The NHL free agent market is significantly smaller than it was when it opened on July 1. This is understandable, as teams often make their moves during the early part of the month when it comes to free agency.
Yet, even with this being the case, there are still some veterans who remain unrestricted free agents (UFAs) at this point in the summer. Former Chicago Blackhawks forward Tyler Motte is one of them.
Motte, 30, spent this past season with the Detroit Red Wings. In 55 games with the Red Wings, the Michigan native recorded four goals, five assists, nine points, and 72 hits. Overall, it was a bit of a quiet year from the former Blackhawk, so it is understandable that it is taking him a bit more time to land his next contract.
While Motte has yet to be signed, that certainly has the potential to change before the season is here. The 30-year-old forward has shown throughout his career that he can be a solid bottom-six player to have, as he can play multiple positions and kill penalties. He is also not afraid of the physical side of the game, so he could be a solid pickup for a team looking for more bite.
Ultimately, Motte is the kind of depth player that teams like to have around. On an affordable one-year deal, he could be a good pickup for a team that needs help in their bottom six.
Motte was selected by the Blackhawks with the 121st overall pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. In 33 games with Chicago during the 2016-17 season, he recorded four goals, seven points, and a plus-2 rating. His time with the Blackhawks ended when he was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets with Artemi Panarin during the 2017 NHL off-season.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins had the 30th-ranked power play during the 2023-24 season, clicking at just 15.3%. Only the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers had worse power plays (15.1% and 12.2% respectively). Like the Penguins, both of those teams missed the playoffs.
The 15.3% was shocking, given the immense talent the Penguins deployed on their first unit and how they have usually had at least an average power play, often well above average, throughout Sidney Crosby’s career. It was one of the main reasons why the Penguins missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season, before missing for a third straight year in the 2024-25 season.
The dreadful unit cost assistant coach Todd Reirden his job, paving the way for the Penguins to hire David Quinn to coach the PP and the defense. His work with the defensemen wasn’t great, but he helped simplify the Penguins’ PP and took a unit that finished 30th in 23-24 and got it up to sixth in 24-25. The Penguins’ PP clicked at 25.8% this season, just .1% off from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 25.9%.
Last season’s PP looked a lot crisper, especially with the puck movement. The players were zipping the puck around with authority and also had a lot more of a shoot-first mentality compared to the 23-24 season, when they were playing hot potato at the blue line. They were also a lot better in front of the net and caused havoc, which led to some garbage goals.
Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk wasn’t good at 5v5, but he was the Penguins’ best power play quarterback during the regular season. He ran the show at the point, finishing with 15 power-play assists. He won’t be the quarterback again in 25-26, meaning that the Penguins will likely have to rely on one of Erik Karlsson (if he doesn’t get traded) or Kris Letang to quarterback the top unit. Letang has done it for most of his career, but his game has slowed down over the last couple of seasons. On the other hand, Karlsson can still drive 5v5 offense, but isn’t as effective as a power-play quarterback.
It will be up to Todd Nelson to determine who the best quarterback is for that unit, as he will be in charge of it this season. Nelson was brought in as an assistant coach for head coach Dan Muse’s staff after serving as the head coach of the Hershey Bears for the previous three seasons. Before that, he served as an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars for four seasons and has worked with various other teams throughout his long coaching career.
It will also be his job to ensure that each PP group has a high level of cohesion, along with minimal confusion. It’s something he highlighted when he spoke to reporters during development camp in early July.
“You don’t have to overthink the power play,” Nelson told reporters. “I think the biggest thing is working together, getting pucks to the net, attacking the net. Make sure that when you shoot the puck, you have to retrieve those loose puck battles, come with speed off the breakout, and just everybody working together. That’s the biggest thing, is trying to find the personnel that work well with each other because you are dealing with high-end skill.”
Everyone should know their exact role when participating in every PP opportunity. Players are going to make mistakes, but it’s about limiting them as much as possible so the team doesn’t get burned with countless shorthanded opportunities or goals. The Penguins only gave up five shorthanded goals last year, a stark improvement from the 12 they allowed during the 2023-2024 season, which tied for the league lead with the Montreal Canadiens.
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Regarding personnel, the Penguins experimented with separate units for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at times last season. They worked at times, but this has historically been a top PP unit that works with the two-headed monster on the ice together. When opposing teams have those two to worry about, plus other players like Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, or even Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen, it quickly gets daunting.
Koivunen, in particular, got 21:21 of PP time in eight games to end the regular season last year and never looked out of place. Three of his seven total points came on the PP, and he was using his vision and playmaking ability each time he was out there. He may get more of a look on the top unit or at least on the second unit, assuming he makes the team out of training camp and the preseason.
If the Penguins can get some fresh, innovative ideas from a new staff to build upon what worked last year on the PP, they could have an even deadlier man-advantage for the upcoming season.
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