News Article: GMJR HAS RESIGNED

[BigEezyE22]

When in 2017 would be a perfect time for Letang trade? Before the stroke, after the stroke, or mid-stroke?

 

[Tom Hanks]

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

If the rumors about JR exploring a Letang trade and ownership blocking it are true then Lemieux and Co. can **** off. This teams rebuild is going to be a massive shit show and get ready for all the rumors of selling the team once the Crosby/Malkin Era is over. I'm all for loyalty and understand the legacy Letang carries but this is still a business and if JR had something setup that helps this team then he shouldn't have ownership getting in the way.

When I own a business I will run it the way I see fit. If Mario wants to keep the core and let them retire Penguins I have no problem with that. After 4 Cup appearances and 3 Cups they have earned the right to finish their careers with the Pens if they so chose. With many fans from other cities not seeing their team win a Cup going on 50 years or more like the Leafs, Sabres, and Canucks Mario knows how special this group is. I witnessed 5 Cups in my lifetime.

Flyer fans would have to be 50+ years old just to say they saw the team win a Cup when they went to elementary school. I know how they feel being a Pirates fan. Let me change that to used to be a Pirates fan. I will not spend a single penny on the Pirates until ownership change. So if you don't like the way Mario runs his team you can do the same as I am doing with the Pirates. You would be a spoiled brat to do it but it is a free country so go spend your money elsewhere. It is a business but some bosses treat their employees better than others. All take the Pens way over the Pirates any day.

 

[Pens x]

Maybe the Pens want to get younger at GM, and 70 year old Tallon would do that.

 

[pensfan71]

There was a Letang to Tampa deal before? Damn did not know that...but also if we hire Tallon we're actually f***ed. No ways bout it

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Seriously though, if higher ups are against trading Letang there f***ign crazy.
Personally as much as I like the guy, time to cash in!

 

[SEALBound]

Morehouse is Burkle's Lapdog

Which part are you replying to? Burkle is not part of the day-to-day. He needs someone to give him an update as needed. That's Morehouse and that's not new...or any team...or any large business with an owner with several companies. That said, Burkle likely does not have great insight into who the "good" GMs in the league are and who would work here. Mario "might" but I would be willing to bet he's running on outdated software. So that said, I am quite sure it's not "Hey, Morey! Go hire Tallon because I said so! Signed, Ron Burkle"

If there was anticipation that JR would do this season and next, I don't think they had Tallon in mind for GM necessarily. What the actual capacity of the role would have been, who knows. Maybe in the "after JR" capacity but that's even a stretch for Tallon.

When in 2017 would be a perfect time for Letang trade? Before the stroke, after the stroke, or mid-stroke?

Logic would probably tell you "before a major medical implication".

 

[895]

Well was that Letang trade idea recent or was that during the off-season? I have a lot of doubts that JR was working on a Letang trade right now considering how many defenseman they had lost due to injury. Not to mention that it's also Dunlap, who's in on the clown show that is the Pittsburgh sports media.

But if that is true, I'm also going to judge JR pretty harshly if he just flat out quit because ownership didn't want him trading Letang. I don't like ownership meddling like that, but seems like a really immature response if you just flat out quit because of it.

I dont think there's any way the Penguins can win a Letang trade

But if ownership is not letting a GM do what he thinks is best for the team, resigning is a fair and reasonable thing to do.

 

[Pancakes]

Personally I'm not really for trading Letang. That's a blow-up the team type move. Our defense would suck ass without him. People underestimate how much value he still adds.

If we're going to rebuild then fine, go for it. But if we're trying to win now, how do you do anything but keep him? It would be very difficult for such a move to make us better in the short or even medium term.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

When we trade Letang who will play RD besides Marino? Marino is hurt? Who we got? Chad and Cody? Why we trading Letang?

 

[Empoleon8771]

I dont think there's any way the Penguins can win a Letang trade

But if ownership is not letting a GM do what he thinks is best for the team, resigning is a fair and reasonable thing to do.

Yeah I agree, right now I'm against moving Letang. I don't think resigning is a reasonable response to that, though. Throwing your hands up and saying "I QUIT!" because owners wouldn't let you do 1 thing is ridiculous. But at the same point, it seems like there were a couple examples of owners meddling that JR was starting to get irritated about.

