Salary Cap: 2014-15 Roster building thread - Part VII

[OilerPensfan97]

All figures are cap numbers, not salaries, and are taken directly from www.capgeek.com.

Projected 2014-2015 salary ceiling: ...~68-71,000,000
Projected cap spending: ..........................55,119,167
Projected cap space: .......................~12-15,880,833



PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Forward.................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

2014-15​

|

2015-16​

Evgeni Malkin|

C​

|

27​

|

9,500,000​

|

9,500,000​

|

9,500,000​

Sidney Crosby|

C​

|

26​

|

8,700,000​

|

8,700,000​

|

8,700,000​

James Neal|

RW​

|

26​

|

5,000,000​

|

5,000,000​

|

5,000,000​

Chris Kunitz|

LW​

|

34​

|

3,850,000​

|

3,850,000​

|

3,850,000​

Pascal Dupuis|

RW​

|

34​

|

3,750,000​

|

3,750,000​

|

3,750,000​

Beau Bennett|

LW​

|

21​

|

900,000​

|

RFA​

Craig Adams|

RW​

|

36​

|

700,000​

|

UFA​

Defense.................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

2014-15​

|

.2015-16​

Kris Letang|

D​

|

26​

|

7,250,000​

|

7,250,000​

|

7,250,000​

Paul Martin|

D​

|

32​

|

5,000,000​

|

UFA​

Rob Scuderi|

D​

|

34​

|

3,375,000​

|

3,375,000​

|

3,375,000​

Olli Maatta|

D​

|

19​

|

894,167​

|

894,167​

|

RFA​

Robert Bortuzzo|

D​

|

24​

|

600,000​

|

RFA​

Goalie...................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

2014-15​

|

.2015-16​

Marc-Andre Fleury|

G​

|

28​

|

5,000,000​

|

UFA​

Jeff Zatkoff|

G​

|

26​

|

600,000​

|

600,000​

|

UFA​

WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS

Forward...............​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

2014-15​

|

2015-16​

Josh Archibald|

RW​

|

21​

|

659,167​

|

659,167​

|

659,167​

Scott Wilson|

LW​

|

21​

|

655,000​

|

655,000​

|

RFA​

Bryan Rust|

RW​

|

22​

|

652,500​

|

652,500​

|

RFA​

Matia Marcantuoni|

C​

|

19​

|

633,333​

|

633,333​

|

633,333​

Adam Payerl|

RW​

|

22​

|

626,667​

|

RFA​

Anton Zlobin|

LW​

|

20​

|

608,333​

|

608,333​

|

RFA​

Dominik Uher|

C​

|

20​

|

601,667​

|

RFA​

Tom Kuhnhackl|

LW​

|

21​

|

598,333​

|

RFA​

Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond|

RW​

|

28​

|

550,000​

|

UFA​

Oskar Sundqvist|

C​

|

20​

|

TBA​

|

TBA​

|

TBA​

Defense.............................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

2014-15​

|

2015-16​

Derrick Pouliot|

D​

|

19​

|

894,167​

|

894,167​

|

894,167​

Brian Dumoulin|

D​

|

22​

|

831,667​

|

RFA​

Harrison Ruopp|

D​

|

20​

|

650,833​

|

650,833​

|

RFA​

Nick D'Agostino|

D​

|

23​

|

625,000​

|

RFA​

Scott Harrington|

D​

|

20​

|

589,167​

|

589,167​

|

RFA​

Reid McNeill|

D​

|

21​

|

575,000​

|

RFA​

Goalie................................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

2014-15​

|

2015-16​

Matt Murray|

G​

|

19​

|

650,833​

|

650,833​

|

650,833​

Eric Hartzell|

G​

|

24​

|

550,000​

|

RFA​

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

Player........................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

News and notes​

Brooks Orpik|

D​

|

33​

|

3,750,000​

|Longest-tenured Penguin has lost a step or six. Free Candy now a Milk Dud

Jussi Jokinen|

LW​

|

30​

|

3,000,000​

|Only counted for $2.1M against Pens cap, can get a bigger raise elsewhere

Lee Stempniak|

RW​

|

31​

|

2,500,000​

|Surprisingly good stickhandler likely too pricey for a third-liner on this team

Matt Niskanen|

D​

|

26​

|

2,300,000​

|So that's what a contract year looks like. Unaffordable unless Letang is dealt?

