Salary Cap: 2014-15 Roster-Building XII | Kulemania runnin' wild, brother | UFA/TRADE IDEAS HERE

[SidDidNothingWrong]

I really hope we sign Sill. Great character guy. Also, amazing job on the news and notes section. I got a hearty chuckle waking up this morning

 

[Sideline]

We can't give one of our CBO's to Scuderi because he signed after the last CBA was signed. It'd have to be a regular buyout which would hurt our cap more than if we kept him.

Also, with Orpik, Engelland and Niskanen leaving that leaves us with Martin, Letang, Maatta, Despres, Dumoulin, Bortuzzo really.

Say we got rid of Scuderi too.

Ehrhoff as a vet D if he's $2m or less?

I'd be fine with Ehrhoff at $4m. He's still a good player, the Sabres were just afriad of the recapture penalties if he retired.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Out of curiosity, how much actual cash is owed to Scuderi on his contract?

If more of his contract was paid upfront he would be easier to move.

 

[Alesle]

Out of curiosity, how much actual cash is owed to Scuderi on his contract?

If more of his contract was paid upfront he would be easier to move.

He has 9.5M remaining on his 13.5M contract (4M this year, then 3M followed by 2.5M in his final year of the contract).

 

[Jaded-Fan]

He has 9.5M remaining on his 13.5M contract (4M this year, then 3M followed by 2.5M in his final year of the contract).

So he should be cake to move at the deadline.

A lot of teams care more about the cash than the caphit.

A little over $7 million at the deadline for three playoffs.

 

[Asuna]

With Ehrhoff's buyout, Buffalo is way below the cap floor.

Perhaps a Scuderi trade just became more likely.

 

[Jacob]

I definitely don't want Scuderi finishing out his contract in Pittsburgh but there may be a case for keeping him around at least to start the season. He looked completely overmatched last year but so have a lot of d-men in Bylsma's system.. and the injury didn't seem to help him any. He didn't look nearly as bad in the first few games as he did when he came back. Maybe with protected minutes in a system that supports the D he can increase his trade value whilst we wait for Maatta to get healthy and Despres & Dumoulin to iron out their games.

 

[Cardboard Orpik]

Scuderi won't be cake to move anywhere unless he improves his play, at which point we might not want to move him.

 

[Ogrezilla]

If the Kulemin rumors are true, he's a good pickup for Geno.
I'd get rid of Scuderi for anything, literally. I'd even give a 4th round pick for someone to take him away.
Keep Dupuis.
Let Bennett start the year with a full time top 6 spot. We won't know if he's a good player until he's giving a real chance. If he proves to be a crappy, injury prone player like DB thought, they can acquire a winger at the deadline.
Waive Adams.
Re-sign Engo for his versatility and toughness.
Don't bring back a single bottom 6 player from last year except maybe Sutter.

Kunitz Sid Bennett
Kulemin Geno Hornqvist
Dupuis Sutter Spaling
Payerl XXXX XXXXX

Letang Martin
Maatta Despres
Bortuzzo Harrington/Engo/Damoulin

Fleury
Zatkoff

Hopefully some of JR's FA targets are gritty 2 way bottom 6 players. More Dupuis, less Vitale please.

I really hope JR doesn't think "we can acquire a top 6 winger at the deadline" is a good idea. We should do our best to start the season with too many good players and as few question marks as possible. If we can move Dupuis and Scuds, we should sign another top 6 forward. If we can't move them then we might have to give that spot to Bennett, but that shouldn't be plan A.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I definitely don't want Scuderi finishing out his contract in Pittsburgh but there may be a case for keeping him around at least to start the season. He looked completely overmatched last year but so have a lot of d-men in Bylsma's system.. and the injury didn't seem to help him any. He didn't look nearly as bad in the first few games as he did when he came back. Maybe with protected minutes in a system that supports the D he can increase his trade value whilst we wait for Maatta to get healthy and Despres & Dumoulin to iron out their games.

We are apparently planning to go to a strong puck possession system. Scuderi is a downright liability at puck possession hockey, and he has been his entire career.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

It is not like you would be just tossing that $5 million in cap space down the toilet. It would be reallocated where it really is needed, among the forwards. And that doesn't even count the return. Downgrade? yes. But we do have the defensive depth to cushion that. What did we draft all these kids for if we never were going to develop them by playing them in the NHL?

Where it is needed is on defense, with Martin. He was our best defenseman last year, and the only one who stabilized Letang. We do not have the defensive depth to cushion that.

Never going to play the kids in the NHL? Jaded. We have 3 UFA defensemen that we're not bringing back this year. Here's our blueline with Martin when everyone else is completely healthy (which we know isn't going to happen even to start the year, with Maatta and Pouliot recovering):

Martin - Letang
Maatta - Bortuzzo
Scuderi - Despres

Despres and Bortuzzo have never played full seasons, and they're now being given starting line-up spots. With Maatta being out at the beginning of the year, the best of Dumoulin/Harrington/Samuelsson is going to start the season on the big club. Half of our defense is made up of young, inexperienced defensemen getting opportunities even before our inevitable in-season injuries.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Theres still moves to be made late-season at the deadline. You don't need all your ducks in a row right off the bat.

I don't understand this sentiment at all. Makes absolutely zero sense to me.

