Salary Cap: Be a GM Mode | Is it October yet?

[Shady Machine]

Come on Dad. One more year.

 

[Gurglesons]

I'll take Phil getting 70 pts, regardless if it's 50g 20a or 20g 50a.

This x 1000. He is James Neal, but he creates on his own, regularly puts up 60+ no matter who he is playing with, and has put up 20+ on route to two Cups.

Kessel earned his contract in 2016, he proved himself a vital player to the back to back Pens in 2017.

Just let him be.

 

[billybudd]

Over the years I've learned that Michael Russo's "gut feelings" are accurate almost 100% of the time, so it looks like we've got 4C locked down.

It's actually somewhat surprising TSN hasn't tried to sign him up for their free agency or trade deadline shows. Dreger doesn't have nearly the same track record as Russo does.

 

[Corvidae]

Guess Butcher has more interest in Devils, Sabres, Vegas than us. Oh well....


http://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/15/will-butcher-reject-colorado-avalanche/

Buffalo would make a lot of sense. Team on the rise with a weaker D pool. Devils have the spots but less upside. Vegas has the spots but no upside at all.

Over the years I've learned that Michael Russo's "gut feelings" are accurate almost 100% of the time, so it looks like we've got 4C locked down.

It's actually somewhat surprising TSN hasn't tried to sign him up for their free agency or trade deadline shows. Dreger doesn't have nearly the same track record as Russo does.

Russo is one of the best in the biz. I wish we had someone like him on the local beat.

 

[PensandCaps]

Give us McAvoy, Bruins.

It would cost us Sprong or Guentzel.

 

[Shady Machine]

It would cost us Sprong or Guentzel.

It would probably cost more, but I'd gladly give up Sprong + 1st. Kid played top pairing minutes in the playoffs last year and looked fine. He's going to be a stud.

 

[#1GuinFan]

This probably doesn't go here, but I don't know where it goes. Phil's cup pics got me thinking about why we don't see as many of the iconic "Kessel" goals, blazing down the right side in Pittsburgh. I think there are a couple factors behind this, but the main one may be that he's starting far more often in the O zone than in the D zone than when he was in Toronto. So he can't exactly blaze down the right side when he's starting off at a standstill in the O zone. Obviously I think there are other things going on, such as the defensive responsibility of wingers in MS's system to collapse down a little more to protect our D. But in general, there's just not as many opportunities to go the other way with speed with his current deployment. As a team that bled shots, I suppose TOR had a lot more D zone faceoffs than O zone during those years:

Year Ozone / Dzone
2012-TOR 48.8 / 51.2
2013-TOR 44.4 / 55.6
2014-TOR 52 / 48
2015-PIT 64.7 / 35.3
2016-PIT 63.8 / 36.2

A ton of his 37 goals in 2013-14 start out with his line in the D zone, and coming up with speed and space:



So as long as he's with Geno, we're just not going to see those goals much. If we deploy him on more of a two-way third line, then we probably will again, especially if he's opposite Hags.

One thing to consider though, is that the Pens will start in the OZone alot more than those Toronto teams that were terrible and likely started in the DZone more than the OZone. Therefore there would be no choice but to have Phil start in the DZone more.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Come on Dad. One more year.

Our chances of threepeating really do get much better if Cullen comes back here. He's that much of an improvement over any other potential 4C.

Over the years I've learned that Michael Russo's "gut feelings" are accurate almost 100% of the time, so it looks like we've got 4C locked down.

It's actually somewhat surprising TSN hasn't tried to sign him up for their free agency or trade deadline shows. Dreger doesn't have nearly the same track record as Russo does.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Michael Russo who is close with Cullen said today he thinks the Cullen decision will happen pretty soon(made it sound like any day now)

Russo said he thinks Cullen is leaning towards playing another year, Cullen has apparently been training every day in Minnesota which would suggest hes planning on playing.

He also said his gut tells him will go back to the pens over Minnesota.

That will make all of this so much easier. I expected it, but was prepared for him to walk away if the wife got too annoyed with the inconvenience.

Fingers crossed.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

One thing to consider though, is that the Pens will start in the OZone alot more than those Toronto teams that were terrible and likely started in the DZone more than the OZone. Therefore there would be no choice but to have Phil start in the DZone more.

And that's why Phil started there so much. No other choice if they wanted their best line/player on the ice.

