Player Discussion: Jean-François Bérubé (Mod Edit)

[blitzkriegs]

Yup. Maybe not the biggest, but one of the clearest screwups by Snow. Ok, he sees some potential in Berube. So what? The asset still has no value because he is a pending UFA with no track record. I really can't think of any reason for this other than stubbornness...Snow wanted to prove he was smarter than everyone else and hold onto Berube rather than risk him on waivers. Instead, he'll lose Berube and he killed any value Halak may have had.

I think he gambled and there was no market for Halak - he got stuck.

 

[kasper11]

I think he gambled and there was no market for Halak - he got stuck.

Yeah, but then he kept Berube up for the entire season. Once it was clear he couldn't move Halak he should have sent Berube down. Either he clears and we still have him or he is claimed and we lose him, like we will at the end of the year anyway.

 

[A Pointed Stick]

Yeah, but then he kept Berube up for the entire season. Once it was clear he couldn't move Halak he should have sent Berube down. Either he clears and we still have him or he is claimed and we lose him, like we will at the end of the year anyway.

He wanted to hit the home run like babe Ruth, and like Babe Ruth sometimes did he struck out.

I think it is obvious he didn't want to lose Berube. His time to simply rid the roster of Halak was the summer. He got greedy and screwed up. Then he further devalued Halak by killing our season against his struggles.

The good news is we will get someone new who hopefully has a better developed management style.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Step 1: Keep Berube.

Step 2: Keep Halak

Step 3: Expose and lose Halak to Las Vegas in expansion draft.

Step 4: Keep other valued pieces in the fold since we can only lose 1 player.

All the experts keep putting Marc Andre Fleury as the starting goaltender for Vegas. Don't know why they would pick Halak over him, lol.

 

[LeapOnOver]

Yeah, but then he kept Berube up for the entire season. Once it was clear he couldn't move Halak he should have sent Berube down. Either he clears and we still have him or he is claimed and we lose him, like we will at the end of the year anyway.

Was probably banking on Halak getting that big injury and it never happened.

 

[Sparksrus3]

So it looks like JFB will not get the required amount of games to where we can qualify him
And keep him. If he only plays 5-10 games the rest of the way then bolts out of here
what was the point of the whole 3 headed monster other than to upset halak ?

 

[airbus220]

to upset halak ?

Halak's complains are laughable because his condition is not good enough. If you aren't prepared you can't compete.

Two egos found themselves, Halak and Snow.

 

[blitzkriegs]

All the experts keep putting Marc Andre Fleury as the starting goaltender for Vegas. Don't know why they would pick Halak over him, lol.

Bc he's a one year contract vs. a two year and requires no acquisition cost. PIT is not exposing Fleury to Vegas - he will be traded somewhere before that or Vegas will trade for him.

 

[Hinterland]

Bc he's a one year contract vs. a two year and requires no acquisition cost. PIT is not exposing Fleury to Vegas - he will be traded somewhere before that or Vegas will trade for him.

He won't be traded and he won't be exposed to Vegas. Unless Fleury agrees to waive his NMC, Murray will go to Vegas.
There are rumours that Fleury's NMC is modified but the details vary so I don't really believe in it.

Even if his NMC is modified, he has to be protected unless Pittsburgh manages to trade him...which won't be easy if the Pens only have a short list of teams to trade him to.

 

[MJF]

He wanted to hit the home run like babe Ruth, and like Babe Ruth sometimes did he struck out.

I think it is obvious he didn't want to lose Berube. His time to simply rid the roster of Halak was the summer. He got greedy and screwed up. Then he further devalued Halak by killing our season against his struggles.

The good news is we will get someone new who hopefully has a better developed management style.

More like Dave Kingman.

 

[kasper11]

He won't be traded and he won't be exposed to Vegas. Unless Fleury agrees to waive his NMC, Murray will go to Vegas.
There are rumours that Fleury's NMC is modified but the details vary so I don't really believe in it.

Even if his NMC is modified, he has to be protected unless Pittsburgh manages to trade him...which won't be easy if the Pens only have a short list of teams to trade him to.

He must be protected. The NHL released a list of players that have no movement clauses and must be protected and Fleury is on it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-releases-list-players-exempt-004322515.html

That said, I have to imagine that he waives in order to facilitate a trade or Pitt buys him out, taking a $2M cap hit for 4 years. There is no way that they expose Murray.

