Well, it looks like the Penguins are right on the verge of signing Jay McKee to a one-year deal, so let's get to know him.
McKee, 31, is not coming here for his offensive abilities. He had eight points (one goal, seven assists) in 69 games last season with St. Louis. He's never scored more than five goals in a season and his career high in points is 17.
His game is defense. He was seventh in the NHL last season in blocked shots with 185. For the sake of perspective, Rob Scuderi led the Penguins last season with 164. He has finished in the top ten in three of the past four seasons. In 2005-06, his final season in Buffalo, he led the league with 241.
As PensBurgh points out, McKee (6-foot-4, 203 pounds) also averaged 3:18 minutes of penalty-killing time last season for the Blues who had the third-best penalty killing percentage at 83.8 percent.
But don't think of this guy as a carbon copy of Scuderi. He has a little bit of Brooks Orpik in his game:
McKee is also more than willing to drop the gloves.
He even made Gary Roberts bleed once in a brawl:
To borrow a quote from "Dodgeball," no one makes Gary Roberts bleed his own blood.
And just in case you needed any extra incentive to like McKee, he once beat the Flyers with an overtime goal in the 2001 playoffs:
The biggest issue with McKee is his durability. Be a physical shot blocking defensive player will wear on you. Here is his injury history since 2000 from The Hockey News:
6/29/2009 Contract bought out by the St. Louis Blues.
1/13/2009 Missed 11 games (broken finger).
12/17/2008 Broken finger, sidelined indefinitely.
3/28/2008 Missed 3 games (foot injury).
3/20/2008 Foot injury, day-to-day.
3/18/2008 Missed 3 games (foot injury).
3/11/2008 Foot injury, day-to-day.
10/17/2007 Missed 4 games (fractured right foot).
9/27/2007 Fractured right foot, late October.
4/09/2007 Missed the last 19 games of the regular season (hip injury).
3/01/2007 Hip injury, day-to-day.
2/27/2007 Missed 18 games (lower body injury).
1/14/2007 Lower body injury, sidelined indefinitely.
11/30/2006 Missed 16 games (fractured right hand).
10/21/2006 Fractured right hand, late November.
10/20/2006 Missed 6 games (knee injury).
9/23/2006 Knee injury, day-to-day.
6/01/2006 Missed Game 7 of Conference Final against the Carolina Hurricanes (infection).
6/01/2006 Infection, day-to-day.
11/19/2005 Missed 6 games (foot injury).
11/05/2005 Foot injury, day-to-day.
3/10/2004 Missed 18 games (knee injury).
1/25/2004 Knee injury, sidelined indefinitely.
1/24/2004 Knee injury, left Saturday's game.
1/22/2004 Missed 6 games (knee injury).
1/09/2004 Knee injury, day-to-day.
12/19/2003 Missed 13 games (knee injury).
11/20/2003 Knee injury, day-to-day.
3/28/2003 Missed 20 games (knee injury).
3/18/2003 Knee injury, sidelined indefinitely.
2/16/2003 Knee injury, mid-March.
2/15/2003 Knee injury, left Saturday's game.
1/03/2003 Missed 1 game (flu).
12/31/2002 Flu, day-to-day.
12/23/2002 Missed 1 game (charley horse).
12/21/2002 Charley horse, day-to-day.
12/04/2002 Missed 1 game (knee injury).
11/30/2002 Knee injury, day-to-day.
1/25/2002 Missed 1 game (flu).
1/23/2002 Flu, day-to-day.
5/10/2001 Missed the last 5 games of Round Two against Pittsburgh (concussion).
4/30/2001 Concussion, day-to-day.
3/24/2001 Missed 3 games (wrist injury).
3/17/2001 Wrist injury, day-to-day.
12/08/2000 Missed 5 games (concussion).
11/28/2000 Concussion, day-to-day.
But as we saw last season with the Penguins, defensemen get hurt. That why it's important to have depth.
So Jay McKee is like Rob Scuderi in some ways but he's a different player in many other fashions.
UPDATE: McKee has signed. No official word yet on financial terms though we've seen $800,000 thrown around by a number of outlets.
(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Posted
Jul 10 2009, 12:27 PM
by
Seth Rorabaugh