Ignore solidifying something wrong in the roster and put it off for 8 months until the deadline? Why? Who's to say we'll have the pieces to trade? Who's to say we find a partner out of the playoff picture with someone we need?

Continue fixing it now. Tinker later, if need be.

 

[penguins2946*]

TIOPS said 3 players we are interested in are Moss, Kulemin and Malhotra. I don't really understand why on Moss, but the other 2 make sense. Signing those 2 and picking up a 4th liner via trade like Nolan would give us:

FORWARDS
Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Beau Bennett ($0.900m)
Nikolai Kulemin ($3.000m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / Patric Hornqvist ($4.250m)
Nick Spaling ($1.750m) / Brandon Sutter ($3.500m) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Jordan Nolan ($0.700m) / Manny Malhotra ($0.750m) / David Moss ($2.000m)
Jayson Megna ($0.750m) / Brian Gibbons ($0.800m)
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Olli Maatta ($0.894m) / Rob Scuderi ($3.375m)
Simon Despres ($1.000m) / Robert Bortuzzo ($0.600m)
Philip Samuelsson ($0.600m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Jeff Zatkoff ($0.600m)
BUYOUTS
Craig Adams ($0.233m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,752,500; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $247,500

I mean, it's not terrible, but I don't want Scuderi on the roster and I don't like how no one in our bottom-6 wings can play in the top-6, outside of maybe Dupuis. Also, signing Moss to play on the 4th line is stupid.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I don't understand this sentiment at all. Makes absolutely zero sense to me.

Ignore solidifying something wrong in the roster and put it off for 8 months until the deadline? Why? Who's to say we'll have the pieces to trade? Who's to say we find a partner out of the playoff picture with someone we need?

Continue fixing it now. Tinker later, if need be.

exactly. Mid-season trades and especially deadline deals should not be part of the plan going into a season. Fix everything that can be fixed in the off-season then fix what couldn't be fixed or what you didn't realized would need fixing during the season. A GM should never plan on making a deadline deal before the season starts.

 

[IcedCapp]

Hypothetical:

If you could definitely trade one of Scuderi and Dupuis, but the other would have to remain on the roster for the remainder of his contract, who do you trade and who do you keep?

I'm really not sure either way. I probably keep Dupuis? Better player by far? Health is a huge risk?

 

[Ogrezilla]

Hypothetical:

If you could definitely trade one of Scuderi and Dupuis, but the other would have to remain on the roster for the remainder of his contract, who do you trade and who do you keep?

I'm really not sure either way. I probably keep Dupuis? Better player by far? Health is a huge risk?

I'd get rid of Scuderi without thinking twice. Scuderi sucks, Dupuis is overpaid.

 

[Jacob]

I don't find Malhotra or Moss to be appealing even on the cheap and in 4th line roles.

 

[penguins2946*]

I'd get rid of Scuderi without thinking twice. Scuderi sucks, Dupuis is overpaid.

Yeah and Dupuis would fit in much better in this system than Scuderi.

I don't find Malhotra or Moss to be appealing even on the cheap and in 4th line roles.

Yeah I tend to agree. Pursuing Malhotra makes sense because of the connection from last year with JR and he's excellent at faceoffs. Spending a bunch of money on Moss to play on the 4th line doesn't make sense. I'd pick neither and try to trade for Kyle Clifford.

 

[Sideline]

Hypothetical:

If you could definitely trade one of Scuderi and Dupuis, but the other would have to remain on the roster for the remainder of his contract, who do you trade and who do you keep?

I'm really not sure either way. I probably keep Dupuis? Better player by far? Health is a huge risk?

Dupuis would be serviable in a diminished role if his knee is messed up for good. Scuderi looked totally done last year.

 

[mpp9]

I don't find Malhotra or Moss to be appealing even on the cheap and in 4th line roles.

Malhtora won nearly 60% of his draws last year. And he took a ton of them. We need a f/o specialist. If he comes cheap, I'd take him. JR brought him back into the NHL last season, so he may have the inside track.

Moss is 6'4 and makes his living around the net. Again, another signing that could be cost effective for what we're missing in the lineup. If he wants much more than 2 mil, walk away.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hypothetical:

If you could definitely trade one of Scuderi and Dupuis, but the other would have to remain on the roster for the remainder of his contract, who do you trade and who do you keep?

I'm really not sure either way. I probably keep Dupuis? Better player by far? Health is a huge risk?

I'd shoot Scuds out of a cannon into the sun. I want both gone, and badly, but like Ogre said--Dupuis is overpayed and his knee injury is terrifying, while Scuds played like an AHL defenseman.

 

[Fordy]

moss and malholtra is pointless. just let megna and sill play

i'm really not sure who we could sign for the fourth line that i wouldn't rather play megna over

 

[Ugene Magic]

With Ehrhoff's buyout, Buffalo is way below the cap floor.

Perhaps a Scuderi trade just became more likely.

Exactly. They'll want to increase their possibility of, McDavid.

Scuderi + 3rd for Buffalo's 3rd makes total sense.

 

[JRS91]

Christian Ehrhoff was just bought out by Buffalo.

 

[IcedCapp]

I'd get rid of Scuderi without thinking twice. Scuderi sucks, Dupuis is overpaid.

I'm just worried that the knee injury makes him significantly worse. All things equal, I move Scuderi in a flash. The knee scares me.