Penguins Stacking The Front Line At Minimal Hit To Cap

March Of The Penguins: LeClair Team’s Latest High-Profile Signing

The Penguins signing LW John LeClair to a two-year contract, believed to be a “bargain-basement deal,” would bring the team’s payroll “near $21[M] for 18 front-line players,” according to Chuck Finder of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The Penguins have still not signed Owner & C Mario Lemieux and No. 1 draft pick Sidney Crosby (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/16). Penguins RW Mark Recchi: “When I signed with the Penguins (last summer), a lot of people in the media questioned me. Well, I believed in [Penguins GM] Craig Patrick and Mario Lemieux. ... I didn’t know everything would happen this quickly, though” (Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW, 8/16).

DEMANDING A RAISE: The CP’s Pierre LeBrun reported the Penguins, after being last in the NHL in average attendance two seasons ago with 11,877, “may average more than 16,000 a game this season.” It is “believed they’ve sold more than 3,000 full season tickets since” winning the right to draft Crosby on July 22. Penguins President Ken Sawyer: “I really am working towards a sellout season, in my mind, and I hope we get there and I expect we’ll be awfully close to that if we’re not there. The demand just continues” (CP, 8/13). Sawyer, on whether the team will remain at Mellon Arena if it can be profitable there: “The city needs a new arena and not just for hockey. We want to make the Penguins a long-standing part of this community. To do that, we need a new arena.” Sawyer added that he expects payroll to be “a little more than $30[M] this season.” Sawyer: “We can’t go to $39[M] in this old building” (PITT. POST-GAZETTE, 8/14).