On the Pittsburgh Penguins …
David Pagnotta: The Penguins remain in the mix for winger Chris Kunitz. He is getting lots of interest.
Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Penguins biggest priority this offseason is the teams lack of depth down the middle. Obviously Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are one-two, but after that it’s up in the air. They traded Oskar Sundqvist on Friday and Nick Bonino is a UFA.
“I would say is the priority now,” Rutherford said. “We have to see what Nick ’s going to do. We’ve been talking to him and his agent. Hopefully we can figure out something there, but if not we have some options that we’ll be comfortable with.”
The Penguins would ideally like to re-sign Bonino, but if he’s looking for more than a moderate raise from his $1.9 million salary last year, they may have to look at other options.
“You’d like to think helps, because it’s fair to say they all want to come back,” Rutherford said. “But they’ve worked hard for a big payday, and when you’re in the cap system, as much as you’d like to bring them back, you might not be able to. They’re going to do what they think is best for themselves.”
The UFA center crop isn’t strong and is led by Martin Hanzal and Joe Thornton. A trade could become a possibility.
If Matt Cullen decides to play next year and not retire, he could be their fourth line center.
The Penguins could also use some depth on the blueline, especially if Trevor Daley doesn’t re-sign.