Salary Cap: 2016-17 roster-building part II

[mpp9]

I'm not sure about that, but it is interesting to think about how shrewd GMs will be with how they choose who to expose. Maybe they talk to one another and try and get an idea about it closer to the actual draft.

At first glance, one would think a team trying to be competitive right away would love to add Kessel for free, but like BB said, what is their Cup window? It's likely to be 4-5 years away at the earliest, and that's likely when Kessel will take a dive in production.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Hope Bennett gets a 1-year deal this off-season. He'd fit perfectly on Geno's RW.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I'm not sure Kessel needs to be protected. While he's a sexy name, the duration of that contract might scare me off if I was building a club from scratch, having no idea how far off into the future it would be before I was competitive.

Just spitballing, but if you were to expose Kessel and Fleury, that would probably meet the salary minimum and the probability of losing Kessel in that situation strikes me as rather low. Whereas if you expose Hags, there's no chance he's not grabbed up.

I disagree. I think Kessel would be gone for sure.

 

[mpp9]

Hope Bennett gets a 1-year deal this off-season. He'd fit perfectly on Geno's RW.

I think they should leave that RW spot open to competition. Fehr, in theory, could work there. Maybe Sprong sticks around. Maybe Beau can finally put a season together.

Wilson not getting hurt likely would have been the nail in the coffin for Kunitz. If Wilson doesn't come back this year and is affected in his offseason training, I'd be looking to sign a guy who can kick #14 to the curb.

 

[Waffle Fries]

I disagree. I think Kessel would be gone for sure.

Yepp. No way Kessel wouldn't get picked.

Plus, I love Hagelin, but we have guys in the system that could potentially replace him if we lose him in a draft. There's no replacing Kessel.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I think they should leave that RW spot open to competition. Fehr, in theory, could work there. Maybe Sprong sticks around. Maybe Beau can finally put a season together.

Wilson not getting hurt likely would have been the nail in the coffin for Kunitz. If Wilson doesn't come back this year and is affected in his offseason training, I'd be looking to sign a guy who can kick #14 to the curb.

Yep.

As for Malkin's LW, hopefully the org will finally realize that just about anybody is better than Kunitz, so we can easily replace him for cheap in-house (Wilson, Sundqvist, Simon, Fehr) and not spend money on an FA unless it's an ideal candidate.

 

[mpp9]

Yep.

As for Malkin's LW, hopefully the org will finally realize that just about anybody is better than Kunitz, so we can easily replace him for cheap in-house (Wilson, Sundqvist, Simon, Fehr) and not spend money on an FA unless it's an ideal candidate.

I'm not a big fan of his, but I'd be inquiring about Nichushkin if the Stars are shopping him. We already know the organization has a hard on for getting Malkin a Russian guy to play with.

Maybe Malkin could get the kid to play to his potential.

 

[Riptide]

DK on Sprong.
Upon his arrival here in Wilkes-Barre, a source told me the NHL Penguins were worried about Sprong’s defensive abilities and that was a crucial point when deciding to send him back to juniors earlier this year.

While the sample size of his first game was too small to see anything noteworthy, Sprong had an early mishap on the power play in Game 2 that led directly to a shorthanded goal for the Bruins.

On Guentzel.

Jake Guentzel, forward: Another week, another amazing performance by the newcomer Guentzel. After finishing the regular season on a high note, the 21-year-old has turned out to be one of the most important players on the Penguins’ squad during the first round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. With two points (one goal) last Wednesday, Guentzel finished the homestand with three points in just his first two postseason games.
<snip>
But the University of Nebraska-Omaha product’s point total doesn’t do total justice to the body of work he has been putting in. His ability to get to pucks first and create plays was crucial in the first-round sweep.

Kostopoulos let me know after Saturday’s win that Guentzel’s work in the first round was similar to that of another player who came out of college: Current Sidney Crosby linemate Conor Sheary.

“You don’t know what to expect with these guys coming out of college,†Kostopoulos said. “They play a handful of regular season games and I feel like everyone doesn’t know what to expect. Jake’s come in and earned a spot on our line and he’s driving our line right now. It’s a lot of fun to see him do that and it’s a lot similar to what Conr did when he came out of college.â€

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I'm not a big fan of his, but I'd be inquiring about Nichushkin if the Stars are shopping him. We already know the organization has a hard on for getting Malkin a Russian guy to play with.

Maybe Malkin could get the kid to play to his potential.

I'd like that too, but reading Nichushkin's comments about his dissatisfaction in Dallas, and knowing how MS railroaded Plotnikov, I'm not sure how that would go haha.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

But the University of Nebraska-Omaha product’s point total doesn’t do total justice to the body of work he has been putting in. His ability to get to pucks first and create plays was crucial in the first-round sweep.

