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

[Jacob]

Where would he play?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Where would he play?

Either he or Brassard would play wing I'd imagine, and the other would play 3C.

I really doubt Tavares does that, with any team. He's a guy who's been pretty underpaid his entire career and he has the chance to make a ton of money. He's not going to take a 1 year, cup chasing deal like Hossa did. Maybe he'll take less to go to a contender, but that "less" is like $9 million a year on a long term deal.

 

[ncm7772]

Jarry and a 3rd round pick with Sheary for ****ing Del Zotto?

I'm gonna leave this place for the weekend.

******ed **** like this is gonna make me say some next level angry ****.

Thinking the same exact thing. It's just so odd.

 

[ncm7772]

Someone had a great idea....that Taveres pull a Hossa and sign with the Pens for a one-year contract at $7 mil if he wants to win....could be accomplished by trading Hags, Shear and Hunwick only...lol

NHL Free Agency: Can the Penguins land John Tavares?

Any article posted on that website automatically gets a "Nah" from me.

 

[EightyOne]

Lol. Why would the pens even want tavares? He doesnt help forward depth..hes not gonna be 3/4th liner or sketchy defense. Lol. Waste of time, money, picks, whatever.

 

[Penguin Suited Up]

Lol. Why would the pens even want tavares? He doesnt help forward depth..hes not gonna be 3/4th liner or sketchy defense. Lol. Waste of time, money, picks, whatever.

Plugging a guy like Tavares into our line up pushes everyone else down, so he absolutely does help depth. But he doesn’t help the defense, which should be first priority.

 

[Shady Machine]

Tavares doesn’t make any sense unless Brass is gone (even if you could cap to work). We already have centers that aren’t playing as many minutes as they want and he’s another guy that wants right half wall on PP. not enough minutes to go around.

 

[mpp9]

If he’s cool playing wing, not getting prime PP minutes and being underpaid, we’re right up his alley!

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

If he’s cool playing wing, not getting prime PP minutes and being underpaid, we’re right up his alley!

Yeah, I'm not sure he'd be willing to:

1-Get paid less than he could get elsewhere
2-Get less cushy ice time and instead be a supporting player here
3-Potentially play out of his normal center position

All just to sign with the Pens.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Back to a more realistic discussion, let's talk about what Yohe said in his most recent article. He said that Dumoulin is completely untouchable and Maatta and Schutlz are "virtually untouchable", correct? If that's the case, I think that just means that the Penguins are satisfied with their top-4. If Maatta, Letang and Schultz all play to their capabilities (or even close to their capabilities), that should be a pretty good top-4 I think. I'd personally rather see the pairs be Maatta-Letang and Dumoulin-Schultz, but I don't think that will happen.

If the Penguins aren't touching the top-4, then I imagine that means the Penguins will be looking at improving the bottom pair and swapping some forwards. I imagine the Penguins will probably trade 2 or 3 regulars from last year either for other wingers or a defenseman. I've already said I really like the idea of trading Sheary for Del Zotto, but I could also see Rust being moved for a more natural LW that brings similar things as Rust.

I could see Brock McGinn from Caronlina being a trade target, if the Penguins are looking to swap Rust for a LW similar to Rust. I also wonder if Tanner Pearson could be an attainable target, he already got his big extension ($3.75 million AAV) but he seems like another LW similar to Rust.

 

[Will Hunting]

Back to a more realistic discussion, let's talk about what Yohe said in his most recent article. He said that Dumoulin is completely untouchable and Maatta and Schutlz are "virtually untouchable", correct? If that's the case, I think that just means that the Penguins are satisfied with their top-4. If Maatta, Letang and Schultz all play to their capabilities (or even close to their capabilities), that should be a pretty good top-4 I think. I'd personally rather see the pairs be Maatta-Letang and Dumoulin-Schultz, but I don't think that will happen.

Being OK with that TOP4 doesn´t mean that you don´t add a TOP4 dman if there is a chance. Maatta is not an ideal TOP4 option anyway, but having him on 3rd pair is tremendous depth, for example... I still think that Kessel´s situation needs to be looked at. His value is solid now and the risk of him sucking like these last 4 months is significant for upcoming years. Also, obviously.. Sheary and Hunwick need to be traded or dumped.

 

[Shrimper]

Don't know if discussed but Jannik Hansen said he doesn't want to return to San Jose with the current coaching setup. He's a UFA.

 

[Riptide]

Outside of Dumo, you can make a case to either or trade every other defenseman. Which one do you make a case to trade and switch ones not to trade?

I’m split on Maatta.

Dumo: Easy no.
Ruhwedel: No - just no value to be gained.
Oleksiak: Probably not for the same reason as Ruh - not likely to gain any real value. But it's more dependent on what we do with the blueline and where our cap sits.

