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Pickings From The Losers - Part 1 (Tampa and Pittsburgh)

April 17, 2019, 3:44 PM ET [92 Comments]
Sean Maloughney
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The culmination of the regular season is the NHL Playoffs and as we have seen already, teams that have success through the regular season are not necessarily reflected come the second season. A disappointing playoff performance can mean big changes to the on ice product, which sometimes have merit while other times can be completely reactionary.

With a couple teams already out of the playoffs, we are going to look at just what the heck happened and if there are any players that might shake loose if changes are made.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Reports have already come out from Pittsburgh that Crosby and Malkin are the only untouchable players on the Penguins roster, with Guentzal and Murray likely not on the move either. Aside from a 4-3 OT loss in Game 1 of the series, Pittsburgh failed to score more than a single goal in each of the next three games. Malkin, Guentzal, and Kessel each had a goal with Sidney Crosby only managing a single assist. At the end of the day it was a brilliant goaltending performance by Robin Lehner and strong scoring from the likes of Jordan Eberle, Josh Bailey, and Matt Barzal which led to the Islanders victory. So who might be gone and of interest to Edmonton?

Nick Bjugstad - The 26 year old had a rough season. After scoring 49 points in 2017/2018, the right shooting centreman ran into offensive issues, like most of the Panthers team this season. After being traded to Pittsburgh, his overall goals did increase, as Patrick Hornqvist became his most common linemate. At 4.1 million, Pittsburgh may want to move on from the player if they hope to be more active in free agency. For Edmonton Bjugstad could be an ideal 3rd line centre or even a potential winger for the top 6.

Potential Asking Price From Pittsburgh - 2nd Round Pick + Higher End Prospect

Bryan Rust - I would be surprised to see the Penguins move on from Rust, as he is a cheap option that brings a decent amount of scoring, however like many of the Penguins he disappeared this post-season so he makes the list. At 3.5 million, Rust has been a decent complimentary player to the likes of Malkin and Crosby and while those two have certainly boosted his numbers, the fact that he can look comfortable playing with them reflects positively on the player. Rust is the exact kind of player Edmonton should be looking for this summer. A relatively young player on a decent contract who has proven they can play in a top 6 role.

Potential Asking Price From Pittsburgh - A third round pick and a young up and coming player like Matthew Benning

Kris Letang - The big one and the one I would most likely stay away from. Letang is a brilliant player and one of the most potent offensive weapons on the backend in the entire league. The issues with Letang are three-fold; his injury history, his age, and his contract. Letang has not played a full 82 game season since 2010/2011 and has missed nearly half the season on multiple occasions. His production despite missing the time he has highlights what a great player he is but Edmonton needs someone on the backend who they know will be healthy for most of the season. Letang is 31 and has three more years remaining on a contract that has a cap-hit of 7.25 million annually.

Potential Asking Price From Pittsburgh: Oscar Klefbom or Darnell Nurse would have to be included for the deal to make sense for the Penguins, and likely they would be looking for a first round pick as well. Much to expensive for Edmonton to even entertain.

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TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

The team that ruined everyone's bracket. The President's Trophy Winner... the team that had 12 wins more than the next highest team, the team that had 30 more points than the team they were swept by. The main story here will of course be the weak performance by Andrej Vasilevsky who, after finishing the regular season with an GAA of 2.40 and a SV% of .925, plummeted to 3.82 and .856 in the four game series.

The Lightning, who had nine players with 40 or more points during the regular season, were led in scoring by Erik Cernak is the post season with 3 assists. There will be plenty of time to dissect this performance but at the end of the day the Colombus Blue Jackets dominated play and Bobrovsky shut the door against a clearly frustrated Lightning team. Tampa is one team I don't expect massive changes from and fans of the team should tune out anyone saying that the team should trade players like Stamkos.

Having said all that, there might be some guys who end up on the block. With Tampa this has less to do with playoff performance, and more to do with managing the cap, specifically due to a number of pending UFA's on the backend, and the need for a new contract for Brayden Point.

Ondrej Palat
- With a cap hit of 5.3 million for the next three seasons and declining production. Palat could be a player Tampa make want to move on from. His 8 goals and 34 points on a team brimming with offense is concerning, as has been his ability to stay healthy. Edmonton could not take on a contract like this without some cap heading back the other way. At 28 Palat is still in his prime but any team interested in him could be taking a large risk.

Potential Asking Price From Tampa: Some may scoff at this, but with a need for some more veteran help on defence once more, I wonder if Tampa would have any interest in Andrej Sekera.

Alex Killorn - First off because I know someone will mention it in the comments, yes Killorn does have a NTC but it doesn't kick in until the 2020/2021 season. Killorn is fairly par for the course. By that I mean he is a middle aged (for the NHL) winger who can score 40 or more points in a year and makes a reasonable 4.45 million dollar cap hit. Similar to Palat, I don't think Tampa necessarily is looking to move on from the player but if they are looking to free up cap space and move a player who isn't a key part of the core, Killorn fits the bill.

Potential Asking Price From Tampa: Tampa is good because they are able to continuously add young players who are able to eventually make their way into the NHL. I wonder if Tampa would want to take a longer look at Kailer Yamamoto who knows another Lightning player in Tyler Johnson very well.

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There are a few notable players from the teams that have so far made their playoff exit. Are there any other players from these two teams that you would expect could be dealt this off-season? Leave your thoughts in the comments!
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