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Penguins A to Z: What can Jeff Carter do for an encore? | TribLIVE.com
Penguins/NHL

Penguins A to Z: What can Jeff Carter do for an encore?

Seth Rorabaugh
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AP
In 14 games with the Penguins this past season, forward Jeff Carter had 11 points (nine goals, two assists).

With the Penguins in the midst of their offseason, the Tribune-Review is looking at all 49 players currently under NHL contracts to the organization in alphabetical order, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Jeff Carter

Position: Center

Shoots: Right

Age: 36

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 219 pounds

2020-21 NHL statistics: 54 games, 30 points (17 goals, 13 assists)

Contract: Tenth year of an 11-year contract with a salary cap hit of $5,272,727. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2022.

(Note: The Los Angeles Kings have retained half — $2,636,363 — of Carter’s salary cap hit for the remainder of his contract.)

Acquired: Trade, April 12, 2021.

(Note: The Penguins acquired Carter from the Kings for two conditional draft picks. The first of those conditions — which called for a 2022 third-round draft pick to be upgraded to the second round — was not met as the Penguins failed to reach this season’s Stanley Cup Final. The second condition calls for a 2023 fourth-round pick to be upgraded to the third round should Carter appear in at least 50% of the Penguins’ games in the 2021-22 season.)

2020-21 season: Ron Hextall and Jeff Carter each began the season as members of the Los Angeles Kings. And each finished the season as members of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

After taking over as Penguins general manager in mid-season, Hextall largely left the roster he inherited intact. The only major move he made came at the trade deadline when he plucked the veteran Carter — a player he has ties with dating back a decade and a half during their common time with the Philadelphia Flyers — out of Los Angeles to boost the Penguins’ depth at center.

But for most of his time with the Kings this season, Carter had been primarily deployed on the right wing on a defacto second line with Andreas Athanasiou and Gabriel Vilardi. In 40 games with the Kings in 2020-21, Carter had a mundane 19 points (eight goals, 11 assists).

Upon his arrival to Pittsburgh, Carter was immediately inserted into the center slot of the second line as Evgeni Malkin was still convalescing from a right knee injury. Finding a fit with a much more aggressive approach than what the Kings offered, Carter rediscovered the offensive touch that made him such a dangerous goal scorer throughout the late 2000s and 2010s.

Establishing chemistry with Jared McCann on his left wing, Carter collected nine goals and 11 points in 14 regular season games with the Penguins. The high point of his season came during an 8-4 home win against the Buffalo Sabres on May 6 when he recorded a career-best four goals.

In the postseason, Carter was arguably the Penguins’ best player, admittedly among a limited field of candidates. Primarily centering the third line, Carter had five points, including a team-leading four goals, in six games.

The future: Perhaps the only question regarding Carter this offseason is if the Penguins should put him on their protected list for next month’s expansion draft. Given his age and contract status, the Kraken would likely not select him should he be available. So it might be a small risk for Penguins management to leave him unprotected.

Assuming nothing unforeseen, Carter will likely open the 2021-22 season as the Penguins’ No. 2 center as Malkin will likely still be recovering from offseason surgery on his right knee.

Most of the ingredients will remain that led to Carter’s success as a member of the Penguins and with Malkin likely sidelined, he could even be a candidate for the top power-play unit. A fairly large body, Carter can produce goals by simply going to the net for second-chance scores or he can propel a pin-point wrister through the smallest of openings.

But it’s one thing to post strong numbers while playing with the adrenaline of being traded from a non-playoff team to a purported Stanley Cup contender during the stretch drive. It’s another thing to try to replicate that production through the grind of what will presumably be a normal 82-game schedule.

It’s more than fair to expect quite an encore from Carter in 2021-22.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.

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Categories: Penguins/NHL | Sports
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