Shane Doan is the last of the high profile UFA playes that all of the contenders are trying to woo to their team. I understand that Phoenix, Vancouver, Montreal, New York, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are all very interested and depending upon whose inside information you believe, Doan is interested in all of them too. I think the Flyers will wind up with Bobby Ryan, making them a long shot to get this deal done too, though they are a creative aggressive team, so you never know. Let me start by stating what is probably obvious. I do not have access to any inside informtation that any of you do not via twitter or the internet, so what I write is the OPINION of a rabid fan who does spend tons of time reading about, talking about, and watching hockey for years, but my opinion is not based in knowledge of behind the scenes information. So to me the opinions I post have to be couched in the "this thought could change based on some unknown under the radar move Ray Shero may be working on." I did however, call for Neal, Benn or Ericksson for Goligoski shortly before that trade was made. I digress. Should the Penguins invest the large dollars AND term for a player who will start this season as a 36 year old with 17 NHL campaigns under his belt? Rumors swirl that a four year, 30M dollar deal with a 7.5M cap hit are out there for Doan, and if THAT is the case, run screaming from this move. I have also heard this rumor refuted in other reports. I personally went into the Doan sweepstakes thinking that if 3 years and 5M to 5.5M per year did not get Doan, the Pens should move on. I have now adjusted my thinking that the maximum move Pittsburgh should make relative to Doan is a 4 year and 24M dollar deal with a 6M per year cap hit. Why should the Penguins put that kind of money into a guy who scored 50 points last year, and who will be 40 years old to start the last season of this deal? First, in today's age, 40 is not as old as it used to be given the nutritional and workout advances made over the past decade. One only has to look at the Finnish Flash, Gary Roberts, or even Bill Guerin to realize a player could be productive late into his 30's and yes at 40 as well. Second, though the Penguins don't want to give up the farm for a player so the future of the team continues to remain rosy, THEIR BEST WINDOW TO WIN THE CUP is the next two years, with Malkin and Letang still under contract. IF Shero believes that adding a guy who has a Roberts/Tocchet like statistics sheet with 1198 games played, 318 goals, 470 assists and more than 1,000 penalty minutes to this team makes it a real favorite to bring home the hardware, do it now, and worry about the last two years of the deal as it comes. Which leads to the third reason, which is seeing some of the deals made annually and contracts moved, I think Doan will be movable late in the deal if the expected return is then does not fit in with the team's roster at that point. Fourth, he costs zero assets, so the Penguins who would have a bit more than 3M under the cap to work with could STILL deal for another physical top six winger using Tyler Kennedy, Dustin Jeffrey, Scott Harrington, Brian Dumoulin, Derrick Pouliot and draft choices to try and get a mid priced winger like Chris Stewart, Rene Bourque, Devon Setoguchi or the like to complete a top nine that would rival any in the league. Let's assume they get Doan at 6M and can move a top defensive prospect and/or draft pick and Tyler Kennedy to St. Louis for Chris Stewart at 3M and RFA next year. Your top six is now Crosby, Stewart, Doan, Malkin, Kunitz, Neal, and you drop Dupuist to line three with Cooke and centered by Sutter. A pretty impressive group, no? Your top four on defense would be Orpik/Letang, Niskanen/Martin I assume with Despres and Engelland the third pairing to start. Lovejoy, Reese, Bortuzzo, and Strait as potential 7th men, along with Morrow and Dumoulin, whom I think will get a year of seasoning in Wilkes Barre. In this scenario, you still have 3M annual under the cap to work with, which once you pro-rate at deadline time, is still a significant amount of money with which to tweak the team for the playoff run. If you had to move Martin to get Stewart, you could sign a UFA defenseman like Jaroslav Spacek or Scott Hannan as one-two year bridge for your young defensive studs to be NHL ready. To me, adding a guy like Doan, who is a physical winger, a long time captain of the Phoenix Coyotes with Guerin like character, and an ability to add 50-65 points on a wing with Crosby might be something that Shero should go "out of character" to add while his best window for the silver chalice is still open. If Doan, and the supplementary move for a Stewart or Bourque enable the Penguins to win the Stanley Cup nobldy will care that we overpaid for an aging veteran to get that done. Adding a physical winger who can finish as well as add leadership to this team seems to be wise, since the team has not won a playoff series since it lost its cagy veteran Billy G. It is also not so big a deal, and such a long TERM to do real damage to the long run success for this hockey team. Up to 6M for four years, this fan is all in on the Doan sweepstakes! You?
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