A look at John Marino's ‘complaint free’ contract with Penguins

What’s not to like about the Penguins’ contract extension for John Marino?

No. Seriously. What’s not to like?

The Penguins signed their 24-year-old defenseman to a six-year $26.4 million extension over the weekend.

It’s a great deal. Which is why it’s probably not getting a ton of buzz on the Pittsburgh sports landscape. No controversy! No nits to pick or contrarian angle to take.

OK. Optimism surrounding the franchise is down this year after their embarrassing playoff exits of 2020 and 2019. No ability to watch games in person. A palpable “I’ll believe the NHL is back when I see it” mentality.

Plus, the Steelers are in a playoff week against the Browns. And, you know, global pandemic n’at.

Regardless, on occasion we are allowed to look at a Penguins move and assume there is no negative side to it.

Although I can see why the fan base is in that kind of mode. The hair trigger reaction to recent acquisitions such as Cody Ceci, Michael Matheson and Kasperi Kapanen 2.0 has been to immediately look at how each of those players could all become the next Jack Johnson, Patrick Marleau, Nick Bjugstad, Derick Brassard or Conor Sheary 2.0.

Ick. My keyboard actually emitted an odor when I typed that list. So I get why there is a presumption that the Penguins management may have done something wrong while spending lots of money.

However, while chronicling that list of recent foul balls by general manager Jim Rutherford, it tells the tale of how good of a deal that Marino contract should be.

The only question about that contract is how high-end Marino’s offensive potential could become. Tallying 26 points in 56 games from the blueline his rookie year isn’t a bad start.

Can the Harvard product really develop into an offensive threat in the mold of Kris Letang or Sergei Gonchar? Probably not. But what if he is 80-85% of that? While being less risky and more defensively conscious?

If the Penguins can find — or develop — new versions of Justin Schultz and Trevor Daley, any concern in that regard may be mitigated.

If Marino does blossom into a long-term, No. 1 defenseman and an heir apparent to Letang, that contract is going to look like the biggest bargain in the NHL come its expiring year of 2027.

I mean, compare that bottom line to Letang making $7.25 million in that role for Pittsburgh… this year. Ten NHL defensemen currently make at least $8 million per year. Before last season 25-year-old Jacob Trouba signed a seven-year, $56 million deal with the New York Rangers. He totaled seven goals and 27 points in 70 games for New York.

And even if Marino never gets any better than what he was last year — which was good enough to place eighth in the Calder Trophy balloting — then Rutherford has himself a second-pair defenseman at $4.4 million for six seasons after this one.

If Rutherford was willing to take on Matheson’s $4.85 million figure until the end of 2026, or sign Johnson to a $3.25 million number in the summer of 2018, or extend Marcus Pettersson to the tune of $4 million a year, then the Marino deal will still be a steal.

And Rutherford has said he sees Marino possessing offensive upside along with an overall game that is already ahead of the curve.

Again, where’s the worry? Injury? Regression? Complacency? Sure. But that goes along with any signing and Marino is yielding zero indications of red flags in those areas.

So you wanna know why the Marino contract isn’t getting more buzz in the wake of its execution? Simple. There’s nothing to complain about.

For a change.

Oh, and for the record, Ron Burkle is getting the Neverland Ranch for $2 million less than he is John Marino. So maybe that’ll turn out to be a good purchase, too.

Penguins TribLive beat writer Seth Rorabaugh joins Tim for Tuesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” hockey podcast. They discuss John Marino’s new contract, the start of training camp and Kasperi Kapanen’s delayed arrival.