Johnson may not be part of the Penguins changes
Josh Yohe of The Athletic: Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson has three years left on his deal at a $3.25 million salary cap hit. Johnson has the support for GM Jim Rutherford.
“Here’s my summary of this situation,” a terse Rutherford said. “Maybe Jack Johnson isn’t as good as I think he is. Maybe. But he’s not as bad as all of the anti-Jack Johnson people think he is. I’ll tell you what he is: He’s a solid, third-pairing defenseman if he’s playing with the right guy. He’s a player that I happen to really like and I think he’s a better player than a lot of people want to give him credit for.”
Johnson isn’t the points producing guy he once was, but that isn’t what the Penguins had brought him in to do.
Rutherford wants Johnson to be part of the team moving forward. The Penguins face a bit of salary cap crunch this offseason, but don’t expect the Penguins to dump Johnson because of his contract.
“His contract is not a problem for us,” Rutherford said. “His contract isn’t going to impact anything that we do in terms of the cap.”
From untouchables to likely on the move for the Pittsburgh Penguins
Josh Yohe of The Athletic: Looking at who will definitely be back for the Pittsburgh Penguins and who could be one the move.
The Untouchable Division – Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, John Marino, Brian Dumoulin, Tristan Jarry and Samuel Poulin.
The Highly Unlikely to Leave Division – Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker, Brandon Tanev, Teddy Blueger, Marcus Pettersson, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Nathan Legare and Chad Ruhwedel.
The So Long, Farewell Division – Justin Schultz (UFA), Nick Bjugstad (one-season left at $4.1 million and doesn’t fit their play), Patrick Marleau (UFA), Conor Sheary (UFA, but could be re-signed on a cheap deal), and Juuso Riikola (RFA but coaching staff may not be a fan).
The Restricted but Returning Division – Dominik Simon, Sam Lafferty, and Evan Rodrigues,
The Potentially on the Move Division – Jared McCann (a better winger than center but third on the depth chart – a trade candidate) and Zach Aston-Reese (will likely be back but a trade wouldn’t be shocking).
The It Might be Time Division – Kris Letang (33-year old has a $7.25 million cap hit. Yohe doesn’t think he will or should be traded) and Patric Hornqvist (he’ll be 34 next year and carries a $5.3 million cap hit. No longer has a full no-trade clause. There should be interest).
The Beats the Hell out of Me Division – Jack Johnson – it makes sense if he’s traded, but the coaching staff had been happy with his play.
The Change of Scenery Division – Matt Murray – he hasn’t been the same since he won the Cup. He’s been below average in two of the past three seasons.