Salary Cap: Salary Cap & Roster Building | Tell me where it hurts you and I'll tell you who to call

[Night Shift]

I’d laugh in our faces. Trocheck is too good.

You're Probably right.. Maybe revisit the idea in 2 years if Florida remains uncompetitive and he may want to be on a contender.

 

[Pens x]

I don’t want Cullen back in fear he will pull a Brett Favre again with his retirement indecision. I don’t want to waste another offseason waiting on Cullen. We need to fix our center situation long-term and not this bandaid crap.

 

[TimmyD]

Why couldn't we bring Cullen back to play wing on the fourth line? He played LW several times while he was a Penguin... They could bring him back (if the price is cheap enough) and still acquire a better 3C

Sheary Sid Hornqvist
Jake Malkin Rust
Hagelin Bozak Kessel
Cullen Sheahan Rowney

 

[HandshakeLine]

I don't think you have to worry about Cullen pulling a Bret Favre, now that doctors are aware of the negative effects of opioid painkillers.

 

[PensandCaps]

I don’t want Cullen back in fear he will pull a Brett Favre again with his retirement indecision. I don’t want to waste another offseason waiting on Cullen. We need to fix our center situation long-term and not this bandaid crap.

Omg....who cares about the offseason off a three peat.

 

[Tom Hanks]

I don’t want Cullen back in fear he will pull a Brett Favre again with his retirement indecision. I don’t want to waste another offseason waiting on Cullen. We need to fix our center situation long-term and not this bandaid crap.

This would strictly be a rental type deal and if he wanted to continue I doubt we’d be waiting this time. He’s probably retiring though.

 

[Rakell67]

I don't think you have to worry about Cullen pulling a Bret Favre, now that doctors are aware of the negative effects of opioid painkillers.

Is Cullen going to start doing commercials for copper laced sleeves?

 

[Pens1566]

If they can't get an upgrade to Sheahan at 3C, a combo of Sheahan/Cullen as bottom 6 C ain't bad. 3A/3B in reality. Add in an LW upgrade that slides down some offensive punch and it's a pretty good plan.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The Penguins won't need Cullen next year like they did this year or last year or even 2015-2016, so I don't see Cullen coming back as a problem. Hell, if they add a 3C relatively soon, they wouldn't even need Cullen this year. Adding Cullen to the Penguins for this year is purely a luxury move, one that would be really, really nice to do. That is, unless you think Sheahan has proven himself as a 3rd line center and think that spot is worked out entirely.

After looking into it more, I also don't think that Sheahan playing wing would be an impossible scenario if the Penguins add a 3C, either. I'd rather have Cullen as the 4th line LW, but at the same point, Sheahan has played wing a good amount in the NHL so far. If Sheahan is your 4LW, you don't have to play either Kuhnhackl or Rowney, since Sheahan does everything a Kuhnhackl and Rowney combined could do plus he's better offensively. How to make the cap work with that is an interesting question, but I think a 4th line with Sheahan and Cullen is better than anything the Penguins have had in recent years.

Personally, I'd rather just keep Sheahan as the 3C, add Cullen for borderline nothing and swap Hagelin for a better LW for Malkin. If you need a better 3C, address it at the deadline and trade Sheahan in the package if you have to make the cap work.

 

[Corvidae]

I think sometimes you just have to let a guy go.

I know this is a general trait of sports fans but man do Pittsburgh fans have an extra tough time just letting go.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think sometimes you just have to let a guy go.

I know this is a general trait of sports fans but man do Pittsburgh fans have an extra tough time just letting go.

I think most people have let Cullen go, but if Cullen wants to come back, there's no legitimate reason to say no to him coming back. This isn't like adding a 33 year old Ryan Malone after he's been out of the league for 3 years, it's adding a guy who was great for the Penguins last year in a role that the Penguins need help with. People moved on from Cullen, and now that it appears he might be traded, people think he's worth trading for. That's really all it is.