 

[OswaldBates]

That is why Morehouse is there ! remember Ray Shero after winning SC had it in his contact that he had final say on trades? who do you think that was aimed for?? Mario?? No It was aimed right at Morehouse
*****
F'd the reply up

 

[LOGiK]

He was already back and playing for like 1.5 seasons showing he was “fine” all things considered. If you’re using that “LOGik” you don’t get any max value back on any player because they too could have some freak medical incident one day...

Logik was a skateboarding company over 20 years ago. It's not implying my posts are inherently logical... my posts are anything but that.

Some GM's may indeed care he did have a stroke... would you invest 'maximum value' in someone in that situation?

Doubtful. You really underestimate what having a stroke does to a professional athletes value.

 

[DRAGO 18]

Whether or not its too late to deal Letang or not, the last person you would ever want trading Letang at this point in his career is JR.

He completely tanked Murray's value, had to give up a 2nd to get Vegas to take Fleury and his last 3 big defense signings were Cody Ceci, Jack Johnson and Matt Hunwick. Not to even mention trading for Gudbranson and Matheson. Its a blessing in disguise he is gone

 

[BigEezyE22]

Which part are you replying to? Burkle is not part of the day-to-day. He needs someone to give him an update as needed. That's Morehouse and that's not new...or any team...or any large business with an owner with several companies. That said, Burkle likely does not have great insight into who the "good" GMs in the league are and who would work here. Mario "might" but I would be willing to bet he's running on outdated software. So that said, I am quite sure it's not "Hey, Morey! Go hire Tallon because I said so! Signed, Ron Burkle"

If there was anticipation that JR would do this season and next, I don't think they had Tallon in mind for GM necessarily. What the actual capacity of the role would have been, who knows. Maybe in the "after JR" capacity but that's even a stretch for Tallon.



Logic would probably tell you "before a major medical implication".

Ok...so at a point in time where the Pens had a top 5 record in the league and were defending their 1st cup in 7 years.

 

[Snooki Stackhouse]

Allvin could be a smart, talented guy, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable promoting directly from scouting to permanent General Manager. He's been AGM for 2.5 months; his promotion to Interim GM is more of a technicality than an execution of a well-thought-out succession plan. I'd like him to stay on as AGM.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Whether or not its too late to deal Letang or not, the last person you would ever want trading Letang at this point in his career is JR.

He completely tanked Murray's value, had to give up a 2nd to get Vegas to take Fleury and his last 3 big defense signings were Cody Ceci, Jack Johnson and Matt Hunwick. Not to even mention trading for Gudbranson and Matheson. Its a blessing in disguise he is gone

I agree, but to be fair, MP and Marino are in there too.

 

[SEALBound]

There was a Letang to Tampa deal before? Damn did not know that...but also if we hire Tallon we're actually f***ed. No ways bout it

I remember those rumors but I can't remember the deal. I remember two rumors - one Philly, one Tampa. I remember the Philly one involving Voracek and someone else, I think Simmonds when he was in his prime. I remember it being a good deal. Can't remember the Tampa one.

Seriously though, if higher ups are against trading Letang there f***ign crazy.
Personally as much as I like the guy, time to cash in!

I think it will wait until the off-season and it will be based on team performance. If they lay another egg, I think they make the change from contender to rebuilder. If that's the case, I would support it. I would try for a 3-4 year rebuild so that hopefully an old Sid and maybe Geno can mentor the next generation and some of our young guys are in their prime to start competing around 2026 or so.

What I don't want is to be the RedWings or Wild or even Nashville where you have good players but not a good enough team to have a legit chance at winning so they stay in this middle ground purgatory. I would rather they sell off, rebuild hard, then try again. No grasping at last straws or mediocre attempts.

