Confirmed with Link: McCann re-signed 2yrs 2.94 AAV

[Ryder71]

A. Signing a player to a great contract and immediately trading him sends a terrible message about how players would be treated by the Pens.

B. That he can play center and wing is a good thing. Versatility is always a good thing.

C. He is still very young and can grow.

D. The injury argument makes a lot of sense.

E. He's horribly inconsistent
F. He looks like Steven Stamkos
G. Mike (aka Ryder) wants him gone!

 

[Gurglesons]

I'd have to go back and look, which I'm not interested in doing. I just remember it differently. He produced well with Kahun, when they got split up for whatever reason he dried up.

You remember incorrectly.

 

[Ryder71]

You remember incorrectly.

Unless you provide some evidence to support your argument I have no reason whatsoever to believe you. Merely saying that I'm remembering ''incorrectly'' holds no water. Maybe you're not remembering accurately. See how that works?

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

I was being somewhat facetious. lol

My bad. I'm in the Pacific NW and haven't been out of my house for eight days as the world is burning down and the air is hazardous, so my brain is even more limited than usual!

 

[Ryder71]

My bad. I'm in the Pacific NW and haven't been out of my house for eight days as the world is burning down and the air is hazardous, so my brain is even more limited than usual!

No worries, it's hard to tell on here whether someone is serious or not. And I'm a sucker for deadpan humor. It's easier to pull off here when you can't see the expression on my face. I can keep a straight face for a bit, but then a mischevious smile emerges. lol

 

[theicebox]

Random Line Combo:

McCann - Blueger - Kapanen

 

[pistolpete11]

Whether he is 3C or 3LW, they needed somebody that could step into the 2C role when Crosby or Malkin are out. McCann showed he could do that last year, so for that I am happy.

I think it's fair to question where he fits in, but we'll see how the rest of the roster shakes out. Independently, this is a very solid deal. Not too much of a commitment in cap or term, he's young, fast, has a good shot, solid defensively, versatile, and he'll still be a RFA in case he does take off. He has his faults, namely inconsistency, but that's the norm for young, bottom 6 guys.

I would love to know how they came to a $2.94 cap hit. Seems strange.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Whether he is 3C or 3LW, they needed somebody that could step into the 2C role when Crosby or Malkin are out. McCann showed he could do that last year, so for that I am happy.

I think it's fair to question where he fits in, but we'll see how the rest of the roster shakes out. Independently, this is a very solid deal. Not too much of a commitment in cap or term, he's young, fast, has a good shot, solid defensively, versatile, and he'll still be a RFA in case he does take off. He has his faults, namely inconsistency, but that's the norm for young, bottom 6 guys.

I would love to know how they came to a $2.94 cap hit. Seems strange.

Pens are trying to limit the actual salaries they have to pay next season. This then, very likely, bumped up McCann's salary in the second year of this contract. Like, they probably settled on $2.75m to $2.875m being a fair cap hit for McCann, but then gave him more money overall to have a reduced salary for the 20-21 season.

A bit similar to what they did with Pettersson and his two recent contracts: "Help us out now and we'll pay you a bit more in the future."


Edit: I expect something similar to happen with Simon.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think McCann's most ideal usage is a 3rd line LW that subs into a top-6 center spot when Crosby and Malkin are hurt. If you have the cap space to make that work, I am very happy with running with that usage for him.

I'm beating a dead horse, but I still think Hornqvist should be the guy to go. I don't like a McCann-Hornqvist wing duo because you need an extremely good playmaking center to compensate for the lack of playmaking from those two. If it was McCann-Simon or McCann-Poulin, I wouldn't have that concern. McCann-Hornqvist gives me hardcore Kunitz-Dupuis vibes, and Kunitz-Dupuis didn't even work in the playoffs with Crosby as the center.

 

[pistolpete11]

Pens are trying to limit the actual salaries they have to pay next season. This then, very likely, bumped up McCann's salary in the second year of this contract. Like, they probably settled on $2.75m to $2.875m being a fair cap hit for McCann, but then gave him more money overall to have a reduced salary for the 20-21 season.

A bit similar to what they did with Pettersson and his two recent contracts: "Help us out now and we'll pay you a bit more in the future."

I mean the .94 part. Usually contracts are in some type of standard fraction of $100k or you can see that they split the difference between something. I don't see how you get to $X.94M

 

[OtherThingsILike]

I made a somewhat negative comment yesterday in another thread that maybe most of you didn't see because the thread I made it in is locked now. Anyway, I just wanted to say that one of the things I like about this board is that there's a lot of room for speculation and creativity and interesting ideas on here. I enjoyed reading the comments in this thread.

McCann was fine with Hornqvist. The issue was Marleau. Adding Simon or Poulin with those two would be solid. They need a play maker.

I would also like to see this line, for this reason.

I wonder if McCann - Blueger - XXX would work as a line

McCann and Blueger did connect for a couple of cool shorthanded goals in McCann's first season here, so I also wonder how they'd do at 5-on-5.

Yeah, this is where I'm at. These deals are fine in a vacuum, but I'm wondering what the hell JR was running his mouth about if this is really all he planned on doing this off-season.

I wonder if he was trying to negotiate through the media? Maybe everyone is asking for too much money so this is a way of getting them to settle for less?

Simon - great for possession, but playmaker?

Playmaker isn't a bad description for Simon. The problem with him with Sid or Geno is that they both insist on passing the puck back to him. If he had a center who would shoot more (such as what they're trying to do with McCann), maybe Simon's playmaking would be more obvious.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I mean the .94 part. Usually contracts are in some type of standard fraction of $100k or you can see that they split the difference between something. I don't see how you get to $X.94M

Maybe instead of an additional $125k McCann and his agent really wanted $130k?