 

[Corvidae]

I think most people have let Cullen go, but if Cullen wants to come back, there's no legitimate reason to say no to him coming back. This isn't like adding a 33 year old Ryan Malone after he's been out of the league for 3 years, it's adding a guy who was great for the Penguins last year in a role that the Penguins need help with. People moved on from Cullen, and now that it appears he might be traded, people think he's worth trading for. That's really all it is.

Well that's the problem, I'm not sure why people are assuming he would want to come back he after not signing here. Either the Pens didn't want to sign him, which means trading for him makes no sense, or Cullen didn't want to sign here, which means trading for him makes no sense. He's also 41, played a lot of hockey in the past two years, and doesn't look very good right now. If you separate the past from the present, I don't know what would look good about this.

The answer doesn't have to be someone who played there before. Chicago might want to make a note of that as well but at least for the Penguins it's only you guys right now and not JR.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Why couldn't we bring Cullen back to play wing on the fourth line? He played LW several times while he was a Penguin... They could bring him back (if the price is cheap enough) and still acquire a better 3C

Sheary Sid Hornqvist
Jake Malkin Rust
Hagelin Bozak Kessel
Cullen Sheahan Rowney

Initially he was brought in to play wing when we had Bones And Fehr. As a depth player that can play C. I just want Cullen back and I don't know if I want Bozak. Actually Bozak can't work if Hagelin is still here.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Well that's the problem, I'm not sure why people are assuming he would want to come back he after not signing here. Either the Pens didn't want to sign him, which means trading for him makes no sense, or Cullen didn't want to sign here, which means trading for him makes no sense. He's also 41, played a lot of hockey in the past two years, and doesn't look very good right now. If you separate the past from the present, I don't know what would look good about this.

The answer doesn't have to be someone who played there before. Chicago might want to make a note of that as well but at least for the Penguins it's only you guys right now and not JR.

Cullen left because he wanted to play one more year but he also wanted to retire and not move after. Literally the only reason. But if he's being misused and he feels it's a waste of his final year, it doesn't matter if he chose the wild, I'd take him back in a heart beat.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Either the Pens didn't want to sign him, which means trading for him makes no sense, or Cullen didn't want to sign here, which means trading for him makes no sense.

Those are not the only options. If he just plain didn't want to come back here, he wouldn't have taken so long to decide what he was doing.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Things can change! I left the company I worked for and a year or so later they called me and asked if I wanted to come back. It worked for both of us so I said yes a came back.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Those are not the only options. If he just plain didn't want to come back here, he wouldn't have taken so long to decide what he was doing.

Right, he absolutely did want to come back, but was overruled by the wife and for the good of the family. They wanted the kids in school in Minny. And if Minny misses the playoffs, he has no chance to earn any of the incentives in his deal, which are based on winning rounds in the playoffs. I'm not sure how much the extra 700k or whatever might influence their decision, but it can't hurt. Cullen is excellent on the LW, and that would be a great depth move for the center position even if we find another bottom 6 C.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Cullen, for me, would be in the mix for last second rentals. Not something i seek out right now.

 

[SEALBound]

Cullen.

Cullen...Cullen...Cullen...

If you would have asked me a week ago, I would have said yes, Yes, YES! A thousand times yes!

But that was when I didn't think there was a realistic chance of him coming back. It was "pillow talk" if you will. Same thing with Kane. Yeah, I'd love to get Kane here...but if the discussions started happening...I believe I would also get more apprehensive.

It's JR's job to provide a roster to Sullivan who can ice the best possible lineup in order to win. Does bringing back Cullen do that? When we get down to the nitty gritty, brass tax...does bringing back Cullen actually make us a better team?

Let's be realistic, he's 41 years old and he's had a pretty woeful year. I've checked Minnesota threads and other reports on Cullen and the jist I get is that he looks slower than last year and is losing battles regularly. If brought in, he'd be the 4C. Is he going to provide more to us than what Rowney currently provides or any other potentially available 4C? Rowney may not be a great player but he's got a bit of speed and some grit in his game. And...he's here. He's "free". Cullen would require a late pick or a b-prospect most likely. Cheap but still, assets out the door.