Tomas Vokoun|

G​

|

37​

|

2,000,000​

|God bless the man if he's able to continue playing, but it won't be in Pittsburgh

Marcel Goc|

C​

|

30​

|

1,700,000​

|Need to figure out what they want to do with Sutter before deciding on him

Taylor Pyatt|

LW​

|

32​

|

1,550,000​

|At least they didn't have to give up anything to get him in the first place? Ugh

Tanner Glass|

LW​

|

29​

|

1,100,000​

|Inevitable “Glass re-signs†thread will surely be the board's most anticipated

Spencer Machacek|

RW​

|

25​

|

632,500​

|Group VI UFA provided much-needed scoring touch for WBS after trade

Deryk Engelland|

D​

|

31​

|

566,667​

|Dressing him over Bortuzzo makes Baby Jesus cry

Joe Vitale|

C​

|

28​

|

550,000​

|May want to test the market after getting limited minutes in Pittsburgh

Brian Gibbons|

C​

|

25​

|

550,000​

|Get legal to start drafting that Must Never Appear On Crosby Line clause

Zach Sill|

C​

|

25​

|

550,000​

|Nasty cut from a skate cost him shot at extended look with the big club

Chuck Kobasew|

RW​

|

31​

|

550,000​

|Was on 82-goal pace through two games before contracting polio

Chris Conner|

RW​

|

29​

|

550,000​

|C'mon, Habs – you know you need another 5-foot-9 perimeter winger

Harry Zolnierczyk|

LW​

|

26​

|

550,000​

|Group VI UFA was franchise's best convicted sex offender since Tibbetts

Andrew Ebbett|

C​

|

30​

|

550,000​

|Near-point-per-game pace with WBS will likely look for a better NHL shot

Nick Drazenovic|

C​

|

26​

|

550,000​

|Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's top scorer not named Kostopoulos

Brendan Mikkelson|

D​

|

26​

|

550,000​

|Top-10 scoring defenseman in the AHL this past season

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

Player......................​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

2013-14​

|

News and notes​

Brandon Sutter|

C​

|

24​

|

2,066,667​

|Owners caught Shero sewing KESLER onto 16's jersey at night while sobbing

Jayson Megna|

RW​

|

23​

|

925,000​

|â€Promising Pens Winger†label remarkably similar to “Office Hot†concept

Simon Despres|

D​

|

22​

|

840,000​

| http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etZpup-GtLw

Philip Samuelsson|

D​

|

22​

|

627,500​

|New extension should be long enough for Jack Neely to be draft-eligible

Bobby Farnham|

LW​

|

24​

|

550,000​

|Remains one of the most aggravating players in the AHL

SIGNED PROSPECTS

Player​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

Current Team​

|

Contract​

Tristan Jarry|

G​

|

18​

|

Edmonton (WHL)​

|

3 years/650,833 per​

Jean-Sebastien Dea|

C​

|

19​

|

Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)​

|

3 years/598,333 per​

UNSIGNED PROSPECTS

Player​

​

​

|

Pos.​

|

Age​

|

Current Team (League)​

Dane Birks|

D​

|

18​

|Merritt (BCHL)

Teddy Blueger|

F​

|

19​

|Minnesota State (WCHA)

Blaine Byron|

F​

|

18​

|Maine (HEA)

Jake Guentzel|

F​

|

18​

|Nebraska-Omaha (WCHA)

Troy Josephs|

F​

|

19​

|St. Michael's (OJHL)

Sean Maguire|

G​

|

20​

|Boston University (HEA)

Alexander Pechurskiy|

G​

|

23​

|Orsk (VHL)

Ryan Segalla|

D​

|

18​

|Dubuque (USHL)

Clark Seymour|

D​

|

20​

|Peterborough (OHL)

This offseason needs to begin the complete destruction and rebuild that the 2 stooges put into motion over 4 years ago. Obviously you can't rely on FA alone to rebuild a team and there are a handful of guys that we all agree should be traded, for anything really. However, we know who the 2014 FA crop will be and there are some intriguing names out there, that could help in key areas we are lacking.