 

[PK Cronin]

He must be protected. The NHL released a list of players that have no movement clauses and must be protected and Fleury is on it.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nhl-releases-list-players-exempt-004322515.html

That said, I have to imagine that he waives in order to facilitate a trade or Pitt buys him out, taking a $2M cap hit for 4 years. There is no way that they expose Murray.

I don't see any reason for him to waive. He's currently on a contender and is making a pretty penny. His best bet is to force Pittsburgh to buy him out at the end of the year so he can choose a new contract and destination that he wants to go to. There's the possibility he could be traded to a place he wants to go to, but how many of those are currently contenders and could fit his salary?

 

[blitzkriegs]

I don't see any reason for him to waive. He's currently on a contender and is making a pretty penny. His best bet is to force Pittsburgh to buy him out at the end of the year so he can choose a new contract and destination that he wants to go to. There's the possibility he could be traded to a place he wants to go to, but how many of those are currently contenders and could fit his salary?

He's a starter and will want to start somewhere. PHI, CAL, NYI (yes even NYI), BUF, DAL all need goaltending - some have the space, some others may create it to acquire him.

No one wants to force themselves into a buyout - he's a popular player and a darn good one, but he's not gonna sit in PIT to play 25/30 games when he should be playing 60.

There's plenty incentive for him to waive his NMC - PIT respects him and appears would only ask to waive if it was a team he would be interested in going to. He knows the writing is on the wall and the team has to make a decision - Murray's proven he can be their number 1 and is a ton younger and cheaper.

 

[PK Cronin]

He's a starter and will want to start somewhere. PHI, CAL, NYI (yes even NYI), BUF, DAL all need goaltending - some have the space, some others may create it to acquire him.

No one wants to force themselves into a buyout - he's a popular player and a darn good one, but he's not gonna sit in PIT to play 25/30 games when he should be playing 60.

He only needs to deal with it for less than half the season though, can win another cup, and maybe be a big piece in a run towards another cup. He could then waive and/or be bought out after the season is over. I wouldn't waive though.

 

[Hinterland]

He's a starter and will want to start somewhere. PHI, CAL, NYI (yes even NYI), BUF, DAL all need goaltending - some have the space, some others may create it to acquire him.

No one wants to force themselves into a buyout - he's a popular player and a darn good one, but he's not gonna sit in PIT to play 25/30 games when he should be playing 60.

There's plenty incentive for him to waive his NMC - PIT respects him and appears would only ask to waive if it was a team he would be interested in going to. He knows the writing is on the wall and the team has to make a decision - Murray's proven he can be their number 1 and is a ton younger and cheaper.

He will continue to start in Pittsburgh. You can only protect one goalie...the Pens have to protect Fleury...so Murray will either be traded or play for Vegas next season...unless Fleury waives his NMC but I really don't see why he would. He has the possibility to stay in Pittsburgh if he doesn't...or he'll make a lot of money in case of a buyout. If the NMC is modified the Pens could try to trade Fleury to one of the teams on his shortlist...but like I said...this is gonna be difficult unless the Pens retain salary. His contract is a problem.

I don't think Vegas would want Halak but if you pay them they might.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

He won't be traded and he won't be exposed to Vegas. Unless Fleury agrees to waive his NMC, Murray will go to Vegas.
There are rumours that Fleury's NMC is modified but the details vary so I don't really believe in it.

Even if his NMC is modified, he has to be protected unless Pittsburgh manages to trade him...which won't be easy if the Pens only have a short list of teams to trade him to.

He will continue to start in Pittsburgh. You can only protect one goalie...the Pens have to protect Fleury...so Murray will either be traded or play for Vegas next season...unless Fleury waives his NMC but I really don't see why he would. He has the possibility to stay in Pittsburgh if he doesn't...or he'll make a lot of money in case of a buyout. If the NMC is modified the Pens could try to trade Fleury to one of the teams on his shortlist...but like I said...this is gonna be difficult unless the Pens retain salary. His contract is a problem.

I don't think Vegas would want Halak but if you pay them they might.

There is a zero percent chance Murray will be exposed in the expansion draft. Absolutely zero.

