Salary Cap: 2014-15 Roster-building Thread | All UFA/trade talk, speculation here

[Riptide]

While this is probably true, it's also a question of how much he costs. I mean, some people here have suggested for him to get a raise.
Maybe we will get worse at the goaltending position if we sign one of these options but if the new guy comes at a third of the price? Wouldn't you consider that?

Absolutely. It all comes down to the money and term. Ideally we move on... however if we do re-sign him, it had better be at similar money (anyone suggesting 3.5m is out to lunch), and for a max of 2-3 years.

But I don't think we'd get away with filling the position for much less than what we're spending now (5+1). Even going with some combo of Fasth, Greiss, Neuvirth or Niemi will cost at least 5-6m.

 

[Shady Machine]

Fleury isn't going to sign a 2 year contract so you might as well stop saying it.

 

[IcedCapp]

I would be open to re-signing fleury if he's open to a 3-year deal. His last deal was an elite deal. He has not earned another elite deal. If he's set on getting paid money and term, vaya con dios.

 

[penguins2946*]

Fleury isn't going to sign a 2 year contract so you might as well stop saying it.

Everyone said Ehrhoff wouldn't sign a 1 year contract, then that happened. No one knows what a player wants. Maybe Fleury realizes he won't get what he wants in free agency this year and he wants to wait a couple years to raise his value. We don't know.

 

[Riptide]

Fleury isn't going to sign a 2 year contract so you might as well stop saying it.

Everyone thought Vanek was going to sign for long term and he didn't... So while it's unlikely, it all depends on how the season plays out, and what he thinks his options are.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Bernier is a guy I wish we had gone after. Maybe even Schneider. Bishop obviously would have been nice, but I only say that one with hindsight.

 

[Shwag33]

If he's capable, then I would be fine with that. It just seems very unlikely in my opinion, unlikely enough to the point where I don't even consider it a possibility.

If Fleury won't sign for 3 years, I just wouldn't sign him. We have 2 very good goalie prospects that should be ready by the start of 18-19. Signing Fleury to a 2 or 3 year deal gives him 1 more opportunity to get a big deal (he will be 32 or 33 by the end of the deal). If he doesn't want that and he wants to sign a long term deal with a team right now, I'd move on from him. He has not done nearly enough in recent years to justify giving him 4+ years at this point.

How much are you willing to spend? Everything i've read he wont take a pay cut. So you'd pay him 5 mill a year?

If they give Greiss the starts I think there's a better chance than you think he could take over. Fleury has been about equal to his backups in stats for a while. I think last year he was a decent amount better than zatcoff, but the 4 years prior the stats were near equal to his backup.

 

[Shady Machine]

Everyone said Ehrhoff wouldn't sign a 1 year contract, then that happened. No one knows what a player wants. Maybe Fleury realizes he won't get what he wants in free agency this year and he wants to wait a couple years to raise his value. We don't know.

We also don't know that Greiss doesn't come in and light it up. We don't actually know anything when it comes to the future. So if it's cool for you to write off the option of Greiss being a starter in the future, it's also cool for me to write off the notion that Fleury will sign a short term deal.

 

[penguins2946*]

Bernier is a guy I wish we had gone after. Maybe even Schneider. Bishop obviously would have been nice, but I only say that one with hindsight.

There are some young backups with starting potential that are stuck behind elite starters that we could look at. Jones from the Kings is probably the most logical option. He's not beating out Quick, and he put up fantastic numbers in his first season. One of Andersen or Gibson from Anaheim is another interesting candidate that could be available.

 

[SEALBound]

We may as well try to sign him. We aren't gonna find a better goalie in FA...and we have so few trade assets for a good goalie. Just sign a good backup like Vokoun or Greiss that can step in when needed.

 

[Deutschland Dangler]

If he's capable, then I would be fine with that.

The thing is, no one of the usual Fleury supporters would ever admit that he is, regardless of his performance.

 

[penguins2946*]

How much are you willing to spend? Everything i've read he wont take a pay cut. So you'd pay him 5 mill a year?

If they give Greiss the starts I think there's a better chance than you think he could take over. Fleury has been about equal to his backups in stats for a while. I think last year he was a decent amount better than zatcoff, but the 4 years prior the stats were near equal to his backup.

