Is there a chance the Penguins might sign Jonathan Cheechoo?
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Question: Do you think there is a chance that the Penguins could take a stab at signing Jonathan Cheechoo? He is a just a couple of years removed from a 56-goal season. Playing next to Sidney Crosby, he could at least get back to scoring 30 goals a season.
Brian Pietro, Weirton, W. Va.
MOLINARI: The Penguins, and 28 other teams, passed on a chance to claim Cheechoo when Ottawa put him on waivers late last week, which is why Cheechoo will spend the Olympic break -- and perhaps the rest of 2009-10 -- laboring for the greater glory of the Binghamton Senators of the American Hockey League.
Turns out there just isn't much of a market for a guy who carries a $3 million cap hit through 2010-11 and contributed all of five goals in 61 games with Ottawa this season, despite being used in a prominent role until he gave coach Cory Clouston and his staff no reason to believe he would be productive there.
Cheechoo generated headlines across North America when he scored 56 goals with San Jose in 2005-06, but his output has declined steadily since then. He got 37 in 2006-07, followed by 23, 12 and, finally, five. He is a hard worker with a good shot, but is a sub-par skater who is not very good defensively, and those shortcomings make him a less-than-ideal fit here. (No, not because the Penguins already have more than enough forwards who have been suspect in their own end.)
If he had a more modest salary, Cheechoo might be worth a gamble, but for any club with salary-cap concerns -- and that's most of the contenders -- it seems like the certain fiscal risks of adding him outweigh any potential on-ice rewards.
First Published February 15, 2010 12:00 am