More likely scenario is Fleury will be traded before the expansion draft. Second most likely scenario is Fleury will be bought out before the expansion draft. Third most likely scenario is the Pens will "bribe" Vegas not to take Murray (pay them a high draft pick/high prospect). The long shot scenario, which probably has a less than 1% chance of happening, is Murray will be dealt before then because they will NOT lose him for nothing.

Rumor was Rutherford turned down Calgary's offer of the 6th overall pick this past June (Calgary ended up taking Tkachuk with the pick) for Murray. And that was prior to him winning a Cup with them. So if Rutherford wouldn't even trade him for that return *before* he was proven, there is no chance in hell he just leaves Murray exposed in the expansion draft and loses him for nothing.

 

[airbus220]

There are still many games to play between Fleury and Murray. Fleury is struggling this season and Murray shows he's only human either. I wouldn't be interested in Fleury, might not be easy to trade him. Murray, if he has more bad games many things can change.

 

[Hinterland]

There is a zero percent chance Murray will be exposed in the expansion draft. Absolutely zero.

More likely scenario is Fleury will be traded before the expansion draft. Second most likely scenario is Fleury will be bought out before the expansion draft. Third most likely scenario is the Pens will "bribe" Vegas not to take Murray (pay them a high draft pick/high prospect). The long shot scenario, which probably has a less than 1% chance of happening, is Murray will be dealt before then because they will NOT lose him for nothing.

Gotta disagree with you on the trade. Fleury's list will be full of contenders. Contenders don't wanna take on a massive contract like that to get a fragile goalie. So even if Fleury's NMC is modified I don't see why any team would want to take on Fleury with his contract...let alone one on his shortlist...if it even exists. There are so many goalies available. Calgary almost got Bishop before the draft.
If the Pens would be willing to retain salary or take another expensive goalie in return that might be a game changer...not sure the Pens would want to do that.

Paying Vegas not to take Murray is probably gonna cost too much for the Pens to be interested. However paying Vegas to take Halak should be a realistic scenario. Vegas won't be overly worried about the salary cap. Depending on who else is available, a 1st rounder may seal the deal. They're gonna get a lot of average players so high picks is definitely something they'll be looking for to get some real franchise players.

So your 2nd scenario would probably be the most likely one to happen. If Fleury doesn't waive his NMC (I don't see why he would other than out of loyalty), he's probably gonna get a massive paycheck.

 

[blitzkriegs]

Gotta disagree with you on the trade. Fleury's list will be full of contenders. Contenders don't wanna take on a massive contract like that to get a fragile goalie. So even if Fleury's NMC is modified I don't see why any team would want to take on Fleury with his contract...let alone one on his shortlist...if it even exists. There are so many goalies available. Calgary almost got Bishop before the draft.
If the Pens would be willing to retain salary or take another expensive goalie in return that might be a game changer...not sure the Pens would want to do that.

Paying Vegas not to take Murray is probably gonna cost too much for the Pens to be interested. However paying Vegas to take Halak should be a realistic scenario. Vegas won't be overly worried about the salary cap. Depending on who else is available, a 1st rounder may seal the deal. They're gonna get a lot of average players so high picks is definitely something they'll be looking for to get some real franchise players.

So your 2nd scenario would probably be the most likely one to happen. If Fleury doesn't waive his NMC (I don't see why he would other than out of loyalty), he's probably gonna get a massive paycheck.

Fleury's preference may be contenders, however, sometimes a guy just wants to play A LOT and that may be his goal. Doesn't look like Ryan Miller went after a contender w/Vancouver. He went for western location AND playing time.

PIT doesn't have to give up assets for someone to take Fleury. There's plenty of teams that will take him on as starter. His contract is digestible. You take Fleury @ 2yrs, Halak @ 1yr, or Bishop the UFA @ 4/5yrs, Mason the UFA @ 2/3 yrs, Elliot the UFA @ 2/3 yrs? Those are the comparables - Fleury is very attractive in that scenario to the existing teams, let alone adding in Vegas.

How many teams have been 'paid' to take players? Not many, so it's nice how fans think this, yet it has not been put into practice often. (and yes, I am familiar with the Kessel trade).