The first order of business, would be to obviously fire Bylsma (his entire staff) and Shero. That should happen the moment we're eliminated, which i pray is this round. Everything beyond that is pointless until they are gone, which we all pray happens.

http://capgeek.com/free-agents/

There are the 2014 FA's. If the cap does increase into the 70-71M range, we would be sitting in the 15M range in terms of space available. That is without signing and RFA's/UFA's from our own team.

I want to break it down into groups.

Group 1:
Players that NEED TO WALK (IE. don't even offer them the time of day).

1. Glass
2. Engo
3. Kobasew
4. Orpik
5. Pyatt
6. Vokoun

Most of those guys are a major reason for the **** we're in. They are easily replaceable by guys already in the system or relatively cheap FA signings from other teams. Didn't include AHL level FA's.

Group 2:
Players that NEED TO RE-SIGN (IE. proved their worth and need to be brought back)

1. Niskanen
2. Vitale
3. Despres (RFA, possibly trade bait)
4. Gibbons (RFA)
5. Megna (RFA)

Nisky has blossomed into a legit #3 and while his price tag will jump north of 4M per, i think given his age and skill set, is worth it at 4.5M per, give or take a little. Vitale is the perfect 4th liner. Every team should have a guy like him. He'll be cheap. Couple of RFA's that obviously need to be kept.

Group 3:
Players that COULD BE KEPT (for the right price, length of term)

1. Sutter (RFA)
2. Goc
3. Jokinen
4. Stemp

Sutter may or may not be worth it, depending on what the trade market is like and whether or not we could lure a Bolland type in FA. Goc, Joki and Stemp could all be pieces but i'm not paying them more then they make now and they wouldn't be first choices.

Now we can look at FA's from other teams that would make sense, depending on what we do with our own players.

Forwards:

1. Bolland
2. Kulemin
3. Winnik

I like Bolland a lot as a #3C. Winnik would be a wonderful fit as a 3/4. Big body, can move people and chip in offensively.

Defenseman:

There really aren't any guys that pop out in the FA class, and quite frankly, if we bring back Nisky and use the plethora of depth we have within the system, we really don't need to dip into the FA pool.

Goaltenders:

1. Halak
2. Brian Elliott

Halak is my sleeper signing for this offseason. He's always been pretty good and flashed elite skills, namely against us a few years back in the postseason. He put up very good numbers this year and at 28 isn't as old as a guy like Miller and won't command near that much cash. IF we can get Fleury out of the mix, he's my #1 target. A 3 year contract would be about perfect as we develop our own young players in Jarry and Murray. Elliott would be a great backup.

Players that i'd absolutely explore trading:

1. Fleury (don't care if we literally give him away)
2. Letang
3. Scuderi (for anything really)
4. Neal
5. Sutter

Players that i'd listen to offers on or use in package for a top 6 winger/top 4 dman:

1. Despres (probably in package deal with one of the guys above)
2. Bennett (see Despres)


Ideally, we could target players like Blake Wheeler, Andrew Ladd, David Perron, Bobby Ryan, Clarke MacArthur, Ryan Kesler, 1st round picks etc. A goalie like Reimer could come into play.

Anyway, post your thoughts on the upcoming FA's and where we should go with our own players as well as guys from other teams.

Click to read more...