Kostopoulos let me know after Saturday’s win that Guentzel’s work in the first round was similar to that of another player who came out of college: Current Sidney Crosby linemate Conor Sheary.

“You don’t know what to expect with these guys coming out of college,†Kostopoulos said. “They play a handful of regular season games and I feel like everyone doesn’t know what to expect. Jake’s come in and earned a spot on our line and he’s driving our line right now. It’s a lot of fun to see him do that and it’s a lot similar to what Conor did when he came out of college.â€

That's interesting. Guentzel never struck me as the puckhound type, but if he's doing that in WBS it'll only help his case for a call-up, because he clearly has skill.

 

[T1K]

I'm not sure Kessel needs to be protected. While he's a sexy name, the duration of that contract might scare me off if I was building a club from scratch, having no idea how far off into the future it would be before I was competitive.

Just spitballing, but if you were to expose Kessel and Fleury, that would probably meet the salary minimum and the probability of losing Kessel in that situation strikes me as rather low. Whereas if you expose Hags, there's no chance he's not grabbed up.

Kessel would absolutely get picked in the expansion draft. For a star player his cap hit is fairly reasonable and he's signed until he's 34. Kessel doesn't have injury issues and he hasn't missed a game in the last 6 years, it's a stretch to suggest that he's going to just suddenly fall apart one day. A new team would want a star to build around and Kessel would easily fit the bill, especially if he was free. You might not be a fan of Kessel, but that's a pretty ridiculous opinion.

 

[madinsomniac]

we are going to lose 1 good player, no doubt... I'm more worried about what 3 d to protect, because that's an area we aren't deep minors at... Letang, Pouliot, Dumoulin, Maatta? pick 3 and if you expose Maatta and his skating improves.....

 

[billybudd]

Kessel would absolutely get picked in the expansion draft. For a star player his cap hit is fairly reasonable and he's signed until he's 34. Kessel doesn't have injury issues and he hasn't missed a game in the last 6 years, it's a stretch to suggest that he's going to just suddenly fall apart one day. A new team would want a star to build around and Kessel would easily fit the bill, especially if he was free. You might not be a fan of Kessel, but that's a pretty ridiculous opinion.

That is a bug, not a feature. So much of Kessel's game is based on speed and speed is the first thing to go. At age 33, his cap number is probably going to be completely out of whack with his on ice performance. That's not a big deal to us, since we're thinking short term, but a fledgling franchise isn't going to be thinking short term.

On top of that, if I were Las Vegas, I would not want to be committing about $42 million in total dollars right out of the gate to anyone who couldn't be doing heavy lifting from a marketing standpoint. Kessel is just not the guy to do that.

I also cannot fathom how anyone could come to either the conclusion that Hagelin is easily replaceable or that Bennett is of any use to this franchise whatsoever. Both things are exactly backwards.

 

[T1K]

That is a bug, not a feature. So much of Kessel's game is based on speed and speed is the first thing to go. At age 33, his cap number is probably going to be completely out of whack with his on ice performance. That's not a big deal to us, since we're thinking short term, but a fledgling franchise isn't going to be thinking short term.

On top of that, if I were Las Vegas, I would not want to be committing about $42 million in total dollars right out of the gate to anyone who couldn't be doing heavy lifting from a marketing standpoint. Kessel is just not the guy to do that.

I also cannot fathom how anyone could come to either the conclusion that Hagelin is easily replaceable or that Bennett is of any use to this franchise whatsoever. Both things are exactly backwards.

In regards to his age, that really isn't that old (which kind of was my point). Plenty of guys have been able to play at a high level later into their career, and I think Kessel is capable of that. And so what if he might be a cap issue for 1-2 years, the point is that a team starting from scratch would need an impact player in the short-term anyways. There's a cap-floor all teams have to reach, you have to spend your money somehow. I don't think the marketability of Kessel would even be a consideration for Vegas if they could get him for FREE. He's very talented and would help their team win games, point blank.

I never said anything about Hagelin being replaceable or Bennett being useful to this franchise (although I think he would be if he could stay healthy). In fact I even said on the previous page I'd rather lose MAF than Hagelin, so yeah, I think he's pretty valuable...

And anyways, there's no way we're going to leave Kessel exposed in the expansion draft.

 

[Corvidae]

I'm not a big fan of his, but I'd be inquiring about Nichushkin if the Stars are shopping him. We already know the organization has a hard on for getting Malkin a Russian guy to play with.

Maybe Malkin could get the kid to play to his potential.

Yeah that one time they did it in like a decade was crazy.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

The board has a thing for getting Malkin a Russian. One or two people seem to think that all Russian players know how to play together for some reason.