$2.5m for year one, based on a reduced salary and a cap hit of $2.875m.

A $3.25m salary for year two would then give the cap hit of $2.875m, but the salary would be increased this year because of the lower first salary. GMJR then says he'll give them an additional $125k in that second year. But(!), McCann and his agent allegedly hate all digits below the ten-thousandths digit place and demand $130k.

Who knows...

 

[pistolpete11]

Maybe instead of an additional $125k McCann and his agent really wanted $130k?

$2.5m for year one, based on a reduced salary and a cap hit of $2.875m.

A $3.25m salary for year two would then give the cap hit of $2.875m, but the salary would be increased this year because of the lower first salary. GMJR then says he'll give them an additional $125k in that second year. But(!), McCann and his agent allegedly hate all digits below the ten-thousandths digit place and demand $130k.

Who knows...

Exactly...but I want to

 

[Andy99]

I would love to know how they came to a $2.94 cap hit. Seems strange.

my guess: Pens wanted him at $2.5 mil and his agent wanted $3.38 mil and they did two years at each of those respective salaries...

 

[EightyOne]

I mean the .94 part. Usually contracts are in some type of standard fraction of $100k or you can see that they split the difference between something. I don't see how you get to $X.94M

Or they penciled in $60k worth of incentive bonuses for an unofficial even $3mil?

 

[Speaking Moistly]

C. He is still very young and can grow.

I wouldn’t call him very young. He’s 24 forward with over 300 NHL games spanning 5 seasons under his belt. He’s not old and something could click but he’s not very young and I wouldn’t go counting on him growing because he’s young. He’s not a 21 year old with two seasons of play.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Or they penciled in $60k worth of incentive bonuses for an unofficial even $3mil?

McCann can’t have performance bonuses.

 

[Jacob]

I wouldn’t call him very young. He’s 24 forward with over 300 NHL games spanning 5 seasons under his belt. He’s not old and something could click but he’s not very young and I wouldn’t go counting on him growing because he’s young. He’s not a 21 year old with two seasons of play.

Some posters are counting on Blueger to grow into a 3C and he’s 2 years older than McCann. It’s not McCann’s fault Vancouver rushed him.

 

[Andy99]

I wouldn’t call him very young. He’s 24 forward with over 300 NHL games spanning 5 seasons under his belt. He’s not old and something could click but he’s not very young and I wouldn’t go counting on him growing because he’s young. He’s not a 21 year old with two seasons of play.

after 5 seasons in the NHL, you have to say that McCann is what he is...I’m not saying he couldn’t have career year like Rust just had with an 18 shooting % but that would be an outlier...anyone comparing him to Rust is looking at the wrong things...Rust early on in the NHL showed a penchant for big goals in big games even though he was an inconsistent scorer and also showed he could help the offense through his speed and forecheck despite being a limited player with some blinders on...but he improved on those weaknesses over the course of four NHL seasons...McCann has had more seasons in the NHL and really hasn’t improved on his ability to work cooperatively with teammates in the offensive zone...yes, he’s got good tools but he’s been shown to lack a toolbox...at this point, it’s hard to make an argument that he’s going to develop one...that’s not to say he won’t pot a goal or two despite that

 

[Andy99]

Some posters are counting on Blueger to grow into a 3C and he’s 2 years older than McCann. It’s not McCann’s fault Vancouver rushed him.

it’s not the “age” ...it’s time in the NHL...he might have been rushed by VAN but after five seasons of playing, it’s hard to say with any confidence that he’s got more room to grow

 

[EightyOne]

McCann can’t have performance bonuses.

#Accidental_Insult

Let's just say, if he gets 60+ over the two years, he'll get an anonymous package outside his door with $60k worth of partial balance PF Chang's gift cards..

 

[Jacob]

it’s not the “age” ...it’s time in the NHL...he might have been rushed by VAN but after five seasons of playing, it’s hard to say with any confidence that he’s got more room to grow

I think age is more important than NHL experience. I don’t think playing 4th line minutes vs. playing 1st line minutes in the AHL or SM-Liiga accelerates someone’s development.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Some posters are counting on Blueger to grow into a 3C and he’s 2 years older than McCann. It’s not McCann’s fault Vancouver rushed him.

Maybe they shouldn’t be. If you don’t think he is 3C calibre now, maybe don’t go thinking he’ll grow into that. It’s not McCann’s fault but any damage that was done was done.

 

[Andy99]

I think age is more important than NHL experience. I don’t think playing 4th line minutes vs. playing 1st line minutes in the AHL or SM-Liiga accelerates someone’s development.

it might not, but McCann isn’t returning to the AHL so if he hasn’t made his development work playing in the bottom six of a NHL roster, then he’s not going to have much of a career, at least with the Pens...he played well last year as the 2C with injuries (and better wingers), and less so on wing in the top 6 but he’s not going to get much of an opportunity there unless there are injuries...I suggested the Pens give him better wingers on L3 and play Kapanen or Rust with him and move up Horny...that ain’t gonna happen though at least with Sully in charge and Sid/G not wanting to play with Horny...I don’t see him improving on his point production in the NHL playing with Horny again on L3

 

[AuroraBorealis]

unless there are injuries...

LOL. Andy pls.

The real question is what century mark of man-games lost we'll have to deal with next year, and what proportion of them will be to our best players. Gotta plan around it.
It can't possibly be worse than last year, right? RIGHT?!

I feel bad for Kapanen, Joseph, Maniscalo and any future acquisitions who surrendered their ability to play close to full seasons when they entered the city limits.