You also have to reaize that backups tend to get easier matchups than starters. Talbot had a higher save% than Lundqvist last year, but that doesn't change that Lundqvist is a **** ton better than Talbot.

We also don't know that Greiss doesn't come in and light it up. We don't actually know anything when it comes to the future. So if it's cool for you to write off the option of Greiss being a starter in the future, it's also cool for me to write off the notion that Fleury will sign a short term deal.

Fleury taking a short term deal seems a lot more likely than a goalie with a career high of 25 games in a season becoming a starter in the future. Let's see how he does this year. I hope Greiss can handle a starting role, I'm just not going to get my hopes up on it.

 

[radapex]

Zatcoff was a pretty good backup last year. Why else do you go out and sign Greiss, especially if you have another backup already signed on a 1 way deal?

Maybe he feels Greiss can at least match what fleury does for a lot cheaper? I'm not sure, I haven't seen enough of him to make that call. I just dont believe JR wanted 'backup' competition.

GMJR signed Greiss because of what he saw in Carolina - he actually specifically stated that upon signing him. Ward got hurt, Khudobin stepped in; Khudobin got hurt, Peters stepped in. He didn't feel the Pens had a viable "Peters" option, so he got Greiss and shuffled Zatkoff down to #3 on the depth chart.

I think there was a tweet or blurb about Greiss signing here because he could challenge for the starting position. At the very least they improved on Zatkoff.

I doubt Greiss has any allusions to taking the starting job away from Fleury this season. However, I do think he expects that Fleury will be gone and he'll be in prime position to take over for next season.

 

[Riptide]

Fleury has to be in a bizarre situation. There's the pressure to win, but there are still a lot of fans who defend the **** he did and the team itself let him do whatever for years without real consequences. Even his teammates consistently defended and praised him, and then looked like they didn't trust him on the ice in the playoffs.

Of course they did. Every player recognizes that they themselves (and others) make mistakes from time to time (sometimes more often), but they still have to co-exist in the same dressing room. So it doesn't really accomplish much to for someone to come out and say MAF sucks, and that the team doesn't have any confidence in front of him... I mean what happens when he's in net the next game?

Just like in most corporations, while I have many opinions (good and bad) about many of my co-workers and management, the smart move is for me to be pretty discrete about when I voice those opinions. To the media is not the place.

 

[radapex]

I would be open to re-signing fleury if he's open to a 3-year deal. His last deal was an elite deal. He has not earned another elite deal. If he's set on getting paid money and term, vaya con dios.

Something along the lines of what Halak or Hiller got seems to be reasonable value - 2-4 years @ $4.5M per year. Whether he gets that in Pittsburgh or not is another story. If he hits UFA, nobody will get him that low because he's looking like the top UFA goalie next summer.

 

[Til the End of Time]

i must be going insane. how can people be open to signing fleury? one playoff where he finally wasnt weakest link on the roster is enough to convince folks?

the guy delivered several of the all-time worst postseasons on some of the best teams in the league, year after year. there is no way one average postseason can make up for that.

you want to talk about a guy that embodies the country club atmosphere, its fleury. guy is the epitome of the underachieving that has plagued this team for years.

 

[gordie]

i must be going insane. how can people be open to signing fleury? one playoff where he finally wasnt weakest link on the roster is enough to convince folks?

the guy delivered several of the all-time worst postseasons on some of the best teams in the league, year after year. there is no way one average postseason can make up for that.

you want to talk about a guy that embodies the country club atmosphere, its fleury. guy is the epitome of the underachieving that has plagued this team for years.

I've been one of Fleury's biggest supporters here and especially if you don't have a replacement for him, but times have changed for Fleury. New coaching staff and a new GM who was an NHL goaltender himself and goalie prospects like Jarry, Murray and Hartzell in the organization is going to force Fleury to prove he's worth the $5 million franchise salary he's being paid. Fleury is going to have elevate his game to being the best player, if not the 2nd or 3rd best player on this team just like Quick does in LA or I see the Pens parting ways with Fleury sooner rather then later.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Of course they did. Every player recognizes that they themselves (and others) make mistakes from time to time (sometimes more often), but they still have to co-exist in the same dressing room. So it doesn't really accomplish much to for someone to come out and say MAF sucks, and that the team doesn't have any confidence in front of him... I mean what happens when he's in net the next game?