 

[TheGoldenJet]

My optimal realistic lineup looks like:

Kunitz-Crosby-Hemsky
Kulemin-Malkin-Neal
Bennett-Sutter-Dupuis
Zolnierczyk-Vitale-Megna

Martin-Letang
Maatta-Niskanen
Despres-Bortuzzo

Niemi-Zatkoff

Hemsky at $4.25 million per, Kulemin at $3.25 million per, Sutter at $3.5 million per, Megna at $800,000, Despres at $900,000, Niskanen at $4.5 million per, Vitale at $1 million per and Zolnierczyk at $600,000 per. That's around a $68.5 million payroll, and we would need 2 depth F and a depth D.

I'd be happy with this lineup. Think it does need a guy like Boyle or Winnick to beef up the bottom 6, though you do have the cap room for that. And I'd prefer a guy like Kesler or Kane for Sid's RW, maybe even take a gamble on Stewart due to the size/intimidation factor over a guy like Hemsky. But overall a good lineup nonetheless.

 

[Shockmaster]

Group 2:
Players that NEED TO RE-SIGN (IE. proved their worth and need to be brought back)

1. Niskanen
2. Vitale
3. Despres (RFA, possibly trade bait)
4. Gibbons (RFA)
5. Megna (RFA)

I think the only player in that group that should be brought back is Despres. The rest can walk.

 

[Human]

You're not getting much of anything for Kunitz. You're not getting anything for Dupuis. Bennett is worth more to us. Letang's value is a question mark. So that leaves Martin, Neal and Sutter along with some D prospects to trade. Martin is pretty important to our blue line with Orpik and Nisky likely moving on. And Maatta off to a bad start to his sophmore year.

I said before, I'd move Sutter+D prospect+1st to bring in a forward for Sid. But I also don't think posters should be calling others stupid for wanting to explore the value Neal has around the league. Plenty of teams would love to have him on their PP and help get them into the playoffs. Teams like Anaheim and Tampa could be looking for an established scorer, and have the type of depth at forward they can afford to trade for it to benefit us.

And as was mentioned, a new coach can get Letang to play a shutdown role. A new coach can develop Sid and Geno's two way games via expanded roles on the PK and treating the regular season as preparation for playoff hockey. But Neal isn't going to ever be that dynamic guy. His skating and overall skillset limit him. Maybe a coach would get him to be more physically engaged and hang around the net. We shall see.

tbh I was talking more about unloading Kunitz' and Dupuis' contracts for getting some cap-space than to get back something significant.

I agree that Neal and Letang, aside from that Sutter+young d-man+1st package, are pretty much the only players we could expect significant value to come back for.

but I feel like trading those guys to fill up holes opens new ones...

also, judging by Sutter's play in the playoffs, when he actually had some help on his wings, he might be exactly what we need for centering the third line...

 

[CaptainMckenna*]

Pechurskiy is still a Pens prospect? He's in the kohl right

 

[Riptide]

I find it comical many of the same people who want to hold onto Neal because he scores a lot in the regular season, want to deal Letang instead. Letang, including this years playoffs, has been a big game player and was an integral part of their cup run. He has proven he can step up his game in the playoffs, Neal never has. Yet people who want this team to stop collapsing in the playoffs want a playoff no show like Neal, over a proven playoff performer like Letang.

Where is the logic?

Neal has yet to step up in the playoffs, but all I hear is they need to keep him because he is a 40 goal regular season scorer. Again, when has this team ever struggled to score goals in the regular season in the Malkin and Crosby era?

People want to keep him, because one of the hardest things to do in the NHL is score goals... and Neal has one of the best releases in the league.

Most would probably try finding another wing for the 3rd wheel before trading Neal - because once you trade him, you can never get him back. Teams just don't move 40g wingers without paying a premium.

Now that said, in the right deal I'd move him - but it had better be a damn good deal.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

40 goal scorer
winger
size and grit
$5m a year
26 years old.

Yea you don't trade that away.

 

[pensfan71]

We want vocal leaders?

I guarantee you the Richards' are going to get bought out, Mike has run his course in LA, he's 4th liner and he hasn't produced much this year. Brad just has a brutal contract.

CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
CapGeek Armchair GM Roster
FORWARDS
James Neal ($5.000m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / Nikolai Kulemin ($3.500m)
Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Brad Richards ($4.333m—35.00%)
Beau Bennett ($0.900m) / Mike Richards ($4.313m—25.00%) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Jayson Megna ($0.925m) / Zenon Konopka ($0.925m) / Spencer Machacek ($0.651m)
Bobby Farnham ($0.605m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Rob Scuderi ($3.375m) / Simon Despres ($1.000m)
Robert Bortuzzo ($0.600m) / Brian Dumoulin ($0.832m)
GOALTENDERS
Antti Niemi ($2.470m—35.00%)
Jeff Zatkoff ($0.600m)
BURIED
Craig Adams ($0.600m)
LTIR
Olli Maatta ($0.894m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,678,000; BONUSES: $68,333
CAP SPACE (21-man roster): $2,422,000


I really think a Kunitz-Sid-Richards line could work (I'm pretty sure Brad has played wing, if not change him to Hemsky for your own sanity and mine). We want Sid to shoot more, put a playmaker on his line and have him get Sid the puck.

 

[mpp9]

40 goal scorer
winger
size and grit
$5m a year
26 years old.

Yea you don't trade that away.

Doesn't use his size.
Rarely displays grit.
Can't create on his own.
Is our 3rd highest paid forward when our forward depth is atrocious.

The reasons you listed are why a team would be willing to give up quite a bit. The reasons I listed are why it might make sense for us to explore it.

This team's a regular season wonder but a complete failure when the going gets tough in playoff hockey.

A coach and a 4th liner or two isn't going to change that.

 

[Riptide]

My optimal realistic lineup looks like:

Kunitz-Crosby-Hemsky
Kulemin-Malkin-Neal
Bennett-Sutter-Dupuis
Zolnierczyk-Vitale-Megna

Martin-Letang
Maatta-Niskanen
Despres-Bortuzzo

Niemi-Zatkoff

Hemsky at $4.25 million per, Kulemin at $3.25 million per, Sutter at $3.5 million per, Megna at $800,000, Despres at $900,000, Niskanen at $4.5 million per, Vitale at $1 million per and Zolnierczyk at $600,000 per. That's around a $68.5 million payroll, and we would need 2 depth F and a depth D.

Here's what that looks like... although I bumped Megna down to 700k as A thats more realistic, and B 800k wouldn't fit under the cap. I suggest using capgeek in the future. While I like it overall, some of those contracts are not realistic (Hemsky, Despres, Nisky). Honestly I think the Nisky ship has sailed. I think we either need to find another RHD in fa, or get Martin to play that role, while giving the young guys as much ice as they can handle.

FORWARDS
Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Ales Hemsky ($4.250m)
Nikolai Kulemin ($3.250m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / James Neal ($5.000m)
Beau Bennett ($0.900m) / Brandon Sutter ($3.500m) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Jayson Megna ($0.700m) / Joe Vitale ($0.750m) / Harry Zolnierczyk ($0.550m)
Zach Sill ($0.550m) / Craig Adams ($0.700m)
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Matt Niskanen ($4.250m) / Olli Maatta ($0.894m)
Robert Bortuzzo ($0.600m) / Simon Despres ($0.900m)
Philip Samuelsson ($0.650m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Jeff Zatkoff ($0.600m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $71,094,167; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $5,833

 

[penguins2946*]

Here's what that looks like... although I bumped Megna down to 700k as A thats more realistic, and B 800k wouldn't fit under the cap. I suggest using capgeek in the future. While I like it overall, some of those contracts are not realistic (Hemsky, Despres, Nisky). Honestly I think the Nisky ship has sailed. I think we either need to find another RHD in fa, or get Martin to play that role, while giving the young guys as much ice as they can handle.

