To try and cleanse the palette from the bad Malkin news the Penguins have re-signed Rickard Rakell.

Hearing this will come in at 6 years with a $5M AAV https://t.co/EUZA1eRco5

— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 12, 2022

I like this player. I think Rakell looked good as a Penguin. I think some of the things he does are very useful. He isn’t afraid to drive the net. He has a clever way about him in both his stickhandling and his passing. He is a shooter. These are attributes I like seeing in a player.

I think he is a good fit for the timeline. The six years? I’m pretty consistent with this. It doesn’t matter. The team is going to suck for a while and these contracts are going to help them do it. For now, he is a very useful top six winger on a team that is looking to take a few last swings at it.

However, and it is a big however, it doesn’t do a damn bit of good unless you have a top end center for him to play with. The things he does well aren’t going to work with mediocrity. We have evidence of this in Anaheim. Who is going to get the most out of him? He needs a very good play making center. Sidney Crosby loves playing with Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust... so yeah.

The funny part about this is the team finally gets a winger for Geno... and might not have Geno.

For those keeping track we now have Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell with brand new six-year deals. The Penguins cannot begin to cry the blues about term and Malkin. They clearly do not care at all about it. All of these contracts are going to be bad at some point. Throw Malkin’s on the top of the heap and get after it these next two or three years.

Sign Malkin.

Create cap space via trades ie Dumoulin McGinn

You would still have money to go shopping. Dylan Strome as a 3C? Sonny Milano their next crack at a Danton Heinen? There would be room to be creative and really bolster the lineup. Those two examples are just some of multiple different roads they could go down in that regard. Technically, their ability to do things like this remains. Although, I heavily question this front office’s motivation or desire to make something like this happen. In fact, I consider it highly unlikely. It doesn’t make it wrong, though.

Thanks for reading!

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