Confirmed Signing with Link: [PIT] Derek Grant signs with the Penguins (1 year, $650K)

[Not So Mighty]

Bob Murray in Anaheim needs to go. This is hardly the reason why, but it's definitely an example of why. Grant was good for us, especially when we had no Getzlaf or Kesler for much of the first half. So what do we do in a summer where we need center depth? Let Grant walk over half a million and sign Rowney for twice as much and three times longer.

 

[Wo Yorfat]

His game is holy?

And his wrists.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

What can you get for 2 4th line centers recently pulled off the scrap heap? Probably not much.

Don't look at it too logically. Just because we have a lot of 4th line centers doesn't mean we'd be trading a 4th line center.

 

[Human]

I wouldn't read much into all those centers the Pens have.

between injuries, playing Brassard at W and rest some players, especially Cullen, this is a depth signing.

 

[SEALBound]

4C depth option. Cool.

 

[pbgoalie]

Bob Murray in Anaheim needs to go. This is hardly the reason why, but it's definitely an example of why. Grant was good for us, especially when we had no Getzlaf or Kesler for much of the first half. So what do we do in a summer where we need center depth? Let Grant walk over half a million and sign Rowney for twice as much and three times longer.

I’m really hoping Grant s agent told anaheim they expected more after his last season and priced himself out.....if not, I dislike Murray even more than before

 

[Paul4587]

Are any Pens fans interested in trading newly acquired Derek Grant for Carter Rowney who is on a steal of a contract with a reasonable 3 year term!!?? Rowney can do everything Grant can. Just not as well. And he costs more.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Are any Pens fans interested in trading newly acquired Derek Grant for Carter Rowney who is on a steal of a contract with a reasonable 3 year term!!?? Rowney can do everything Grant can. Just not as well. And he costs more.

Carter Rowney's got the best agent in the business.

 

[bukwas]

I wonder if sometimes when players get to Grants age and are still bouncing around from NHL to AHL they start to focus on the 160 gp mark for pension purposes.
He's not likely to make it big at this point so a little security is a good plan.

 

[Leafs87]

Good to see Rutherford is reading the HF main boards.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

I remember him as a Sabre and it was actually somewhat of a running joke if he would ever score a goal. So imagine the look on my face when I see he scored 12 goals this year after starting his career going goal less the first 86 games. Good on Grant for finally turning into an effective bottom liner.

 

[me2]

He has what they called "Sam Bennett" decease....Always looks better than he produces. Something is missing, maybe connective tissue in the brain.

Lack of connective tissue in the brsin can cause that.

 

[Blade Runner]

Wow, he's worth 1 Mil at least

 

[Vitto79]

Obviously no one cared to give the guy more than the league minimum so he’s a candidate to be waived and get paid well in the AHL as a depth guy

 

[LuGBuG]

Bob Murray
"We really need a depth center guys"

Advisors
"What about Derek Grant he was great for us last year"

BM
"He wants too much money"

Advisors
"He only wants 650k"

BM
"yeah but he could be a flash in the pan, we can't sign him to a long contract"

Advisors
"He will take a one year deal"

BM
"what Bieksa's phone number he might be able to slot in at center"

 

[domaug]

Are any Pens fans interested in trading newly acquired Derek Grant for Carter Rowney who is on a steal of a contract with a reasonable 3 year term!!?? Rowney can do everything Grant can. Just not as well. And he costs more.

that's awfully tempting

 

[DJJones]

Another player Calgary just let walk because we had too many bad contracts on the 4th line. I liked Grant.

 

[ShelbyZ]

From PPG article about his signing:

The Penguins don’t really have a job open for him, although he could conceivably compete for fourth-line time in training camp. A much better way of looking at the signing: It provides the Penguins with a player who has suited up for NHL games, should injuries occur.

Unless there is a bigger trade coming, it still doesnt make too much sense. It is not a 2 way deal, so they wont send him to WB/S, and I doubt he would have signed with pens if he was to be healthy scratch most of the time. Maybe pens were only team that offered him a contract and he had no choice but to to sign, who knows.

The depth part makes the most sense. Gives the Pens an insurance policy if one of their centers or PK guys isn't healthy to start the season and then gives them depth whether he's sitting in the pressbox at the NHL level or a quick call up playing a big role for WB/S.

Otherwise, why would a 1-way deal keep them from sending him to the AHL? There's a decent handful of teams that have one or more (or 5 in the Leafs case?) guys on league minimum 1-ways that pass through waivers and go to the minors. If anything, the 1-way deal might be protection from him getting claimed on waivers by a team looking for a quick fix at the beginning of the season and won't want to pay his one way if the he eventually clears waivers for the claiming team.

As for his other offers, I would imagine him being a center that can either skate on an NHL 4th line or tear it up on an AHL 1st line he got quite a bit of interest, but why he settled on the Pens is a curious case. I guess it's possible the Pens were the only team that offered a one-way? Although that doesn't make much sense considering the Ducks gave an older and less NHL useful center in Ben Street a $750k one year one-way deal... Maybe Grant became good buddies with Gonchar when they were teammates for a couple months in Ottawa during the 2012-13 season and he wants to be coached by him?

At the same time, maybe he got enough interest to where he's pretty confident a team will put in a claim on waivers, but first wanted a shot to stick with a contender this season. And if he doesn't get claimed, at least he doesn't lose any salary playing in the AHL.

 

[The Old Master]

Another player Calgary just let walk because we had too many bad contracts on the 4th line. I liked Grant.

as a fan of his , how do you see a fit with the pens? if he had speed and was a righty to go along with his size I would be all over it. I don't know the guy so i'm just asking.

 

[91Fedorov]

as a fan of his , how do you see a fit with the pens? if he had speed and was a righty to go along with his size I would be all over it. I don't know the guy so i'm just asking.

He's clearly a bottom 6 depth guy. I thought he was great for the Ducks as a 4C. He also played up the line up when we had injuries and did pretty well.

He's the type of guy that looks better than just a 4C and will have a couple flashes that make him look like he can play further up the line-up. But over time, he's a bit underwhelming in the top 9. He's a good depth guy though and I'm not sure why the Ducks didn't re-sign him.

 

[davemess]

You can probably discount Cullen from the centre depth lists, I suspect he will be a fulltime left-winger 5v5.

Makes Grant the 5th Centre, available to cover injuries, allow flexibility to the line-up (Brass to LW etc) and can also cover for Cullen if the team wants to give the old guy some rest (back-to-backs etc).

Plus you can never have too much depth at Centre.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

I hope they dont move Brassard to wing. Pens biggest advantage is having two 1Cs and a 2C to play 3C. Not sold on Sheahan as a 3C, I could be wrong.

 

[Vyruz Reaper]

Can he PK?

 

[USMC607]

Are any Pens fans interested in trading newly acquired Derek Grant for Carter Rowney who is on a steal of a contract with a reasonable 3 year term!!?? Rowney can do everything Grant can. Just not as well. And he costs more.

Lmao... good post.

 

[3074326]

Carter Rowney's got the best agent in the business.

Honestly man. I think so. I'm currently shaking my head in disbelief. I forgot about it until now.