Schultz: Probably not, simply because whomever we bring in isn't likely to be all that much better then Schultz, and we really need his PPQB/PMD skills on the right side.
Letang: I do not see us being a better team by trading Letang. Yes I'm well aware of all the arguments about addition by subtraction, and all that. I still do not see this team being better simply by trading Letang. At least not this summer. And if we wanted to do it next season/summer, we would have to bring in one quality PMD first.

Maatta: I wouldn't hesitate to move him for a strong PMD who is a better skater. Probably a LD, but I'd consider a RD if we were working on bringing in another LD.

One of the issues we have is our makeup on the blueline is a little precarious. Whomever we trade Maatta for has to be able to PK, as Schultz currently doesn't PK, and Sullivan doesn't seem to trust Oleksiak with that duty. In the POs it was Letang, Dumoulin, Maatta and Ruhwedel on the PK. This is one of the reasons players like Demers and Gogo are attractive, as they do it all. They can skate, move the puck, push the pace, not be terrible defensively, and PK. If there was a way to move Maatta and somehow get both of those guys, I'd be a very happy camper. I just do not know a realistic way of accomplishing that. Then if we wanted to move Letang, we'd actually be in a position to do so.

Dumoulin - Letang
Goligoski - Demers
Oleksiak - Schultz
Ruhwedel

Expensive at ~28m, but also deep and good. But it also provides a lot of puck movement skills that we will need if we seriously wanted to consider moving Letang. Then we wouldn't be extremely dependent on getting back a high end RD to replace him as we'd have Schultz and Demers, while also having Dumoulin and Gogo who can all move the puck. And as long as whomever we got back was in the same realm as Schultz/Gogo/Demers, we'd probably be okay.

That said, I think we all know that trading Letang (at least anytime soon) is a pipe dream.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

Don't know if discussed but Jannik Hansen said he doesn't want to return to San Jose with the current coaching setup. He's a UFA.

He'd have to take a lot less than the 2.5 he was making. Too much for a guy who was regularly a healthy scratch.

 

[RizzleMcRib]

Dumo: Easy no.
Ruhwedel: No - just no value to be gained.
Oleksiak: Probably not for the same reason as Ruh - not likely to gain any real value. But it's more dependent on what we do with the blueline and where our cap sits.

Schultz: Probably not, simply because whomever we bring in isn't likely to be all that much better then Schultz, and we really need his PPQB/PMD skills on the right side.
Letang: I do not see us being a better team by trading Letang. Yes I'm well aware of all the arguments about addition by subtraction, and all that. I still do not see this team being better simply by trading Letang. At least not this summer. And if we wanted to do it next season/summer, we would have to bring in one quality PMD first.

Maatta: I wouldn't hesitate to move him for a strong PMD who is a better skater. Probably a LD, but I'd consider a RD if we were working on bringing in another LD.

One of the issues we have is our makeup on the blueline is a little precarious. Whomever we trade Maatta for has to be able to PK, as Schultz currently doesn't PK, and Sullivan doesn't seem to trust Oleksiak with that duty. In the POs it was Letang, Dumoulin, Maatta and Ruhwedel on the PK. This is one of the reasons players like Demers and Gogo are attractive, as they do it all. They can skate, move the puck, push the pace, not be terrible defensively, and PK. If there was a way to move Maatta and somehow get both of those guys, I'd be a very happy camper. I just do not know a realistic way of accomplishing that. Then if we wanted to move Letang, we'd actually be in a position to do so.

Dumoulin - Letang
Goligoski - Demers
Oleksiak - Schultz
Ruhwedel

Expensive at ~28m, but also deep and good. But it also provides a lot of puck movement skills that we will need if we seriously wanted to consider moving Letang. Then we wouldn't be extremely dependent on getting back a high end RD to replace him as we'd have Schultz and Demers, while also having Dumoulin and Gogo who can all move the puck. And as long as whomever we got back was in the same realm as Schultz/Gogo/Demers, we'd probably be okay.

That said, I think we all know that trading Letang (at least anytime soon) is a pipe dream.

Id still target a guy like Hickey or a guy like de Haan in free agency. Use Maatta to get some help up front.

 

[Riptide]

Don't know if discussed but Jannik Hansen said he doesn't want to return to San Jose with the current coaching setup. He's a UFA.

Same issue as with Calvert. How much does he want, and can we afford that simply to play him on the 3rd/4th line?

 

[Riptide]

Id still target a guy like Hickey or a guy like de Haan in free agency. Use Maatta to get some help up front.

I'm not sure how much Hickey actually helps us. I mean given that he will likely cost 2.5-3.5m, how much better is he going to be over Oleksiak and his ~1.5-2m salary? CDH is obvious... but unless we're trading Maatta, I'm not sure long term it makes a ton of sense cap wise with the other contracts we'll have to be handing out over the next few summers to give him the 4.5m+ that he's going to get. Rust, Guentzel, Murray, Sheahan (now and next summer), Brassard, Hagelin, etc.

I'm also not really sure that we need "help up front". We have the horses to play with anyone in the league up front. They just need to be healthy and actually produce.