 

[Pens x]

I don't think the Pens receive enough credit for the Kessel heist. That was an awful deal on Toronto's part. Nick Spaling and Harrington had no value at the time. Kapenen is and was a wild card and the first round pick was late in the draft. Additionally they retained 15% of Phil's cap hit.

I know they were clearly trying to tank but I just find it hard to believe they couldn't find a better deal than that. Leafs fans keep saying well that trade allowed us to draft Matthews! Are you really telling me no other team offered better players than Pitt?

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I don't think the Pens receive enough credit for the Kessel heist. That was an awful deal on Toronto's part. Nick Spaling and Harrington had no value at the time. Kapenen is and was a wild card and the first round pick was late in the draft. Additionally they retained 15% of Phil's cap hit.

I know they were clearly trying to tank but I just find it hard to believe they couldn't find a better deal than that. Leafs fans keep saying well that trade allowed us to draft Matthews! Are you really telling me no other team offered better players than Pitt?

Kessel had a limited NTC. The Pens were pretty much the only team who he could be traded to who could acquire him (assets/cap space).

 

[Speaking Moistly]

I don't think the Pens receive enough credit for the Kessel heist. That was an awful deal on Toronto's part. Nick Spaling and Harrington had no value at the time. Kapenen is and was a wild card and the first round pick was late in the draft. Additionally they retained 15% of Phil's cap hit.

I know they were clearly trying to tank but I just find it hard to believe they couldn't find a better deal than that. Leafs fans keep saying well that trade allowed us to draft Matthews! Are you really telling me no other team offered better players than Pitt?

Kessel had and has a restrictive NTC. More restrictive than Letang's for comparison. Everyone knew he had to go and he had an 8 team trade list while carrying a significant cap hit.

Harrington busted but he wasn't without value at the time and was supposed to be a safe bet for a stay at home defenseman. They ended up flipping the pick for Andersen, too. The Ducks drafted a C who just put up 131p in 66gp in his fourth WHL season.

In hindsight, I'd rather have kept Kapanen or the 1st and traded Pouliot.

 

[Malkinstheman]

In hindsight, it would be been great if we had just included Pouliot instead of Kapanen. Then again maybe the two players have very different different developments when they swap teams.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Why are we talking about Staal here now

Staal is an even more unrealistic target for the 3C spot than Duchene is.

Pretty much... Staal is so far out there in terms of the possibility of what we'd trade for it's just nonsense to dedicate any more attention to it than a passing by "what if", more than that and you are out to lunch.

 

[Riptide]

Sheary, 1st, Wilson for Staal with 17% retained, worth it?

The team:

Guentzel, Crosby, Sprong
Hagelin, Malkin, Kessel
Rust, Staal, Hornqvist
Kuhnhackl, Rowney, Reaves/Archibald

Dumoulin, Letang
Maatta, Schultz
Cole, Hunwick

Murray
Niemi

Good enough for 3 in a row?

Staal would be that guy that can be a 2nd/3rd tweener.

Even with that line-up, JR would have enough to give Cullen a 1yr deal at around 1-1.5m.

The issue with trading Sheary, is that the moment you do so, you lose the ability to place 3 skilled wingers on each line. Which means that regardless of how good the C is, we're not giving him too many options to work with. It would also limit our other line combo's and mean we're pretty much dependent on Sprong becoming a skilled top 6 winger.

I'm not opposed to moving Sheary... but I think we need to be pretty careful about said deal if we're going to go that route.

As for Staal (and most other really really good #3 centers), unless we can place some skill on their wings, I don't think we'll see the success we'd like from them. To the point that having the ability to put Kessel there (while keeping Sheary and Guentzel in the top 6) and having a "lesser #3C" is a bigger benefit then getting an ace #3C, but depending on Sprong or having less skilled wingers in the lineup.

 

[Ogrezilla]

It's amazing how much I think bringing back a 41 year old Matt Cullen would help this team. I think he can really make it easier to play it slow for a 3C, because I think he can fill that role for a few months. Is there anyone who thought he would be anywhere near this good for us when we picked him up late two years ago? Hell, I was annoyed that we were blocking Sundqvist

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Guentzel, Kessel, Horny all on 3 separate lines isn't 3 skilled wingers on 3 lines?