1g, 5a for 6pts. 50% in faceoffs. Pretty much what Sheahan is currently bringing us with admittingly less minutes and likely worse linemates. He's below Sheahan in production but slightly above Rowney. So the question is, is he the "upgrade" we actually need?

Couple options:
1. Cullen in. Sid-Geno-Sheahan-Cullen. Rowney 13th F
2. Cullen in. 3C in. Sheahan out. Sid-Geno-3C-Cullen.
3. 3C in. Sid-Geno-3C-Sheahan
4. Other 4C in. Sid-Geno-Sheahan-4C
5. 3C in, 4C in, Sheahan out. Sid-Gen0-3C-4c.

Cullen also provides a few "intangibles" for the team. He is that vet leadership that we know we could benefit from. Great locker room guy, could mentor younger kids, and all that jazz. So that could be worth a minor reduction in performance over a different 4C.

When you get right down to it, I know we all want an upgrade at center. Is Cullen truly that upgrade we NEED...or is it the upgrade we WANT? And is what we want what we need? The jury is out, IMHO. I don't know the answer.

My more ideal solution would be Cole+ for Haula/Eakin/Lindberg. Shoft Sheahan to 4C. If he gets going at 4C, great. If not, Sheahan out at the TDL and Letestu or Cullen (if we miss on Letestu) in.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Cullen is also a LW though, keep that in mind.

And I still don't get how Lindberg is being penciled in as an automatic upgrade over Sheahan.

 

[Corvidae]

Good God, let go. Someone apparently knows what his wife was thinking now. Wow. Seriously, unhealthy shit. Change is OK and in fact often needed.

One of the things that I hated most about the 2010-2016 Penguins is that they kept decent players on the roster long after their point of usefulness and drove them into the ground. Kunitz, Dupuis, even Adams (who was fine for a year), but it's heard to remember them in a positive light because they overstayed their welcome to the detriment of the team. Apparently you want that with Cullen now. Trading for him is a desperation move and really a lazy one. I hope JR does better.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Good God, let go. Someone apparently knows what his wife was thinking now. Wow. Seriously, unhealthy ****. Change is OK and in fact often needed.

One of the things that I hated most about the 2010-2016 Penguins is that they kept decent players on the roster long after their point of usefulness and drove them into the ground. Kunitz, Dupuis, even Adams (who was fine for a year), but it's heard to remember them in a positive light because they overstayed their welcome to the detriment of the team. Apparently you want that with Cullen now. Trading for him is a desperation move and really a lazy one. I hope JR does better.

Matt Cullen is a better hockey player than at least half of our bottom 6 forwards. How is it lazy to add him? If we can get someone as good or better for a similar cost, then by all means do that instead. But Cullen is a guy that fits what we need, fits our team, and could potentially be had for pretty cheap.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Matt Cullen is a better hockey player than at least half of our bottom 6 forwards. How is it lazy to add him? If we can get someone as good or better for a similar cost, then by all means do that instead. But Cullen is a guy that fits what we need, fits our team, and could potentially be had for pretty cheap.

No we need to let go making our team better .

 

[Corvidae]

Matt Cullen is a better hockey player than at least half of our bottom 6 forwards. How is it lazy to add him?

Because he has seriously mileage and looks pretty bad right now. Guys do hit walls. It would be a trade based on entirely familiarity and they should really aim higher. Someone being bad doesn't equal someone else being good.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Because he has seriously mileage and looks pretty bad right now. Guys do hit walls. It would be a trade based on entirely familiarity and they should really aim higher. Someone being bad doesn't equal someone else being good.

Adding Cullen does nothing to stop us from aiming higher. We can add more than one player. In fact, we really should add more than one player.

Should we scratch Cullen off of the list of options just because he played here before? I'm not even saying he should be plan A or anything. But there's no reason not to consider him.