The Pittsburgh Penguins are locked into an organizational overhaul on the heels of a disappointing end to the 2014 playoffs. They’ve already welcomed former Carolina Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford as Ray Shero’s replacement, and some news on the coaching front is imminent.

The magic of Shero/Dan Bylsma appeared to have finally worn off, resulting in their dismissal. But the Penguins still have a more pressing issue to deal with this summer. It’s a depth thing. The Penguins don’t have any beyond their top two lines.

One player who would certainly help with the Penguins’ depth dearth is pending unrestricted free agent and former 30-goal scorer, Radim Vrbata.

Vrbata has enjoyed a great deal of success while remaining somewhat anonymous over the past five seasons with the Arizona Coyotes. He’s totalled 232 points in 352 games over that span, and he’s done so while riding shotgun on a line with Martin Hanzal. Vrbata eclipsed 20-goals for the fourth time in his career in 2013-14, and he drove the play while paired with Hanzal and a rotating cast of wingers that included Shane Doan, Martin Erat, Tim Kennedy, and Lauri Korpikoski.

Vrbata has been a positive possession player throughout his career (well, at least in the seasons where such data was tracked), and his ability to move the puck north was certainly illustrated last season when Hanzal shaded above 50% in Corsi while skating with Vrbata. Hanzal cratered to 40.1% Corsi for when not on the ice with Vrbata.

Now picture Vrbata on a line with Crosby and Kunitz. That line might keep pucks moving the right way.

The Penguins’ descent into perennial playoff failures can be traced back to the trade that sent Jordan Staal to Carolina. Bylsma seemingly had an effective thing going in Pittsburgh when he was flush with depth. Unsurprisingly, he faced some difficulty replicating those runs to the Final of 2008 and 2009 with the likes of Brandon Sutter, Joe Vitale, Tanner Glass, Taylor Pyatt et al attempting to play meaningful roles in the bottom six.

The Penguins won’t be dealing with a wealth of room under the salary cap this summer, but they should be able to address their depth issues both up front and on the blue line by getting creative with the roughly $16 million not already committed to the roster for 2014-15 and a little help from the trade fairies.

Crosby and Kunitz still have a pretty good thing going, but the days of plopping guys like Brian Gibbons and Lee Stempniak on the wing have got to go.

Enter: Vrbata.

The Penguins are unlikely to be players in the race for Tomas Vanek, Marian Gaborik, or Paul Stastny. There are still several attractive options beyond that trio, and players seeking similar long-term and lucrative deals. Vrbata made $3 million against the cap on his previous deal, and at the age of 33 he won’t be commanding the type of long-term deal that will hurt the Penguins down the road.

Vrbata would be a solid addition who could audition for a permanent spot alongside Crosby. He’s a good skater who proved capable of pushing 60-points in Phoenix while playing with Martin Hanzal and Ray Whitney just two seasons ago.

Make it happen, Jim.



