Penguins’ Asking Price for Rickard Rakell Needs to Remain Sky High
When mentioning the name Ron Hextall to a Pittsburgh Penguins fan, it’s enough for them to have a bottle of Pepto Bismol on standby.
While Hextall’s tenure was mainly forgettable, as Pens general manager, he made objectively his best move at the 2022 trade deadline - acquiring Rickard Rakell from the Anaheim Ducks. Later that offseason, Hextall extended Rakell by signing him to a six-year extension worth $30 million.
Following an injury-plagued, 2023-24 campaign, in which he only put up 15 goals, Rakell bounced back in a big way last season, as he led the Penguins with a career-high 35 goals.
Pittsburgh found themselves in seller mode at the trade deadline. The biggest move was trading their best defenseman, Marcus Pettersson, to the Vancouver Canucks. Tons of speculation circulated around Rakell being a possible trade piece, but the veteran forward wasn’t dealt.
Reports had surfaced after the deadline that Kyle Dubas’ asking price for Rakell was a pair of first round picks, as well as a top prospect. Apparently, other teams weren’t willing to go that high.
With the NHL free agency period beginning July 1st, the two biggest wingers on the open market will be Mitch Marner and Brock Boeser.
Early rumblings from insiders are that Marner could receive up to $14 million annually, in the 7-8 year range. As for Boeser, the projected figure is expected to be $8+ million, for about the same length.
It’s likely that teams who will be in the sweepstakes, for either Marner or Boeser’s services, might go the trade route with Rakell, if they lose out on both.
Rakell is under contract with the Penguins the next three seasons, with an AAV of $5 million, which is a bargain, for a proven 30-goal scorer. While getting Rakell would obviously involve moving significant, draft capital, and probably a top end prospect, the money is much more favorable, to a forward that I think is equally as good as Marner and Boeser.
Personally, Dubas shouldn’t budge off his asking price for Rakell, given the production, years of control, and reasonable amount. If a team truly views itself as a Stanley Cup contender, and they feel Rakell can be that missing piece to their Top 6 puzzle, then that team needs to aim extremely high.