Speculation: Pens Offseason

[PensandCaps]

Not like Fleury has had to play any high scoring teams like Philly or Washington.

Murray would look alot better facing a pathetic Kings team and a Sharks offense with no true star. Philly and Washington are both much better at scoring than those teams.

 

[turkulad]

I'm going to assume the Penguins won't trade Letang, that's probably too extreme to think they'll do. I think the Penguins need:

1. A #2 or #3 LD, with using Maatta as a trade chip for that. I think a package starting with Maatta and Sheary for an expensive #3 makes some sense.
2. A good RD prospect, with using Sprong as a trade chip for that.
3. Another top-9 winger, either a RWer for Crosby or a winger for Malkin.

I'm not sure who exactly they should be targeting, but that would be my general plan. I wonder if you can do a deal around:

Penguins trade Maatta, Sprong and Sheary
Flames trade Giordano and Andersson

Just tossing up an idea I had.

We can cover two out of those three with Baertschi and Edler. Interested? If answered yes, what would you offer for them? Maatta+?
Edler has a NTC obviously, but it's not like he's setting himself up for retirement contract in any case.

 

[Empoleon8771]

We can cover two out of those three with Baertschi and Edler. Interested? If answered yes, what would you offer for them? Maatta+?
Edler has a NTC obviously, but it's not like he's setting himself up for retirement contract in any case.

I actually proposed Maatta and Sheary for Granlund and Edler with an extension in another thread and Canucks fans seemed to like it. It would probably need to be reworked to get the value closer together, but I don't think it's a bad base of a trade.

 

[wej20]

What's the interest level in Bryan Rust?

I've nothing bad to say about his game, but he'll be an RFA with arb rights and the Pens have Guentzel to re-sign.

I can't imagine he'll be that expensive to re-sign. I'd keep him if we can sign for 3 million or less.

 

[turkulad]

I actually proposed Maatta and Sheary for Granlund and Edler with an extension in another thread and Canucks fans seemed to like it. It would probably need to be reworked to get the value closer together, but I don't think it's a bad base of a trade.

Trouble is, should we be interested in Sheary? Most posters will just look at his age but considering how all Pens seem to think he should be offloaded, it's not exactly a raving review.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Trouble is, should we be interested in Sheary? Most posters will just look at his age but considering how all Pens seem to think he should be offloaded, it's not exactly a raving review.

He's an expensive 3rd line winger when the Penguins have much cheaper internal replacements. That's the biggest reason for why Penguins fans want to trade him.

 

[domaug]

Trouble is, should we be interested in Sheary? Most posters will just look at his age but considering how all Pens seem to think he should be offloaded, it's not exactly a raving review.

Pens fans want him traded because he is replaceable internally and can bring back at least a somewhat reasonable return.

 

[turkulad]

He's an expensive 3rd line winger when the Penguins have much cheaper internal replacements. That's the biggest reason for why Penguins fans want to trade him.

Think you could point to us a team that could use him? Since we certainly don't. We have Dahlen, Petterson, Goldobin etc. ready to take on those line spots too and shouldn't take on new cargo to fill them.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You're missing the point. Every time Murray won the Cup with the Penguins, he has had assistance from his backup goaltender, Fleury. Look when he became the full starter. He had his weakness revealed and lost to the Capitals, who were predicted to be nowhere than a first round exit. Asinine? Bro.

2016, Murray didn't need any help from his backups.

This narrative that Murray can't win the Cup without help is idiot after his performance so far in his young career.

 

[BHD]

4th straight year without a first rounder. At some point that will sting.

Two Stanley Cups before losing this year. Really stings.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Two Stanley Cups before losing this year. Really stings.

Yep. I know for a fact that I'd rather see my team draft 25th overall (or whatever) than see them raise the Cup two years in a row. What a dreadful handful of seasons this has been.

 

[BHD]

Management hinted at making room for Sprong, who contributed during his last call-up. So either Hagelin (expendable) or Sheary (underperforming) could be traded.

Yep. I know for a fact that I'd rather see my team draft 25th overall (or whatever) than see them raise the Cup two years in a row. What a dreadful handful of seasons this has been.