FORWARDS
Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Ales Hemsky ($4.250m)
Nikolai Kulemin ($3.250m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / James Neal ($5.000m)
Beau Bennett ($0.900m) / Brandon Sutter ($3.500m) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Jayson Megna ($0.700m) / Joe Vitale ($0.750m) / Harry Zolnierczyk ($0.550m)
Zach Sill ($0.550m) / Craig Adams ($0.700m)
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Matt Niskanen ($4.250m) / Olli Maatta ($0.894m)
Robert Bortuzzo ($0.600m) / Simon Despres ($0.900m)
Philip Samuelsson ($0.650m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Jeff Zatkoff ($0.600m)
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $71,100,000; CAP PAYROLL: $71,094,167; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $5,833

My roster has Niemi, not Fleury, as the starter. That's an extra $1.2 million in cap space. Also, why are the Despres and Hemsky contracts unrealistic? Despres was stuck in the AHL last year, so he doesn't have much leverage to demand a lot. $4.25 million for Hemsky really isn't that crazy either. Niskanen at $4.5 is probably low, but he'll be gone unless he takes under $5 million. I'd let him go if we had, you know, any RHD in the system.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Pechurskiy is still a Pens prospect? He's in the kohl right

Because of the lack of transfer agreement, Russians playing in Russia remain 'property' of their NHL rights' holders in perpetuity. We used to hold the rights to guys well into their 30s.

 

[Ziggyjoe21]

Doesn't use his size.
Rarely displays grit.
Can't create on his own.
Is our 3rd highest paid forward when our forward depth is atrocious.

The reasons you listed are why a team would be willing to give up quite a bit. The reasons I listed are why it might make sense for us to explore it.

This team's a regular season wonder but a complete failure when the going gets tough in playoff hockey.

A coach and a 4th liner or two isn't going to change that.

Him not being creating on his own is one of the reasons he meshed well with Geno.
He's at least capable of using size and grit, unlike the majority of the Pens forwards.
Actually, a coach can change that.

HF always complains about the lack of good wingers on this team. Neal is a good winger.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

40 goal scorer
winger
size and grit
$5m a year
26 years old.

Yea you don't trade that away.

$5m a year for 4 more years.

The cap is going up to around $71 million, so just between this year and last his contract effectively becomes what was last year $4.5 million per year as far as a percentage of the cap. I would assume the same the next few years will be the same.

Only five players scored more goals than Neal in the last 3 years. Five.

Think about that.

That said we have a ton of 40 goal winger prospects being held back so we really can afford to move him for cap relief.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

HF always complains

The rest of the post is really unnecessary

Neal as pariah is laughable in my eyes. I get dangling him as a trade piece if he can get us a huge return, but that's just creating a hole to plug another hole.

 

[mpp9]

Him not being creating on his own is one of the reasons he meshed well with Geno.
He's at least capable of using size and grit, unlike the majority of the Pens forwards.
Actually, a coach can change that.

HF always complains about the lack of good wingers on this team. Neal is a good winger.

God forbid we have a guy who can set Geno up.

He is indeed capable of using his size. And maybe a coach brings that out.

I complain that there are too many passengers on this team.

 

[mpp9]

The rest of the post is really unnecessary

Neal as pariah is laughable in my eyes. I get dangling him as a trade piece if he can get us a huge return, but that's just creating a hole to plug another hole.

It's tough to have an honest debate about its validity with everyone saying "40 goals" and not much else.

He's a 6'2 210 lb 5 million dollar player who feels he can give partial effort much of the time and doesn't need to use his size. It's a pretty good example of why this team fails in the playoffs.

 

[Riptide]

We want vocal leaders?

I guarantee you the Richards' are going to get bought out, Mike has run his course in LA, he's 4th liner and he hasn't produced much this year. Brad just has a brutal contract.

Brad might... but I doubt Mike will. His contract gets better and better going forward. It might not be easy to move over the next yr or so, but it will be a moveable contract. Both will also cost ~20m to buyout, but I think NYR is more capable of handling that cost and more willing to bite the bullet than LA would be. I also think that Mike has a better chance of being able to bounce back to a 50pt checking center, vs Brad coming back to be a 60/70 pt offensive center.

