Penguins: Kennedy's contract status still in limbo
-
Penguins forward Tyler Kennedy scored 21 goals last season.
Share with others:
He does not, Ray Shero said Thursday, have any sort of deadline for reaching a contract agreement with right winger Tyler Kennedy.
No plans to trade Kennedy's rights if there isn't a deal in place by, say, the entry draft in St. Paul, Minn., next weekend, or to put him on the market if nothing is finalized before July 1, when free agency starts in the NHL.
And, even though talks between Shero and Kennedy's agent, Steve Bartlett, don't appear to have made significant progress to this point, Shero reiterated that retaining Kennedy is high on his offseason wish list.
"I'm hopeful," he said. "I would like to sign him. I think he fits into our team, I think he fits into the way we play."
What he would not say is precisely where he sees Kennedy fitting in on the Penguins depth chart. Asked if he views Kennedy as a top-six forward -- which presumably would translate to a higher salary than Kennedy could expect to receive if projected to stay in his current role as a third-liner -- Shero did not respond directly.
"I see Tyler Kennedy as a good, young player who has played well on a good team and won a Stanley Cup with us," he said.
"He's a good player, and I understand that you have to pay good players."
Kennedy, who will turn 25 July 15, had 21 goals and 24 assists, both career-highs, in 80 regular-season games in 2010-11 and added two goals and an assist in seven playoff appearances.
He is scheduled to be a restricted free agent July 1, which means the Penguins would have the right to match any offer he would receive from another team. Kennedy, however, also is eligible to request salary arbitration, and the uncertainty that goes with that is something the Penguins would prefer to avoid.
While they would be allowed to "walk away" from any arbitration award if they deemed it unacceptable, that would make Kennedy an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team without the Penguins receiving any compensation.
Losing such an asset without getting anything in return is something they want to avoid.
Shero said he does not have a deadline for completing talks with any of his impending free agents -- Pascal Dupuis, Mike Rupp and Max Talbot headline the list of those who will be unrestricted July 1 -- but volunteered that "I get to the point sometimes where I need to know" whether a player will accept what the Penguins are willing to offer.
First Published June 17, 2011 12:00 am