I'm so jealous of those rebuilding teams.

 

[The Old Master]

2. A good RD prospect, with using Sprong as a trade chip for that.
3. Another top-9 winger, either a RWer for Crosby or a winger for Malkin.

don't trade sprong, then you won't need to add a rw.

 

[Riptide]

Think you could point to us a team that could use him? Since we certainly don't. We have Dahlen, Petterson, Goldobin etc. ready to take on those line spots too and shouldn't take on new cargo to fill them.

Edmonton would be landing spot #1 given their centers and their lack of speed on the wings. Sheary is a skilled 3rd line player who has the ability to play with skilled centers. Even in the POs, despite not scoring, him and Brassard still managed to control a lot of the play deep in the OZ, with Sheary hanging onto the puck (or using his speed to recover it) and then making plays with it. We also saw him multiple times in the regular season with Sheahan and it looking very good, so he doesn't need a high end center to play with.

Assets:
- Skill. The kid has the ability to hang onto the puck and make plays. He won't pull coverage from star centers, but he's good enough that you can't ignore him completely either to double team said center.
- Speed. He's fast... very fast. In Pittsburgh with guys like Hagelin and Rust, Sheary is easily in the same picture speed wise.
- Corner work/forechecking. When he's on his game, he has an uncanny ability to go into the corners/end zone and more often then one would think he should be able to due to his size, actually come out of the corner with the puck and be able to make a play with it.
- Ability to play with skilled players. Speaks for itself.

Cons:
- Size. Can be easily knocked off the puck.
- Defense. At best, his game is suspect. He was much better in the POs... but he's not someone you want out there late in a 1g game.
- To the above point, he doesn't PK. Which means if he's not scoring how much he aids a team is questionable. If he's using his speed and is hard on the forecheck, then it's less of an issue. But as we saw at times this year, that can be hit and miss. If it's the latter... it's really frustrating as his skill doesn't make up for it.

Overall I think the pro's out weigh the con's, however it's all dependent on a teams cap situation and their overall roster. Things in Pittsburgh are going to be a little tight with how our center depth is structured (Sheahan is going to get a decent raise) and the other high priced contracts we have, to the point that a small offense only winger with a 3m cap hit is an easy player to move. Especially when you have 2 internal candidates who make 700k and need waivers.

 

[turkulad]

Edmonton would be landing spot #1 given their centers and their lack of speed on the wings. Sheary is a skilled 3rd line player who has the ability to play with skilled centers. Even in the POs, despite not scoring, him and Brassard still managed to control a lot of the play deep in the OZ, with Sheary hanging onto the puck (or using his speed to recover it) and then making plays with it. We also saw him multiple times in the regular season with Sheahan and it looking very good, so he doesn't need a high end center to play with.

Assets:
- Skill. The kid has the ability to hang onto the puck and make plays. He won't pull coverage from star centers, but he's good enough that you can't ignore him completely either to double team said center.
- Speed. He's fast... very fast. In Pittsburgh with guys like Hagelin and Rust, Sheary is easily in the same picture speed wise.
- Corner work/forechecking. When he's on his game, he has an uncanny ability to go into the corners/end zone and more often then one would think he should be able to due to his size, actually come out of the corner with the puck and be able to make a play with it.
- Ability to play with skilled players. Speaks for itself.

Cons:
- Size. Can be easily knocked off the puck.
- Defense. At best, his game is suspect. He was much better in the POs... but he's not someone you want out there late in a 1g game.
- To the above point, he doesn't PK. Which means if he's not scoring how much he aids a team is questionable. If he's using his speed and is hard on the forecheck, then it's less of an issue. But as we saw at times this year, that can be hit and miss. If it's the latter... it's really frustrating as his skill doesn't make up for it.

Overall I think the pro's out weigh the con's, however it's all dependent on a teams cap situation and their overall roster. Things in Pittsburgh are going to be a little tight with how our center depth is structured (Sheahan is going to get a decent raise) and the other high priced contracts we have, to the point that a small offense only winger with a 3m cap hit is an easy player to move. Especially when you have 2 internal candidates who make 700k and need waivers.