That would start with Letang, Dumo, Rust, and likely Zucker. On the fence about McCann. These trades would all be in the mold of the Kessel and Zucker trades where you are getting a 1st+quality prospect (Kapanen or Addison) and maybe a camp dump. Every one of those guys can bring back a 1st, some 1st+. I don't want to say take the Ottawa approach but rather, the Penguins circa 2002-2005 approach. Sell those valuable assets, get the picks and prospects, suck buns and get the high picks as well. Hopefully after 3-4 years they can have a stable of young players that will help them compete. Maybe not unlike what Vancouver or Carolina look like now.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Jiggy, I'm highly dubious ownership told JR he wasn't allowed to trade Letang, if only because I know, with ownership's green light, it got really close with Florida in December 2017 and then there was more casual exploration of possibilities in the summers of 2018 and 2019.

I can't speak to the summers, but my understanding of what happened with Florida is they were offering a player from list A, a player from list B, and a first, and JR and ownership were on the same page that the deal had to be for two players on list A (pretty sure their big 3 weren't on list A but guys like Trotchek and Dadonov were).

So, I don't think Letang was off limits.

What I'd wonder-- IF LETANG IS THE REASON-- is if the disconnect wasn't over whether Letang could be traded but instead over his value (which is what nuked the deal to Tampa years ago, if memory serves).

Anyway, it's a subtle difference, but in this speculated scenario, I highly doubt the idea of trading Letang is the issue.

It probably is a little bit of the issue.

My feeling is that unless they can get absurd value for him, it is not worth the risk.

However, who would overpay for a 34-year-old guy with one year leaft on his contract whose game is predicated on athleticism (a lot of people) AND pay a premium (less people).

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I've been thinking about what @Gurglesons said yesterday, I know I hate myself for it too.

Pens should just do a complete gutting of their front office. Gillis in as team president, hire a gm, an assistant that helps balance that GMs warts and make it clear what their roles are, fire Sullivan and hire GG.

Give that GM and Pres a few months to assess what they need to do, then see if they can get some picks for this upcoming draft and be aggressive at the draft. The veteran I've been alluding to moving is the one I've been mentioning since the start of the season - Brian Dumoulin..let him be the start.

 

[Andy99]

Yeah I agree, right now I'm against moving Letang. I don't think resigning is a reasonable response to that, though. Throwing your hands up and saying "I QUIT!" because owners wouldn't let you do 1 thing is ridiculous. But at the same point, it seems like there were a couple examples of owners meddling that JR was starting to get irritated about.

even so, owners stepping in to give the yeah or nay to some trades is very common...seems very spiteful, juvenile and a big middle finger to up and quit a few games into the season when he’s put up with whatever he’s put up with for months...

 

[KIRK]

It probably is a little bit of the issue.

My feeling is that unless they can get absurd value for him, it is not worth the risk.

However, who would overpay for a 34-year-old guy with one year leaft on his contract whose game is predicated on athleticism (a lot of people) AND pay a premium (less people).

I will add this.

It very well may not have been Letang.

The more I'm hearing on this Tallon thing, it makes me wonder if THAT was the 'well if you don't trust me by now that you want this guy looking over my shoulder'.

Maybe JR was working the phones, and Tallon wanted to be all in and knowing everything that happens 'as an observer'.

You start the season as 'well, I'm not happy about you bringing having me bring in this guy but if he's just a way off observer' type of thing, but when he saw over the last month what that meant it practice, it confirmed his worst suspicions and he decided, in conjunction with all the other stuff that had percolated over the last year, it wasn't worth it.

 

[Gurglesons]

even so, owners stepping in to give the yeah or nay to some trades is very common...seems very spiteful, juvenile and a big middle finger to up and quit a few games into the season when he’s put with whatever he’s put up with for months...

I think it is very telling that the Penguin player interviewed in the Athletic article said “he quit on us”.

I wonder if this is the rallying call for this team. Sort of an F you to Rutherford for leaving them high and dry.

 

[Turin]

I don’t have much of an opinion on Tallon, he kind of seems like another JR. Florida has been a mess for a long time and I don’t think it was his fault though, so I’m not going to outright say he would close the window. I don’t know why anybody would have an extreme reaction either way.

 

[OswaldBates]

I think it is very telling that the Penguin player interviewed in the Athletic article said “he quit on us”.

I wonder if this is the rallying call for this team. Sort of an F you to Rutherford for leaving them high and dry.

UMMMM How many times has Sid & team quit on HC's ?