The interest in Shane Doan continues with another team making an offer. (Getty Images) |
Based on the way the offseason has gone it would probably be easier to list the teams that don't have an interest in free agent forward Shane Doan, or the teams that Doan doesn't have an interest in joining.
There seems to be some sort of "mutual interest" with every team in the league.
The latest club reported to have made an offer to the veteran forward: the Pittsburgh Penguins, according to Shelly Anderson of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Have confirmed the #Penguins have made offer to UFA Shane Doan and there is mutual interest. Don't have terms of offer. No timetable.
— Shelly Anderson (@pgshelly) July 16, 2012
The Penguins are still in the market for a top-six winger (preferably one to play alongside Sidney Crosby) and have a ton of cap space to make a move thanks to the offseason trades of Jordan Staal and Zbynek Michalek.
Offense isn't really Penguins' biggest need at this point given that they were the highest scoring team in the NHL last season, but they've been searching for a top-line winger to play alongside Crosby for years. Now that he's received his long-term contract extension, there doesn't seem to be a better time than the present.
So far this offseason they've been connected in trade rumors to Rick Nash and Bobby Ryan (and they have plenty of assets to move) as well as free agents Doan and Alexander Semin.
Semin is a younger, better player (and might actually be a pretty good fit in Pittsburgh) but Doan seems like the type of player that Pittsburgh might have more interest in. He also might fit the style of play better. The Penguins attack is all about an aggressive forecheck and playing a physical, grinding game along the boards, a game that Doan is able to play.
He is still waiting to make a final decision on where he will play this season and recently said he would wait until at least July 16 (that would be Monday) before deciding whether or not to return to Phoenix, the only franchise he's ever played for in his NHL career.
It was also reported that at least one Eastern Conference team made Doan a massive offer in free agency worth $30 million over four years.
If the Penguins don't add another forward from outside the organization this summer the internal options that have been mentioned to get a chance on a top-line role are Tyler Kennedy, Eric Tangradi and 2010 first-round draft pick Beau Bennett. Bennett seems like an extreme longshot given that he's yet to play a game of professional hockey and is coming off an injury-shortened season at the University of Denver.
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