What is left for the Penguins to sort out on defense?
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In the Penguins’ preseason finale, a 7-1 rout of the typically squalid Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena, defenseman Ty Smith had a pretty impressive showing with an assist in the first period and a goal in the second period.
The assist was a slick bit of impromptu work as he corralled a fanned shot and then had the presence of mind to set up forward Bryan Rust for a goal. As for his own goal, Smith got a bit lucky as his shot glanced off a stick and sailed into the net.
Which was he prouder of?
“I’m an assist guy,” Smith said with a slight grin.
It remains to be seen if he’ll be a guy on the Penguins’ season-opening roster as the NHL’s deadline to be compliant with the salary cap ceiling of $82.5 million looms Monday at 5 p.m.
Smith is battling with Mark Friedman, P.O Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel to be on the roster as the sixth, seventh and maybe eighth defenseman on the Penguins’ roster.
All four have legitimate cases to be part of that group that includes Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson, Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta, all of whom appear to be secure in their stations.
At the same time, there are reasons for every member of that quartet to be excluded from the roster, even if they are based more in the business side of compiling a roster.
“I consider us really fortunate to have nine players,” said associate coach Todd Reirden, who oversees the team’s defensemen. “Any combination of them, going into a game, I feel comfortable putting them on the ice. I don’t think there’s a lot of teams in the league that can say that. It’s a good problem that we currently have. We’re working through it to find the right combinations and the right look for the organization and what is best for the players as well. It’s a good problem to have.”
The crux of that problem is the salary cap. With 24 players currently on the training camp roster – including Friedman, who was placed on waivers Saturday – the Penguins are $1,555,175 above the NHL’s salary cap ceiling according to Cap Friendly.
Barring a major trade elsewhere on the roster, the Penguins could very well get their house in order by making some tough decisions with the bottom rungs of their blue line, regardless of how well those players have performed in training camp or the preseason.
Here’s a look at all four defensemen on the bubble, in alphabetical order:
Mark Friedman
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Management already made a decision on Friedman, to some degree, on Saturday by putting him on waivers. Should he clear by 2 p.m. Sunday, that would clear the path to send him and his $775,000 salary cap hit to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. If he is claimed, that would clear nearly half of what the Penguins need to eliminate off the books to become cap compliant.
As arguably the most accomplished defenseman the Penguins have in terms of being able to play either side of the blueline, the right-handed Friedman is an ideal No. 7 defenseman. Blessed with a quick set of skates, Friedman is also one of the most physical players in the organization, albeit by default given the overall lack of toughness throughout the franchise.
Friedman, 26, isn’t the best defenseman the Penguins have (or even sixth-best), but he is probably their most unique given his skillset.
P.O Joseph
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The time is now for Joseph to become an NHLer one way or another as he is no longer exempt from waivers for any transaction involving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. A first-round pick (No. 23 overall) in 2017 by the Arizona Coyotes, Joseph has some high-end skills and emerged with a career-best season in 2021-22 at the AHL level.
Were he to be waived in the hopes of sending him back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Joseph would surely be claimed by another team given his relatively cheap salary cap hit ($825,000).
A left-handed shot, the 23-year-old Joseph has been stuck behind incumbents such as Dumoulin and Pettersson while battling it out with the likes of Friedman and Smith on the port side of the blue line.
The subject to trade rumors this preseason, Joseph was given a prime assignment Friday as he skated on the second pairing with Petry. Joseph logged 17:23 of ice time on 23 shifts.
“P.O played real well (Friday),” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought it was his best game. When you play with a guy like Jeff, it makes the game a little bit easier, but I thought it was P.O’s best game for sure. P.O got better as the camp went on. It’s real encouraging to see him have a game like (Friday).”
Chad Ruhwedel
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The 2021-22 season represented an accomplishment for Ruhwedel as he became a regular in an NHL lineup for the first time in his 10-year career. The right-hander set career-highs with 78 games and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) while offering a sturdy presence on the third pairing.
By most measures, Ruhwedel was very reliable. He rarely stood out in a negative, or positive, sense.
And yet, after the offseason additions of fellow starboarders such as Petry and Rutta, Ruhwedel is once again on the outside looking in.
Ideally, Ruhwedel is a No. 7 defenseman, but even that role appears to be up for grabs with the presence of Friedman and Joseph.
Right-handed defensemen are always a bit more valuable than left-handed defenseman. So any attempts to slip Ruhwedel through waivers might be risky, especially since he has a fairly minute salary cap hit ($800,000).
It doesn’t appear the Penguins are is all that eager to part ways with Ruhwedel, even if he has been relegated to a reserve role. Given his steady approach to his vocation, Ruhwedel remains one of the most popular members of the organization among his teammates and management.
“He comes to the rink every day, he works hard, he controls what he can, he’s a great teammate,” Sullivan said.” He’s earned the respect of his teammates and his coaching staff over his time here as a Penguin, just with his attitude and his approach and his work ethic and his professionalism, quite honestly. He’s a guy that works hard every day to keep himself ready in the even that he’s not in the lineup.
“He has an uncanny ability to sit for an extended period of time and when he does get the tap on the shoulder to go in the lineup, he’s effective. He understands what his game is, he plays within himself, he knows the role that he needs to play for our team to have success, and he embraces that role. That’s what we admire about Chad. He’s done that throughout the course of this training camp. I just can’t say enough about his professionalism.”
Ty Smith
If the Penguins were constructing their roster in a vacuum independent of any financial concerns, Smith would be on the roster based on his talent and how he has performed throughout training camp.
But the limitations of the salary cap are very real and as someone who can report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton without being exposed to waivers, Smith might be assigned to Northeast Pennsylvania on Monday simply because it’s the easiest way for management to submit a roster within the NHL’s salary cap limits.
A first-round pick (No. 17 overall) of the New Jersey Devils in 2018, Smith has two years of NHL experience on his resume and was even selected to the NHL’s all-rookie team in 2020-21 as a member of the Devils.
Following a subpar season in 2021-22, Smith was dealt to the Penguins this past offseason and has spent most of the preseason on the third pairing with the steady Rutta as a partner. The raw but talented 22-year-old left-hander is entering the final year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $863,333.
Sending Smith to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton might not be the best decision, but it might be the only decision the Penguins can make to open the season.
Note: The Penguins assigned forward Sam Poulin and goaltender Filip Lindberg to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Saturday.