Salary Cap: Salary Cap & Roster Building - Locked in until July

[Shockmaster]

With Galchenyuk apparently playing center in Arizona, I believe this could make one of Dylan Strome or Christian Dvorak available from the Coyotes. Either would be a nice fit here if Brassard is traded. With news that St. Louis is going hard after another center this summer, a guy like Mikhail Barbashev would be a nice get for us. Just some examples of younger center options.

I think the fact Sheahan can move up if required gives JR options, and we could bring in a younger guy and start him on the fourth line with potential to move up ahead of Sheahan.

Did Brassard kick your dog or something?

You really seem to want him off this team no matter what.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Did Brassard kick your dog or something?

You really seem to want him off this team no matter what.

I think there is zero chance we re-sign him. I view him now as a rental. We cannot continue to burn assets in pursuit of the Cup. We can win the Cup no matter what, there is no need for an all-in mentality. The window is not closing. We have 2 of the 3 best centers in the NHL. If teams are desperate, JR can make a smart deal here and really set things up nicely for us.

It's never personal, it's asset management.

 

[Peat]

The only potential benefits for the Penguins trading Brassard in my eyes is pulling off a more cost controlled 3C that is better than Sheahan.

Imo there's a few places on the Pens where you can improve on the incumbent more than Danault would be on a Sheahan 3C. Getting those, if you move Brassard, would improve the Pens more.

 

[SherogoesHAM]

Brassard, Letang, and Sheary for Domi, Drouin, and Patches duh.

 

[Shockmaster]

I think there is zero chance we re-sign him. I view him now as a rental. We cannot continue to burn assets in pursuit of the Cup. We can win the Cup no matter what, there is no need for an all-in mentality. The window is not closing. We have 2 of the 3 best centers in the NHL. If teams are desperate, JR can make a smart deal here and really set things up nicely for us.

It's never personal, it's asset management.

Burn assets? You mean a draft pick and two guys who were leaving after this year? Yup, that's really trading the farm.

Name another 3rd line center who is a) proven, b) costs 3.5 million or less, and c) can be acquired by only giving up Brassard and lesser assets?

Good luck with that.

 

[Riptide]

I swear to god, I literally had this conversation a week ago in this thread about comparing Mike Reilly to 2016 Justin Schultz.

Where your comparison falls flat is that unlike M.Reilly, Brodin is actually a very good player who's established himself as an NHLer.

 

[TimmyD]

Anyone who thinks we should trade Brassard because of “asset management” crack me up..... we would need to then turn around and burn more assets to bring in a 3c because the one we get for Brassard wouldn’t be as good or as cheap. Sheahan is not a cup caliber 3c either

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Anyone who thinks we should trade Brassard because of “asset management” crack me up..... we would need to then turn around and burn more assets to bring in a 3c because the one we get for Brassard opulent be as good or as cheap. Sheahan is not a cup caliber 3c either

What people that have the "asset management" hard on, dont realize is that to win a championship your going to have to go past the point of diminishing returns. Otherwise your upside is what meh.

 

[Riptide]

I don't believe that Murphy guy at all, but if it was true i wonder if the Habs would do Brass for Pacioretty.

The only thing that really interests me out of Montreal is Danault. Patches is nice, but if we're moving Brassard, we absolutely need another C coming back.

Brassard+Sheary for Patches+Danault ??? Think that would work? Montreal gets a skilled center who they can probably keep around, and Pittsburgh gets a strong LW and a replacement depth C.

Guentzel - Crosby - Sprong
Patches - Malkin - Hornqvist
Hagelin - Danault/Sheahan - Kessel
XXXXX - Danault/Sheahan - Rust

Would be an expensive forward group, but overall doesn't really add any cap to the team (1-2m depending on what Danault gets). But it wouldn't hurt us too badly down the middle as Danault is a quality depth center, and would give us a great upgrade on LW with Patches.

Sheahan didn't exactly light it up playing on the 3rd line, did he? Saying Brassard "doesn't fit" after coming off an injury is knee-jerk and is also badly overrating Sheahan.