Edit. And as I type that bit about being able to afford CDH, and think about what I just wrote a couple posts up about loving the idea of trading Maatta+ for Gogo and Demers, I realize that it's completely contradictory. But I still stand by that. I think part of that is how different those guys (Gogo/Demers vs Maatta/CDH) are stylistically. The former pair reduces our dependency on Letang being a legit #1 PMD. The latter only increase that.

 

[Andy99]

Same issue as with Calvert. How much does he want, and can we afford that simply to play him on the 3rd/4th line?

On the forward front, we need a LW....the two best and the two that are out of our price range are Kane and JVR...everyone else out there in FA are older players, 30+, which I’m not enamored of...we don’t need any more older players, as we have plenty....

But if we’re going that route, I would give a ring to Kovalchuk .... I know the rumors are NYR but he’s a big body, skilled, and could work with G or on any bottom line....as with anything, it’s the cost, but if we’re going 30+, I’d prefer him over Komarov or Calvert etc...

 

[Shady Machine]

Back to a more realistic discussion, let's talk about what Yohe said in his most recent article. He said that Dumoulin is completely untouchable and Maatta and Schutlz are "virtually untouchable", correct? If that's the case, I think that just means that the Penguins are satisfied with their top-4. If Maatta, Letang and Schultz all play to their capabilities (or even close to their capabilities), that should be a pretty good top-4 I think. I'd personally rather see the pairs be Maatta-Letang and Dumoulin-Schultz, but I don't think that will happen.

If the Penguins aren't touching the top-4, then I imagine that means the Penguins will be looking at improving the bottom pair and swapping some forwards. I imagine the Penguins will probably trade 2 or 3 regulars from last year either for other wingers or a defenseman. I've already said I really like the idea of trading Sheary for Del Zotto, but I could also see Rust being moved for a more natural LW that brings similar things as Rust.

I could see Brock McGinn from Caronlina being a trade target, if the Penguins are looking to swap Rust for a LW similar to Rust. I also wonder if Tanner Pearson could be an attainable target, he already got his big extension ($3.75 million AAV) but he seems like another LW similar to Rust.

We already have one of the most expensive blue lines in the league and it’s honestly pretty average. I want to see a shake up back there. Probably won’t happen but I think it’s something worth exploring.

 

[MayorofWBS]

Not opposed to trading Maatta but hate the idea of trading him for someone way at the end of their career.

 

[Riptide]

On the forward front, we need a LW....the two best and the two that are out of our price range are Kane and JVR...everyone else out there in FA are older players, 30+, which I’m not enamored of...we don’t need any more older players, as we have plenty....

But if we’re going that route, I would give a ring to Kovalchuk .... I know the rumors are NYR but he’s a big body, skilled, and could work with G or on any bottom line....as with anything, it’s the cost, but if we’re going 30+, I’d prefer him over Komarov or Calvert etc...

I honestly do not get why "old" (and yes "old" is subjective), is necessarily a bad thing. I mean our #2D in the POs last year (TOI) was Hainsey who was 36. Cullen was 40. There's actually advantages to signing someone who's not 26-30. You sign someone that young who's in demand and they will get money and term. You sign someone who's 33-36 and you have a lot more flexibility there with both.

I'm not saying we should be going after every old player out there, but I wouldn't automatically discount the idea just because someone isn't 25. This board in general gets way too hung up on "long term" solutions vs actual "solutions".

 

[Andy99]

I honestly do not get why "old" (and yes "old" is subjective), is necessarily a bad thing. I mean our #2D in the POs last year (TOI) was Hainsey who was 36. Cullen was 40. There's actually advantages to signing someone who's not 26-30. You sign someone that young who's in demand and they will get money and term. You sign someone who's 33-36 and you have a lot more flexibility there with both.

I'm not saying we should be going after every old player out there, but I wouldn't automatically discount the idea just because someone isn't 25.

Nothing’s wrong with it in a vacuum but....look at all the young legs helping the Caps right now play stifling defense...I think there should be a mix of players and right now we have quite a lot that are 30+ and some of our best players...Sid, G, Phil, Horny, Letang, Brass,...and other players that have played a lot of hockey....we need more youth imo as we’re not well stocked in the AHL anymore with players to bring up as reinforcements....

 

[billybudd]

Tavares would make plenty of sense if he were right-handed and expected to make less than $8 million per year, but he's not and he's not. If the Penguins put him on this hockey team, it would be impossible to get him enough ice time to justify what he would be making (and what he'll be making, he'll have deserved).

Hell of a player, though. Maybe my favorite non-Penguins in the entire sport.

 

[End of Line]

Don't know if discussed but Jannik Hansen said he doesn't want to return to San Jose with the current coaching setup. He's a UFA.

Pass. Wouldn't mind Swapping Letang for Barrie + though

 

[RizzleMcRib]

Same issue as with Calvert. How much does he want, and can we afford that simply to play him on the 3rd/4th line?

I'd rather have Calvert at around 2 than Sheary at 3 in the bottom 6.