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

[Riptide]

If anyone thinks Grabner is getting 5 mil...they're crazy. He's a bottom 6 winger who is one dimensional. 3-3.5 is what he'll get. Maybe 4.

No way he's getting 5.

I think that's probably accurate. And yet completely absurd. Still way too many people who look at his speed and his numbers from NY and completely overlook all of the very many issues he has.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

There wasn't many of us... it was a pretty lonely place at times.

And like one super persistent guy that whined about him and then we got Brassard and Sheahan continued to be fantastic.

 

[Riptide]

Good news is we have incredible NHL center depth and will for at least this year. There’s enough young wings that I wouldn’t go crazy trying to overpay for UFAs. Big decision is what to do on defense.

You decide on Letang and then if you keep him I think you need to move Maatta or Schultz to find a better fit for top 4. My preference is to move Maatta but Schultz makes 5.5mm so I can buy an argument to move him.

My main point there is that A) we want that transition and puck movement from the blueline and that's something that Schultz is very good with and B) him being a RD is a little rarer then Maatta being a LD, and as such I'd be moving Maatta first as it's a lot easier to find top 4 LD then RD.

 

[BHD]

So... who's leaving if Tavares ends up here?

 

[USMC607]

So... who's leaving if Tavares ends up here?

Too much work for me...

 

[Riptide]

If were goin for LW'ers in the lower price range, i'd prefer more all around players in Calvert or or Komarov or Kulemin or Comeau or Hansen(not sure if Hansen can play LW? Believe the rest can) before Grabner but i wouldn't rule him out entirely.

I do think they could use another one of these do it all LW types to go with Hagelin, Rust(do it all wingers). Especially if Phil and Sprong are in the lineup. You seen how they used Brass sparingly on the pk too so it just makes sense to me. Just a simple selling off of Sheary would give them the room, i believe.

Jake-Sid-Horny
Hags-G-Phil/Sprong
Calvert-Brass-Sprong/Phil
ZAR/Simon-Sheahan-Rust

would be a sample line up with selling Sheary+signing Calvert.
If you could sell off Sheary+Hunwick, you could be players in the top 6 LW'er market possibly.

I'm a big fan of Calvert's game. He's a solid depth player who's good defensively and can chip in offensively, while playing a gritty game with some speed. The issue is what will he cost? I see him getting at least 1.5-2.25m over 2-4 years. Is that something we can or should offer? If we did, it would basically guarantee that Hagelin was gone next summer when his contract expires. I'm expecting that anyway, but I could see him talking a paycut into the 2.5-3m range to stay.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Something needs to be done about the D. I could see if we didnt have the 4th highest paid blueline in the league, but we shouldnt have these issues with these guys getting paid that much.

Is it the players? Or is it the system ?

Do we need to go out and get faster dmen who can move the puck(and able to get back to prevent odd man rushes)? Make a trade?

These are things JR has to figure out. No reason we should have a problem on D with them taking up that much cap room.

 

[Riptide]

Brassard would be worth a bit in trade but that’s besides the point anyway more of a general thing. Play people in the right spots or figure something else out long term.

I definitely want them both to play centre. We need to try to get back to a really strong 4 line team again. They should be centres to do that.

In the RS or POs? I wouldn't be all that upset with trying a bunch of different things in the RS and just seeing how it pans out. If that puts Brassard on the wing and Sheahan at 3C, and it works and they look good/great, then awesome. Hopefully that means we acquired another 4C (Peca please for the love of God), or TB or someone stepped up. But I'd like to try and find a way to give RS a bigger role then what he'd typically get as a 4C.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I wouldn’t play either at wing. They are both full time centres. We should be able to put together 4 good lines. If the plan is to play them out of position you might as well trade them for a good winger.

Sheahan is dreadful at wing. He's built to be a center and is damn good at both ends and his skill is perfectly suited for that.

Brassard plays more like a guy that can move to wing and be ok there. He seems to have that side to his game from what I have noticed. If anything I'd have loved to see a duo of J4ke and Brass with Sprong added in as another lethal shooter.

 

[Peat]

So... who's leaving if Tavares ends up here?

The obvious course of action to me says elite forward in, elite forward out.

The greedy course of action starts with losing Hagelin and then... hmm... Sheahan. If losing those two and a little extra from the bump doesn't cover him, he begins to be a little too expensive. Suppose one might stretch to losing Brassard instead of Sheahan.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

In the RS or POs? I wouldn't be all that upset with trying a bunch of different things in the RS and just seeing how it pans out. If that puts Brassard on the wing and Sheahan at 3C, and it works and they look good/great, then awesome. Hopefully that means we acquired another 4C (Peca please for the love of God), or TB or someone stepped up. But I'd like to try and find a way to give RS a bigger role then what he'd typically get as a 4C.