 

[blitzkriegs]

There are still many games to play between Fleury and Murray. Fleury is struggling this season and Murray shows he's only human either. I wouldn't be interested in Fleury, might not be easy to trade him. Murray, if he has more bad games many things can change.

PIT probably keeps both through end of season. Figure it out in the offseason. If Murray is their guy, there's plenty of 1Bs floating around to sign for 2yrs. Plenty of options to trade Fleury: WPG, CAL, PHI, DAL, BUF, etc. + Vegas.

 

[frankieboy]

Gotta disagree with you on the trade. Fleury's list will be full of contenders. Contenders don't wanna take on a massive contract like that to get a fragile goalie. So even if Fleury's NMC is modified I don't see why any team would want to take on Fleury with his contract...let alone one on his shortlist...if it even exists. There are so many goalies available. Calgary almost got Bishop before the draft.
If the Pens would be willing to retain salary or take another expensive goalie in return that might be a game changer...not sure the Pens would want to do that.

Paying Vegas not to take Murray is probably gonna cost too much for the Pens to be interested. However paying Vegas to take Halak should be a realistic scenario. Vegas won't be overly worried about the salary cap. Depending on who else is available, a 1st rounder may seal the deal. They're gonna get a lot of average players so high picks is definitely something they'll be looking for to get some real franchise players.

So your 2nd scenario would probably be the most likely one to happen. If Fleury doesn't waive his NMC (I don't see why he would other than out of loyalty), he's probably gonna get a massive paycheck.

If I understood you correctly, there is NO way I'd be OK with including a 1st round pick just to get Vegas to take Halak when Halak has only one more year remaining (after this season).

 

[blitzkriegs]

If I understood you correctly, there is NO way I'd be OK with including a 1st round pick just to get Vegas to take Halak when Halak has only one more year remaining (after this season).

There is no way that is happening - The Isles do NOT have to pay anyone to take Halak. The issue with Halak is term. Next year, he's got one year left. He's a risk many teams would take on. Isles may get a 4-7th round pick or have to take some salary back, but the Isles do NOT have to add picks to move him. That's just nonsense.

 

[PK Cronin]

There is no way that is happening - The Isles do NOT have to pay anyone to take Halak. The issue with Halak is term. Next year, he's got one year left. He's a risk many teams would take on. Isles may get a 4-7th round pick or have to take some salary back, but the Isles do NOT have to add picks to move him. That's just nonsense.

Next year is his last year. So he'll be gone soon enough, the Isles don't need to overpay to make it happen.

 

[Hinterland]

There is no way that is happening - The Isles do NOT have to pay anyone to take Halak. The issue with Halak is term. Next year, he's got one year left. He's a risk many teams would take on. Isles may get a 4-7th round pick or have to take some salary back, but the Isles do NOT have to add picks to move him. That's just nonsense.

Well, you can protect 7F/3D or 8 skaters.

7F/3D would leave for example Hickey, DeHaan and Strome unprotected. Even if Snow manages to make moves until the expansion draft, it's gonna cost quite a player anyway. Do I wanna give up a 1st rounder to keep all important players and at the same time get Halak off the books? Depending on where the Isles finish in the standings, that's something Snow should consider. 2017 is not gonna be a very good draft year anyway.

 

[blitzkriegs]

Well, you can protect 7F/3D or 8 skaters.

7F/3D would leave for example Hickey, DeHaan and Strome unprotected. Even if Snow manages to make moves until the expansion draft, it's gonna cost quite a player anyway. Do I wanna give up a 1st rounder to keep all important players and at the same time get Halak off the books? Depending on where the Isles finish in the standings, that's something Snow should consider. 2017 is not gonna be a very good draft year anyway.

Every team is unprotecting a bunch of 'attractive' and 'hard to lose' players - that's the point of all this.

I'm not sending a #1 pick to help retain one of those three players + move Halak out. Halak will be exposed, may be selected by Vegas, but most certainly will be traded. He's got one year left - that's value. VAN passed on Miller, VAN now needs a 1A/B w/Markstrom, WPG, BUF, etc. Plenty of places. Teams will pay more in salary/cap for term flexibility.

I'm not worried about moving Halak. This issue was his offseason injury, term, budgets were set, and no long term injury that impacted another team. LAK was the closest, but they don't want the 2nd year. Summer 2017 - it's one year.