanders series, where the Penguins carried the territorial play only to see Tristan Jarry experience a Chernobyl-level meltdown.
You know the saying, "One person doesn't lose a game," right? Jarry disproved that. He lost multiple games and the series. And this was after a regular season in which he finished tied for 26th in the NHL in save percentage, although he did play well for a stretch.
I'm not discounting the idea that Jarry could still be a quality NHL goalie. It's just that if I'm the Penguins, and my championship window is closing faster than Connor McDavid on a breakaway, I want a better one while I'm waiting. Like maybe the reigning Vezina Trophy winner. I wouldn't even be against pairing Jarry with Fleury. Could be good for both, and it would only be for one year.
Fleury might still be available. The question now is what happens with him and the Chicago Blackhawks. My initial reaction was that Chicago couldn't be dealing for Fleury to actually play him, but rather to flip him for assets. Now I'm not so sure.
The Blackhawks went all in for stud defenseman Seth Jones. Their captain, Jonathan Toews, is coming back after a medical issue kept him out for a season. Maybe they believe they can make another run and Fleury can put them over the top.
I don't believe for a second that Fleury would refuse to report. He is eight wins away from 500 and one year away from choosing his next destination. He'll play. Maybe the Penguins could still jump in and propose a trade, although the Post-Gazette reported Wednesday that they are not especially interested in bringing Fleury back.
Would that change if Chicago was willing to retain part of that $7 million cap hit? Perhaps, but then the Penguins would have to part with real assets to get him.
Hextall is known for his patience. Maybe he's playing possum here. Maybe he has his eye on another goalie. There was a run on them Wednesday. Maybe he'll wait and see how things go for the first half of the season and then strike.
As a former goaltender himself, Hextall cannot possibly believe Jarry and Casey DeSmith are the answers in goal.
Can he?