Thanks for that. I think any deal sending him to us would have to include the supposition we could deal him elsewhere right away for futures.

 

[Volica]

4th straight year without a first rounder. At some point that will sting.

When Malkin and Crosby get too old to produce huge points?
Pens have the luxury of simply plugging gaps into those top two lines to produce. Not having firsts hurt... but honestly picking at 30/31 and picking at 50-60 isn't a mega drop-off. Really you only look at 2015 as having some impact.

That being said, they then went ahead and won the cup back to back. That aaaallll being said, having Barzal, Connor or Chabot on the Pens would be absurd.

 

[Pens x]

Why? Murray, despite not being great wasn't the issue. Holtby out playing him wasn't even the issue. Only 4 forwards scored a goal in the Washington series. When Connolly outscores every forward on your team other than Crosby (3), Hornqvist (3) and Guentzel (4), there's an issue. The depth that carried Pittsburgh to a cup in 2016 and the crazy good goaltending that carried them in 2017 wasn't there. But to point to just one player is asinine.

Murray is also very injury prone so a reliable backup is necessary. Rutherford clearly felt this way since he signed Niemj this past year. Sully kept going back and forth between DeSmith and Jarry based on which one was sucking less.

 

[Son Goku]

Edmonton would be landing spot #1 given their centers and their lack of speed on the wings. Sheary is a skilled 3rd line player who has the ability to play with skilled centers. Even in the POs, despite not scoring, him and Brassard still managed to control a lot of the play deep in the OZ, with Sheary hanging onto the puck (or using his speed to recover it) and then making plays with it. We also saw him multiple times in the regular season with Sheahan and it looking very good, so he doesn't need a high end center to play with.

Assets:
- Skill. The kid has the ability to hang onto the puck and make plays. He won't pull coverage from star centers, but he's good enough that you can't ignore him completely either to double team said center.
- Speed. He's fast... very fast. In Pittsburgh with guys like Hagelin and Rust, Sheary is easily in the same picture speed wise.
- Corner work/forechecking. When he's on his game, he has an uncanny ability to go into the corners/end zone and more often then one would think he should be able to due to his size, actually come out of the corner with the puck and be able to make a play with it.
- Ability to play with skilled players. Speaks for itself.

Cons:
- Size. Can be easily knocked off the puck.
- Defense. At best, his game is suspect. He was much better in the POs... but he's not someone you want out there late in a 1g game.
- To the above point, he doesn't PK. Which means if he's not scoring how much he aids a team is questionable. If he's using his speed and is hard on the forecheck, then it's less of an issue. But as we saw at times this year, that can be hit and miss. If it's the latter... it's really frustrating as his skill doesn't make up for it.

Overall I think the pro's out weigh the con's, however it's all dependent on a teams cap situation and their overall roster. Things in Pittsburgh are going to be a little tight with how our center depth is structured (Sheahan is going to get a decent raise) and the other high priced contracts we have, to the point that a small offense only winger with a 3m cap hit is an easy player to move. Especially when you have 2 internal candidates who make 700k and need waivers.

Forgot to mention he can't go ten feet without falling.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

When Malkin and Crosby get too old to produce huge points?
Pens have the luxury of simply plugging gaps into those top two lines to produce. Not having firsts hurt... but honestly picking at 30/31 and picking at 50-60 isn't a mega drop-off. Really you only look at 2015 as having some impact.

That being said, they then went ahead and won the cup back to back. That aaaallll being said, having Barzal, Connor or Chabot on the Pens would be absurd.

I think the bigger point Pens fans are getting at about the lack of 1st round picks is that they're in win now mode. Those 1st round picks don't really mean much at the moment since the player selected likely won't be helping the team for the next 4-5 seasons (if they don't bust outright).

And when Crosby and Malkin are old and about to retire, the team will likely have to rebuild at that point anyways. Having an extra handful of picks in the 25+ range won't exactly allow the Pens to replace the loss of Crosby and Malkin since you're not getting players of that caliber in those spots.