Just like in most corporations, while I have many opinions (good and bad) about many of my co-workers and management, the smart move is for me to be pretty discrete about when I voice those opinions. To the media is not the place.

I meant that it all must be weird for someone to go through; of course they do it, but that doesn't make it normal for Fleury. MAF is mentally fragile but the situation is odd, it's another thing for him to handle. "We trust you, Marc, you were great.... oh god he let in a soft goal, panic!... you got this, man." Yeah, that's going to help. He has to know they're lying to him, but it's also a cycle that I don't see them breaking. No matter what they say it's in the back of their heads with him, they'll panic if anything happens and that will make him freak out or get exposed to more, and on it goes.

I do think that management was too soft with him, though. He shouldn't have been allowed to flounder for so long and Meloche should have been dealt with.

 

[cassius]

i must be going insane. how can people be open to signing fleury? one playoff where he finally wasnt weakest link on the roster is enough to convince folks?

the guy delivered several of the all-time worst postseasons on some of the best teams in the league, year after year. there is no way one average postseason can make up for that.

you want to talk about a guy that embodies the country club atmosphere, its fleury. guy is the epitome of the underachieving that has plagued this team for years.

This board used to be completely irrational when it came to Staal... now it's Fleury.

Fleury is what he is. Great regular season goalie - horrible playoff goalie. He's a much bigger factor behind our continual post-season meltdowns than people realize.

 

[Jacob]

I'm not against re-signing Fleury but it'd be contingent on what kind of season he has.. and he needs to improve upon last year's playoff performance.

 

[Riptide]

i must be going insane. how can people be open to signing fleury? one playoff where he finally wasnt weakest link on the roster is enough to convince folks?

Two reasons. One his last playoffs (and assuming this year's are just as good), were not bad. Did he make mistakes? Yes. However in the end, he was good enough. Two, there's sweet **** all available in free agency as a better option. There's basically 4 goalies, in FA that might be able to do the same thing as MAF (Fasth, Neuvirth, Niemi & Greiss), and other than Niemi (who isn't any better than MAF), none have handled a starters load.

If we can get Niemi next season with one of Fasth/Neuvirth/Greiss as the backup to insulate him, and all for less than 7m (likely what it would cost), then sure lets go that route. But if Niemi resigns with SJ (lets say he gets his game back), then IF MAF is willing to sign a shorter deal (2-3 yrs) for around the same money as now, then I'd suck it up and go with the devil we know.

People also need to keep in mind that 5m isn't the bench mark for what an upper end player makes any more. That's now what a mid level player makes. So MAF getting ~5m on his next deal isn't unrealistic. I don't really see anyone that would give him more... but I also don't see any reason why he'd take much less.

 

[Shwag33]

This board used to be completely irrational when it came to Staal... now it's Fleury.

Fleury is what he is. Great regular season goalie - horrible playoff goalie. He's a much bigger factor behind our continual post-season meltdowns than people realize.

He's an average to above average regular season goalie. Great is certainly not the word.

 

[Riptide]

This board used to be completely irrational when it came to Staal... now it's Fleury.

Fleury is what he is. Great regular season goalie - horrible playoff goalie. He's a much bigger factor behind our continual post-season meltdowns than people realize.

He wasn't even playing when we went 0-4 against Boston. And he wasn't the reason why we couldn't score against NYR last year over those final 3 games.

Other years... sure blame him all you want (and rightfully so). But the last 2 seasons, while his play hasn't been great by any means... he wasn't the issue.

 

[radapex]

This board used to be completely irrational when it came to Staal... now it's Fleury.

Fleury is what he is. Great regular season goalie - horrible playoff goalie. He's a much bigger factor behind our continual post-season meltdowns than people realize.

I don't think it's irrational as much as realistic. Many on here seem to think you could basically sign just any Joe and you'll get Fleury's production out of him; but there's a very distinct reason why most of the options available are in the late 20s or their 30s and are career backups, journeymen, or at the tail end of their career.

http://www.capgeek.com/free-agents/?year_id=2015&team_id=-1&position_id=G&fa_type_id=2

As you can see, there just aren't a lot of options when it comes to free agency. There never are a lot of options in free agency, really... so you're left with either giving up some serious assets to trade for one, or draft and develop.

 

[radapex]

For what it's worth, Fleury was ranked 19th best NHL goalie in the spring series of polls and 17th best in a current series of polls here on hfboards.