 

[kbuck8851]

It's amazing how much I think bringing back a 41 year old Matt Cullen would help this team. I think he can really make it easier to play it slow for a 3C, because I think he can fill that role for a few months. Is there anyone who thought he would be anywhere near this good for us when we picked him up late two years ago? Hell, I was annoyed that we were blocking Sundqvist

My exact quote to my father was: "Meh, I'll give him a shot. Guys named Cullen tend to do well in Pittsburgh".

 

[Speaking Moistly]

It's amazing how much I think bringing back a 41 year old Matt Cullen would help this team. I think he can really make it easier to play it slow for a 3C, because I think he can fill that role for a few months. Is there anyone who thought he would be anywhere near this good for us when we picked him up late two years ago? Hell, I was annoyed that we were blocking Sundqvist

I was pissed when they signed him. Now, I'm not going to say I'd cry if he didn't come back but I'd be really sad and less confident about the team. It wasn't JR's biggest move but signing Cullen was crucial in the end.

Guentzel, Kessel, Horny all on 3 separate lines isn't 3 skilled wingers on 3 lines?

No. Hornqvist is a lot of things but he's not skilled unless he's parked in front of the goalie.


Ignoring price and the rest of the roster. How would Staal even feel about being the 3C here again? Could he swallow his pride for real or would it become an issue? Maybe the failure in Carolina (no playoffs, brothers long gone) has made him more amenable to being the 3C or maybe it hasn't.

 

[Andy99]

It's amazing how much I think bringing back a 41 year old Matt Cullen would help this team. I think he can really make it easier to play it slow for a 3C, because I think he can fill that role for a few months. Is there anyone who thought he would be anywhere near this good for us when we picked him up late two years ago? Hell, I was annoyed that we were blocking Sundqvist

Yeah but I don't want Cullen playing 3C minutes unless the third and fourth lines minutes are going to be equally spread out. Ideally, if we can't snag a really good 3C trade before training camp, I'd like to see an open competition between Johnson, Blueger, Guentzel and whatever other young guy has a chance to play center

 

[Allie Kitsune]

My exact quote to my father was: "Meh, I'll give him a shot. Guys named Cullen tend to do well in Pittsburgh".

I'd completely forgotten about a certain game show host, heh.

 

[Riptide]

Guentzel, Kessel, Horny all on 3 separate lines isn't 3 skilled wingers on 3 lines?

No. Hornqvist doesn't (or at least rarely) make plays or pulls coverage from his center. He's almost entirely dependent on his center to create chances for him other than when he's in the crease waiting for garbage.

I love him as a winger and what he brings... but Sheary will likely have a much bigger impact on his center's ability to put up numbers then Hornqvist would have.

 

[Stad]

Michael Russo who is close with Cullen said today he thinks the Cullen decision will happen pretty soon(made it sound like any day now)

Russo said he thinks Cullen is leaning towards playing another year, Cullen has apparently been training every day in Minnesota which would suggest hes planning on playing.

He also said his gut tells him will go back to the pens over Minnesota.

Where did you read/hear that?

 

[pistolpete11]

The issue with trading Sheary, is that the moment you do so, you lose the ability to place 3 skilled wingers on each line. Which means that regardless of how good the C is, we're not giving him too many options to work with. It would also limit our other line combo's and mean we're pretty much dependent on Sprong becoming a skilled top 6 winger.

I'm not opposed to moving Sheary... but I think we need to be pretty careful about said deal if we're going to go that route.

As for Staal (and most other really really good #3 centers), unless we can place some skill on their wings, I don't think we'll see the success we'd like from them. To the point that having the ability to put Kessel there (while keeping Sheary and Guentzel in the top 6) and having a "lesser #3C" is a bigger benefit then getting an ace #3C, but depending on Sprong or having less skilled wingers in the lineup.

Of all the reasons to not trade for Staal, not having enough skill on the wings is pretty low on the list.

Guentzel - Crosby - Hornqvist
Hagelin - Malkin - Kessel
Rust - Staal - Sprong
Wilson - (Cullen) - Reaves

Looks pretty good to me. Even if Sprong isn't ready, Wilson - Staal - Rust/Hornqvist is every bit as skilled as Cooke - Staal - Kennedy. Again, there are a lot of reasons to not trade for Staal, but giving up Sheary isn't one of them...at least for me.

Where did you read/hear that?

Seconded. I Google'd it, but nothing recent came up. I guess it was on the radio?