Not sure I'd agree with that. Kessels' best game in the POs came with him on Sheahan's wing. And Sheahan overall was pretty decent. That said... while I wouldn't be opposed to moving Brassard, unless it's for a high end player and we have a way of getting another C, I wouldn't do it.

Brassard for Patches 1-1 is a win in terms of pure talent, but we need Brassard as a center far more then we need Patches as a quality LW.

TSN’s site saying Bergevin is listening to offers for Domi. We may still get him. Although they would need to send more than Domi to get brass from us. Note they also hold four second round draft picks

Domi and Danault for Brassard and Sheary? I'd do that as well.

 

[Shady Machine]

Oh I agree, but if this rumor is credible (and there's certainly no assurance of that) it may not be the Pens that got the rumor started.

Being the 3C on the Pens isn't some dream job. It actually kind of sucks, especially for guys with offensive talent.

#bringbackBones

 

[Shady Machine]

I honestly wouldn't be that upset if they decided to trade Sheahan's rights, assuming they could use the saved cap space elsewhere.

Can't do that unless you have plans to play Brass on PK regularly and are confident in Blueger to be the other PK center.

 

[Andy99]

I don't believe that Murphy guy at all, but if it was true i wonder if the Habs would do Brass for Pacioretty.

Pens can’t trade Brass unless they’re getting a center back in return or have signed a center in FA and can afford to trade him. MTL is a bad trading partner. JR better not trade players we need on the hope and a prayer we can sign someone on July 1....the Cullen situation last year should give him pause...

 

[Peat]

Anyone who thinks we should trade Brassard because of “asset management” crack me up..... we would need to then turn around and burn more assets to bring in a 3c because the one we get for Brassard wouldn’t be as good or as cheap. Sheahan is not a cup caliber 3c either

Sheahan this year > bonino last year. Either you don't need a cup calibre centre to win, or he's a cup calibre centre.

What people that have the "asset management" hard on, dont realize is that to win a championship your going to have to go past the point of diminishing returns. Otherwise your upside is what meh.

But if you do that every year, eventually the team is meh. In this case, potentially before the end of the window. It's a balancing act.

The team has wants. Brassard is an asset they may have identified as expendable and out of the expendables list, he's one of the guys we probably lose soon anyway. Why not explore using him to make us stronger this year and next?

 

[Empoleon8771]

This is more draft related than roster related, but making this pick may actually have roster implications for next season. Sean Durzi is projected to go in the late 2nd or early 3rd round, what's unique about him is that he's an overaged right handed OFD prospect who can be sent to the AHL next season. He turns 20 in October, so if you'd draft him, there'd be a very real chance that he could play for the Penguins next year.

 

[Shady Machine]

Sheahan this year > bonino last year. Either you don't need a cup calibre centre to win, or he's a cup calibre centre.

Do we have a Matt Cullen lying around?

 

[Peat]

Do we have a Matt Cullen lying around?

Fair point - but presumably easier to find than whatever you're using Brassard to acquire.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Sheahan this year > bonino last year. Either you don't need a cup calibre centre to win, or he's a cup calibre centre.



But if you do that every year, eventually the team is meh. In this case, potentially before the end of the window. It's a balancing act.

The team has wants. Brassard is an asset they may have identified as expendable and out of the expendables list, he's one of the guys we probably lose soon anyway. Why not explore using him to make us stronger this year and next?

And i didn't argue against any of that.

I argued against the concept of doing any move for the sake of asset management. If it make THIS team better (next 1-3) years THAT is the priority. Whether or not assets are maximized is down the priority list.

If trading Derek Brassard/Letang/Kessel etc accomplishes that then by all means but not for the sake of assets.

 

[Shady Machine]

Fair point - but presumably easier to find than whatever you're using Brassard to acquire.

I suppose it depends on what you think Brassard gets you in a trade. I think his cap hit allows a lot of teams to look into acquiring him, but I'm just not sure what he's bringing back in a trade that helps the Pens more than just keeping him.