 

[Riptide]

we are going to lose 1 good player, no doubt... I'm more worried about what 3 d to protect, because that's an area we aren't deep minors at... Letang, Pouliot, Dumoulin, Maatta? pick 3 and if you expose Maatta and his skating improves.....

Why? If you're only protecting 3D it's Letang, Maatta and Dumoulin. I love DP as a prospect and honestly believe he'll be a very good top 3D in the NHL who can QB the PP over the next 3-4 years. But if you're only protecting 3D, you're not exposing someone who's already a top 3/4D to protect Pouliot. You either protect 4D, you trade DP for someone else or you likely lose him.

 

[Ogrezilla]

That is a bug, not a feature. So much of Kessel's game is based on speed and speed is the first thing to go. At age 33, his cap number is probably going to be completely out of whack with his on ice performance. That's not a big deal to us, since we're thinking short term, but a fledgling franchise isn't going to be thinking short term.

On top of that, if I were Las Vegas, I would not want to be committing about $42 million in total dollars right out of the gate to anyone who couldn't be doing heavy lifting from a marketing standpoint. Kessel is just not the guy to do that.

I also cannot fathom how anyone could come to either the conclusion that Hagelin is easily replaceable or that Bennett is of any use to this franchise whatsoever. Both things are exactly backwards.

If Phil Kessel is unprotected, he would almost certainly be the best forward left unprotected for the expansion draft. And I doubt it would be close. So much so that I bet if you aged Kessel to 34 by next summer, he'd still likely be the best forward available in the expansion draft. He's a really damn good hockey player. The only way he wouldn't get taken is if they take one of our goalies instead.

34 isn't that old. I will be shocked if Kessel's current contract ever looks remotely bad, barring a major injury. At 34 Kunitz put up 35 goals and Dupuis put up 20 in 48 games. 34 year old Joe Thornton put up 76 points. Marleau had 70 points. 34 year old Hossa put up 60 in 72 games. 34 year old MSL put up 99 points and still averaged over a point per game for 3 more years after that. Datsyuk was a PPG at 34 and at 36.

 

[sf expat71]

If Phil Kessel is unprotected, he would almost certainly be the best forward left unprotected for the expansion draft. And I doubt it would be close. So much so that I bet if you aged Kessel to 34 by next summer, he'd still likely be the best forward available in the expansion draft. He's a really damn good hockey player. The only way he wouldn't get taken is if they take one of our goalies instead. I will be shocked if Kessel's current contract ever looks remotely bad, barring a major injury.

So that's how we're gonna keep MM and MAF. Makes sense, give them a player they can't refuse, and they only get to pick one. If a second expansion team is in the offing, we'll just have to expose Geno or Sid so we can keep both goalies!

 

[Ogrezilla]

So that's how we're gonna keep MM and MAF. Makes sense, give them a player they can't refuse, and they only get to pick one. If a second expansion team is in the offing, we'll just have to expose Geno or Sid so we can keep both goalies!

I'd much rather lose Fleury than Kessel though

 

[sf expat71]

I'd much rather lose Fleury than Kessel though

Yeah, me too. But if it's Murray (and I say this despite believing MAF to be the better goalie currently) I'm not so sure... I am posting at hockey's FUTURE after all.

 

[WooWooKennyWu*]

MAF for Panarin straight up? All they gotta do is move Crawford and it's a salary swap, actually 250k cheaper

Pay Panarin 5.75m a year over six years. Straight up hockey deal

 

[Jacob]

MAF for Panarin straight up? All they gotta do is move Crawford and it's a salary swap, actually 250k cheaper

Pay Panarin 5.75m a year over six years. Straight up hockey deal

Or they could just keep Crawford & Panarin?

 

[bambamcam4ever]

That is a bug, not a feature. So much of Kessel's game is based on speed and speed is the first thing to go. At age 33, his cap number is probably going to be completely out of whack with his on ice performance. That's not a big deal to us, since we're thinking short term, but a fledgling franchise isn't going to be thinking short term.

On top of that, if I were Las Vegas, I would not want to be committing about $42 million in total dollars right out of the gate to anyone who couldn't be doing heavy lifting from a marketing standpoint. Kessel is just not the guy to do that.

I also cannot fathom how anyone could come to either the conclusion that Hagelin is easily replaceable or that Bennett is of any use to this franchise whatsoever. Both things are exactly backwards.

Cap hit isn't going to be a big deal to an expansion team for their first few years since they will likely be looking for quality players who will be worth their cap hit in order to reach the salary floor. And while Kessel may not be the most marketable guy, he is still a name player, which sounds a lot better than building your expansion franchise around David Legwand.

 

[3074326]

lol, Kessel is getting picked in an expansion draft. Look at the last expansion draft and see the quality of players. Christ almighty, it's absurd to think he would get passed on.