 

[Uncle Machete]

Why should 40 goals be discredited though? That's what he is. A PPG player, 40 goal scorer. And for $5m/year for another four years, that's a steal anyway you put it. Unless someone is stupid enough to offer an insane package for him (which means a winger who is definitely better than him for around the same cap hit and same term or better, if such a player even exists, I don't know), then he stays. Pretty much the same reasoning for not trading Fleury for Ward. You're not saving on cap/term and he's not definitely better but now I'm getting sidetracked.

I doubt we're getting a bonafide top six winger this summer anyways. Free Agency will be uneventul according to Good Ol' JR which probably leaves us out of the Vanek/Gaborik sweepstakes, Letang are safe... so what can we trade to improve our top six? And by improving our top six I mean getting ANOTHER top six winger, not replacing one of the current ones.

So that means we're probably looking at second/third line tweeners like Kulemin (which should please a lot of you) and Stempniak while improving the third and fourth line, which isn't necessarily a bad thing if you believe that's where the issue is.

 

[Riptide]

$5m a year for 4 more years.

The cap is going up to around $71 million, so just between this year and last his contract effectively becomes what was last year $4.5 million per year as far as a percentage of the cap. I would assume the same the next few years will be the same.

Only five players scored more goals than Neal in the last 3 years. Five.

Think about that.

That said we have a ton of 40 goal winger prospects being held back so we really can afford to move him for cap relief.

No one is saying trade him for cap relief. But if you could get 2 decent prospects - 1 of whom is able to contribute at the NHL level now (say 20/25g) and a 1st round pick in a F heavy draft... would you not consider that?

At the end of the day, it's possible that none of those 3 assets would be as good as Neal. But we don't need someone to be as good as Neal, we just need players to be more effective in the spring... and it's quite possible that some youth in the form of 3 young guys could easily be more effective than Neal.

 

[pensfan71]

Brad might... but I doubt Mike will. His contract gets better and better going forward. It might not be easy to move over the next yr or so, but it will be a moveable contract. Both will also cost ~20m to buyout, but I think NYR is more capable of handling that cost and more willing to bite the bullet than LA would be. I also think that Mike has a better chance of being able to bounce back to a 50pt checking center, vs Brad coming back to be a 60/70 pt offensive center.

Fair enough, but I honestly feel like Mike has lost his step and that cap hit is horrible, maybe he can get traded but if they wanna keep Gaborik that has to be done quickly

 

[Riptide]

Fair enough, but I honestly feel like Mike has lost his step and that cap hit is horrible, maybe he can get traded but if they wanna keep Gaborik that has to be done quickly

Signing Gaborik has nothing to do with Richards. LA is in a pretty good spot cap wise, and can easily afford to sign Gabby, keep MR and fill out the few spots needed in their roster.

 

[Crosberry87]

40 goal scorer
winger
size and grit
$5m a year
26 years old.

Yea you don't trade that away.

Elbows and knees to the head are not grit.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

No one is saying trade him for cap relief. But if you could get 2 decent prospects - 1 of whom is able to contribute at the NHL level now (say 20/25g) and a 1st round pick in a F heavy draft... would you not consider that?

At the end of the day, it's possible that none of those 3 assets would be as good as Neal. But we don't need someone to be as good as Neal, we just need players to be more effective in the spring... and it's quite possible that some youth in the form of 3 young guys could easily be more effective than Neal.

Teams ALWAYS lose those parts for the better player trade. Basically every time, except for one or two anecdotal trades everyone cites, which usually were financial reasons.

The thing is that Neal isn't a complete player. If he were he would be making close to $10 million, if not higher, is he were a UFA in this market. Neither is Ovechkin. If all he does is score 40 goals a year every team in the NHL needs a guy like him. Yes, he has been snake bit of late in the playoffs. I am not sure that means anything as a predictor of future playoff scoring.

You get a guy like him, you keep him. You get him cheap even more so.

 

[Uncle Machete]

I'm willing to give a lot of guys (not everyone ) second chances re: playoff performances. I'm hoping that a new coaching staff and better leadership helps in that regard.