 

[cheesedanish87]

Pens can’t trade Brass unless they’re getting a center back in return or have signed a center in FA and can afford to trade him. MTL is a bad trading partner. JR better not trade players we need on the hope and a prayer we can sign someone on July 1....the Cullen situation last year should give him pause...

Last year Brass lost his 3rd line center spot to Sheahan in the playoffs.

Then their was talk at that end of the year that Brass might move to wing.

So Brass might not even be a 3rd line center if hes here next year.

 

[cheesedanish87]

GM's getting duped by Kovalchuk again. I doubt he's even that good anymore.

I think Radulov success probably helps Kovalchuk now, but Radulov was a lot younger.

But i agree with you that i don't think Kovalchuk will be that good.

 

[Shady Machine]

Last year Brass lost his 3rd line center spot to Sheahan in the playoffs.

Then their was talk at that end of the year that Brass might move to wing.

So Brass might not even be a 3rd line center if hes here next year.

Their ES ice time in the playoffs was very close with Sheahan at 12:10 and Brass at 11:37. That's one extra shift a game. Keep in mind, Geno only played 13:50 per game, so we aren't talking drastically different ES ice time.

The main difference is special teams where Sheahan played 3:20 on PK and Brassard only 17 seconds. Brassard played 1:35 on the PP for a total of 13:39 per game vs 15:35 for Sheahan.

The wing talk had a lot to do with Sully saying he needs to find a way to get Brassard more ice time and Brass said he was open to playing wing to make that happen. I assume injuries and lack of offensive production had something to do with Brass' ice time being that low.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I'll say this, I thought Brassard was overkill at the deadline. It isn't even about trading out Cole more than they needed a bigger difference maker on the back end. At the time, the 3rd line was doing considerably well with Sheahan. Everything went south after that deal. I'm not married to him as a Penguin, when they traded for Bonino they had him on the hook for a couple years and Brassard they have him for one. Considering he'd be a 2c mostly anywhere else I can see there being a bit of frustration on his part. The Pens just thought this was going to be "the difference maker move" and were wrong, that's all. They paid a hefty price for this mistake, though.

You don't rob Peter to pay Paul and consider that a depth move. That's what they did. A serious contender never trades out a needed part at the TDL, those are left for draft day or summer moves like Neal for Hornqvist. You only create depth by adding to your everyday roster. They ran a 6 man D-corps this last playoffs and it cost them. Depth players were playing every game roles.

 

[Sideline]

I'm not totally against the idea of trading Brassard. If we could do something around Patches and Danault, for Brassard plus or minus some draft picks that would be hard to turn down.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm not totally against the idea of trading Brassard. If we could do something around Patches and Danault, for Brassard plus or minus some draft picks that would be hard to turn down.

There's no chance Montreal is going to do that, though. Pacioretty, Brassard and Danault all have about the same value, Danault is a little lower than the other 2 but not dramatically lower. You're going to have to add something basically equal to Danault to get that package.

You're looking at something like Brassard and a 1st for Pacioretty and Danault, and I'm honestly not sure if that even cuts it.

 

[Andy99]

Last year Brass lost his 3rd line center spot to Sheahan in the playoffs.

Then their was talk at that end of the year that Brass might move to wing.

So Brass might not even be a 3rd line center if hes here next year.

Still, the Pens won't move him to wing unless there's another center. They went looking for a 3C, not a 4C, at the TDL last year because they werent happy with Sheahan in that role....even if they somehow changed their mind (and I don't think they should), they would need to bring in another center BEFORE they trade Brass or they'd be in the same situation last year. Blueger is not good enough and there are no other candidates in house... MTL is desperate for centers...anyone thinking Danault is coming back is crazy (plus he had by all accounts a pretty serious concussion). I have no issues trading Brass if we can get a solid C back, but looking at what happened in the search for a C last year, I doubt it. If MTL is truly interested in trading Domi, and the Pens view him as a center, then maybe that would work...think that's unlikely....

I think we'd need to be trading other pieces to get someone to replace Brass and now we're looking at a substantial retool ...I don't think it's likely to work out