With Brassard having that groin injury in the playoffs, he already should have been put on the wing to insulate him. Could have tried him with Crosby or Malkin. Kessel with Sheahan. Jooris centering the 4th line.

Ehh forget it...we had too many injuries anyways lol

 

[Honour Over Glory]

In the RS or POs? I wouldn't be all that upset with trying a bunch of different things in the RS and just seeing how it pans out. If that puts Brassard on the wing and Sheahan at 3C, and it works and they look good/great, then awesome. Hopefully that means we acquired another 4C (Peca please for the love of God), or TB or someone stepped up. But I'd like to try and find a way to give RS a bigger role then what he'd typically get as a 4C.

I think Sheahan has earned the benefit of getting a skilled winger on one of his wings and a smart two way winger on the other. It's why I like the idea of brass with Sheahan and then Sprong or Kessel riding shot gun. That F3 needs to just get in shooting lanes. Brass likes to drive the net. Sheahan is sneaky as f*** with his passing around the net.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

With Brassard having that groin injury in the playoffs, he already should have been put on the wing to insulate him. Could have tried him with Crosby or Malkin. Kessel with Sheahan. Jooris centering the 4th line.

Ehh forget it...we had too many injuries anyways lol

Well at the least...and since Sully has like zero line up creativity...

Guentzel, Crosby, Rust
Brassard, Malkin, Hornqvist
Hagelin, Sheahan, Kessel
Kuhnhackl, Jooris, Sheary

I would have been ok seeing that for a couple of those games.

 

[Riptide]

Is Tavares going to take a humongous discount to sign short term with the Pens?

2 years 4m AAV. Will still be 30 when it's over and will still be able to sign a huge deal then.

Man wouldn't that be something.

Sid-lite to play with Sid to cap off his career? I’m down, but I doubt the salary cap or Tavares are.

Logic? We don't need no logic here!!

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Well at the least...and since Sully has like zero line up creativity...

Guentzel, Crosby, Rust
Brassard, Malkin, Hornqvist
Hagelin, Sheahan, Kessel
Kuhnhackl, Jooris, Sheary

I would have been ok seeing that for a couple of those games.

That would have been alot better.

In the end I dont think it matters anyways since Kessel and Brassard werent getting any healthier. Along with Malkin, even tho he still had his shot. Could we have gotten by Tampa and won the cup with all of that?

Not with Murray being average.

Honestly think we would have gotten that 3peat if we werw fully heatlhy. We had these problems because of the injuries, had a negative impact on the rest of the lineup..exposing certain things that normally wouldnt have been. Along with leaving Murray out to dry.

But is what it is, just make the right moves next year to make sure this doesnt happen again. Need quality depth.

 

[Riptide]

I think Sheahan has earned the benefit of getting a skilled winger on one of his wings and a smart two way winger on the other. It's why I like the idea of brass with Sheahan and then Sprong or Kessel riding shot gun. That F3 needs to just get in shooting lanes. Brass likes to drive the net. Sheahan is sneaky as **** with his passing around the net.

And stylistically, he really plays well down low and in the cycle. I think that's one of the reasons Sheary (who also plays well like that) and Hornqvist looked so good together. Brassard also kind of plays that way (or managed to make it look good with Sheary in the POs), so maybe those two doing the hard work with Sprong as the shooter would work. Or put Rust there instead and use Brassard as the shooter.

Guentzel - Crosby - Rust/Sprong
Hagelin - Malkin - Kessel/Sprong
Brassard - Sheahan - Kessel/Rust/Sprong

As to your post with Brassard with Malkin. If you're willing to move him to the wing, suddenly there's so many different options that open up that all include us having a completely stacked top 9. I'm just not sure how willing Sullivan would actually be to do that.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

2 years 4m AAV. Will still be 30 when it's over and will still be able to sign a huge deal then.

Man wouldn't that be something.



Logic? We don't need no logic here!!

Maybe not him, but have to think someone would want to come here for a year or two for a great chance to win. Knowing we lost due to injuries and will.be right back at it next year.

But there are also other teams out there who are close.

I dont care if we ice the same lineup...just stay healthy this time. With the rest they are going to get finally, and not having a target on their backs for all 82 games..we should look like we did in 2016. Rejuvenated..faster. Not having so many breakdowns leading to oddman breaks the other way, etc.

