It may not be the potential roster-altering trade the Penguins were said to be eyeing during the days leading up to the 2015 NHL Draft, but it seems the Pittsburgh lineup - and specifically the defensive depth chart - for 2015-16 is finally starting to take shape.
Just one season into his Penguins tenure, it seems defenseman Christian Ehrhoff will be headed to a new hockey home this offseason.
"It's hardly a surprise, but agent for Penguins D Christian Ehrhoff confirms he will hit the market as an unrestricted free agent Wednesday," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari tweeted early Monday.
Ehrhoff signed a one-year, $4 million pact with the Penguins and GM Jim Rutherford prior to this past season. In just 49 injury-played games in 2014-15, Ehrhoff netted three goals and 11 assists and simply failed to live up to the heft of his show-me deal.
"Ehrhoff, who had previously inked a 10-year, $40 million dollar deal with the Buffalo Sabres, was bought out less than three years after signing the monster deal, which led to him landing with Pittsburgh for the 2014-15 campaign," writes Jared Clinton of The Hockey News. "The contract with the Penguins, which was thought to be a relatively savvy signing considering Ehrhoff's perceived value on the open market was more than $4 million per year, looked fantastic, but it didn't quite pan out for either party."
Ehrhoff is said to be healthy again and may very well return to the player he once was with the Vancouver Canucks when he posted back-to-back season of 14 goals in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Elsewhere on the Penguins blueline, the team announced that veteran Ian Cole, who had taken over second-pairing duties for Pittsburgh after being acquired ahead of the March trade deadline, would be around for another three seasons.
"The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed defenseman Ian Cole to a three-year contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford," reads the teams statement announcing the contract.
"The deal runs through the 2017-18 season and carries an average annual value of $2.1 million."
Considering the strength of the Penguin lineup rests with their forward corps, any and all financial savings are going to have to come from the blueline. Cole certainly isn't a flashy player, but at 26 and a former first-round pick he's still young and has room to further develop his offensive game.
In the 20 regular-season and five playoff games Cole appeared in for Pittsburgh after being acquired from the St. Louis Blues, Cole gathered one goal and eight assists, giving him career-highs in points (17), goals (5), assists (12) and penalty minutes (51) for the season.
