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While the Penguins are in the middle of the offseason, the Tribune Review is examining all 48 players currently under NHL contracts, in alphabetical order, from midfielder Niclas Almari to top six winger Jason Zucker.
Contract: First year of a two-year contract with a salary cap of $ 1.15 million. Outstanding unrestricted free agent in 2022.
2020-21 season: Always anxious to have a lot of depth in all positions, former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford Juuso Riikola, then a pending restricted free agent, on 5. September signed a two-year contract renewal.
While the Penguins faced an off-season with limited space for the salary cap and several other urgent needs regarding other outstanding restricted free agents, the reason for dedicating such a contract to a player was which is used as sporadically as Riikola, for sure.
Considering how many times over the years the penguins have seen their blue line decimated by injury, it was important to have depth at the position. Given that the 2020-21 season would be played in the exceptional circumstances of a pandemic and the Penguins, as well as all NHL teams, would deal with the possibility of multiple players being marginalized due to Covid-19-related concerns It is wise to have so many NHL-caliber players in all positions.
In the third game of the season, Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson, a new signing in the off-season, left the line-up due to an unknown injury. And with Cody Ceci, another newcomer to the blue line, who scratched himself as he got used to his surroundings, Riikola entered the line-up. In a 4-3 home win against the Washington Capitals on January 17, Riikola remained without a point, as he recorded 14:31 Ice Age in 19 shifts, including an ample 3:22 in power play. His most notable game of the game, and arguably his season, was a breakout pass from his zone that eventually resulted in a goal from Penguins defender Marcus Pettersson.
During the second period of a 5-4 home win in overtime against die Capitals on January 19, Riikola suffered an undisclosed injury and didn’t record another minute for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for Riikola. In addition to Riikola, Matheson and Pettersson, defenders Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, John Marino and even the renunciation of the takeover Mark Friedman would miss games in the next few weeks due to various illnesses.
Due to considerations about the salary cap, Riikola was in the long-term -Injured reserve and stayed there until March 9th. At that point, the penguins blue line was struck by an outbreak of good health. Between March 18 and May 1, Ceci, Dumoulin, Letang, Marino, Matheson and Pettersson dressed for 23 consecutive games.
On April 10, the penguins put Riikola on waiver with the intention of putting him in the To seat taxi group. After he cleared that up, he was transferred to the taxi rank on April 11, and that freed the Penguins from $ 1.125 of his payroll. That deal helped the Penguins acquire forward Jeff Carter on April 12th.
In the playoffs, Riikola was a healthy scratch for all of the Penguins’ six games during their first-round loss to the New York Islanders .
The future: It is safe to assume that Riikola is not protected in the draft expansion for the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, and it is safer to assume that the Kraken will not pick a player who has played all 75 games as an NHLer in three seasons has.
Riikola appears to have many of the skills necessary to be a stable defender in the NHL. He’s a solid skater, prone to safe play, offers a bit of physicality, and offers a pretty heavy point shot that causes problems for goalkeepers.
The only thing he doesn’t seem to have is the trust of the coaching staff. At this point, Riikola appears to have fallen behind Friedman, a right-footed shot, on the left-back depth chart. And with the appearance of prospective PO Joseph, another southpaw, Riikola doesn’t seem to have a chance with the penguins if he hasn’t already.
Considering that Riikola has a seven-figure price and the penguins against are a blanket salary cap, everyone involved could benefit if the penguins find a way to remove him from the list.
Such a maneuver would give the penguins space for the salary cap and give Riikola a chance to play that he probably won’t get in Pittsburgh.
Seth Rorabaugh is a contributor to Tribune Review. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or on Twitter.
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