Just. Stay. Healthy.

 

[Peat]

But is what it is, just make the right moves next year to make sure this doesnt happen again. Need quality depth.

We had quality depth... and it all got injured. Really don't think much more could have been done than was, not as long as GM stands for General Manager and not Grand Magician.

 

[Gurglesons]

I like what Sheahan brought this year, but I don’t like him playing as a 3C. He definitely was exactly what I thought he’d be in the playoffs outside of Game 6 in Philly.

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

We had quality depth... and it all got injured. Really don't think much more could have been done than was, not as long as GM stands for General Manager and not Grand Magician.

Lol...youre not wrong.

We had injuries happen immediately after the deadline. Horrible timing. Along with everyone being healthy all season and then getting injured before or during the playoffs. If we had injuries throughout the year like we normally do then maybe we would have seen Sprong and Blueger. Maybe they do enough to be the ones to come in when needed in the playoffs.

But yeah, nothing JR could have done considering the timing. We were on a great stretch around the deadline(one of the hottest teams in the league) and it looked like our only need was 3C. He went out and got us a 2C. Obviously didnt plan on all these guys getting injured.

 

[Tom Hanks]

In the RS or POs? I wouldn't be all that upset with trying a bunch of different things in the RS and just seeing how it pans out. If that puts Brassard on the wing and Sheahan at 3C, and it works and they look good/great, then awesome. Hopefully that means we acquired another 4C (Peca please for the love of God), or TB or someone stepped up. But I'd like to try and find a way to give RS a bigger role then what he'd typically get as a 4C.

I’m cool for trying different things but I’d rather start the season well and be pretty structured. Build up those wins first so we aren’t constantly under pressure. Then try some things out in the new year up to the deadline and then really try to settle our line up.

It’s great to have options to change things up but it’s also nice to have consistent lines going into the playoffs.

There should be enough minutes for Brassard and Sheahan. Our centres TOI would probably add up to about 65 mins I’d imagine. Probably would be beneficial to have Sid and Geno down a minute (average) on their usual as well.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I told my Islanders fan roommate about what Friedman said, and instead of laughing it off and dismissing it right away, he threw out the idea of a sign and trade based around Tavares for Kessel. If you get Tavares for long term at $9 million, which really isn't that much of a discount, you're only adding about $2 million compared to keeping Kessel. You would probably slide Brassard to the wing, possibly with Crosby where he looked good. You could have this as your top-9:

Guentzel-Crosby-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Malkin-Sprong
Brassard-Tavares-Rust

It's obviously a fantasy scenario, but Kessel out and Tavares in would work both in the short term and long term in terms of money.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I told my Islanders fan roommate about what Friedman said, and instead of laughing it off and dismissing it right away, he threw out the idea of a sign and trade based around Tavares for Kessel. If you get Tavares for long term at $9 million, which really isn't that much of a discount, you're only adding about $2 million compared to keeping Kessel. You would probably slide Brassard to the wing, possibly with Crosby where he looked good. You could have this as your top-9:

Guentzel-Crosby-Hornqvist
Hagelin-Malkin-Sprong
Brassard-Tavares-Rust

It's obviously a fantasy scenario, but Kessel out and Tavares in would work both in the short term and long term in terms of money.

That's stupid. In a good way.

But do sign and trades happen these days? Legit question as I no longer pay as much attention that I used to.

 

[Empoleon8771]

That's stupid. In a good way.

But do sign and trades happen these days? Legit question as I no longer pay as much attention that I used to.

They almost never do, but how often do players like Tavares actually reach free agency? Not only in terms of talent level, but how much it would cost in terms of cap hit to sign him. The Penguins can't even remotely consider signing him in free agency (not even talking about a bidding war, just talking about fitting him under the cap), it would have to be a trade involving Kessel.

It's a crazy suggestion, but it's not too crazy to think about if the Islanders aren't going to re-sign Tavares and if the coaching staff/management have friction with Kessel. The Islanders get something for Tavares that helps them a lot rather than losing him for nothing, the Penguins get the better and younger player for what would probably end up being not too much more money.

 

[USMC607]

The obvious course of action to me says elite forward in, elite forward out.

The greedy course of action starts with losing Hagelin and then... hmm... Sheahan. If losing those two and a little extra from the bump doesn't cover him, he begins to be a little too expensive. Suppose one might stretch to losing Brassard instead of Sheahan.

I love hags dont get me wrong.

But

Hags, Sheary, Brassard or Sheahan out
Tavares in
Profit