Salary Cap: Pens Salary Cap: Free Agency, everyone panic!!! Geno talk to the Geno thread only please

[Zirakzigil]

Off season time. New thread time apparently cause @Ugene Magic doesn’t like high page counts.

So how about them Malkin and Letang UFAs? Maybe we should sign one or both.

Geno thread. Keep Geno talk here:

Rumor: - Geno where art thou?

With all the Geno rumors and news, time for its own thread. Keep the Geno talk here please.

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[HandshakeLine]

I mean, lots of us said that FSG was going to do stupid shit and people were like "No, how could a faceless corporation that's never owned a hockey team go wrong?"

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I mean, lots of us said that FSG was going to do stupid shit and people were like "No, how could a faceless corporation that's never owned a hockey team go wrong?"

What have they done wrong so far? I don't understand the hate at the moment...

 

[Josey Wales]

What have they done wrong so far? I don't understand the hate at the moment...

Because they Did not give Geno a Blank f***ing Check ?

 

[Rossi Rat]

Have the Pens signed Parise & Suter yet?

 

[HandshakeLine]

What have they done wrong so far? I don't understand the hate at the moment...

I think the "give Letang, Rust, and Rakell insane term" only works if you're getting a player at least as good as Geno for 2C. At best, it's just a bandaid anyway that ends up not being severe enough to spark a rebuild and possible quick turnaround. At worst, you've basically just torpedo'd the team's potential to rebuild AND compete for the next couple of years.

Tell me what the upside is to giving two mediocre top 6 wingers lots of term, locking up Letang until he's 40, and yet not having enough cap space to go for a real game changer because you won't move the obviously bad contracts in the bottom 6 and blueline?

Also, lord f*** an LLC.

 

[orby]

I think the "give Letang, Rust, and Rakell insane term" only works if you're getting a player at least as good as Geno for 2C. At best, it's just a bandaid anyway that ends up not being severe enough to spark a rebuild and possible quick turnaround. At worst, you've basically just torpedo'd the team's potential to rebuild AND compete for the next couple of years.

Tell me what the upside is to giving two mediocre top 6 wingers lots of term, locking up Letang until he's 40, and yet not having enough cap space to go for a real game changer because you won't move the obviously bad contracts in the bottom 6 and blueline?

I agree in principle but I don't know how you can say Rust is mediocre. He is the second or third best RW the team has had in the entire Crosby/Malkin era.

 

[Josey Wales]

I agree in principle but I don't know how you can say Rust is mediocre. He is the second or third best RW the team has had in the entire Crosby/Malkin era.

Because he is Butthurt that they offered Geno the same Contract as Letang

 

[HandshakeLine]

I agree in principle but I don't know how you can say Rust is mediocre. He is the second or third best RW the team has had in the entire Crosby/Malkin era.

And that's faint praise because our wings outside of Guentzel and a brief bit of Kessel are the definition of mediocre.

Rust got a "discount" but mostly because the UFA market is f***ing bonkers and dumb.

Because he is Butthurt that they offered Geno the same Contract as Letang

Why do you capitalize things incorrectly like that Joey dude?

 

[TimmyD]

I don’t see how 6 for 4 isn’t committed to bringing him back

Because it took Hextall until 48 hours before free agency to even get to that offer, if it was even the offer at all

 

[CascadiaPenguin]

I feel like JT Miller would be Brassard 2.0. He wouldn't play the same role here that he's played in Vancouver, and would likely produce at a similar rate as what he did in Tampa which...isn't bad, but it ain't Malkin. It makes so much more sense to just pay Malkin, which is only an extra 500k or so over Miller, plus it wouldn't cost a 1st and a prospect and/or a defenseman or whatever the ask is. It's a lateral at best move and would cost assets. It's completely stupid.

If Brassard was bigger, stronger, more effectively versatile, played tougher, and generally less of a bitch, I'd say your analogy is perfect!

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I think the "give Letang, Rust, and Rakell insane term" only works if you're getting a player at least as good as Geno for 2C. At best, it's just a bandaid anyway that ends up not being severe enough to spark a rebuild and possible quick turnaround. At worst, you've basically just torpedo'd the team's potential to rebuild AND compete for the next couple of years.

Tell me what the upside is to giving two mediocre top 6 wingers lots of term, locking up Letang until he's 40, and yet not having enough cap space to go for a real game changer because you won't move the obviously bad contracts in the bottom 6 and blueline?

Also, lord f*** an LLC.

If the ownership DIDN"T change hands, I think this approach would have remained the same:

- Give out a ton of term to keep the hits low
-We don't care about term bc the window is fully shut in 3 yrs max (if not already)
-Squeeze out the jerseys and other revenue due to the goodwill of signing 3 franchise pillars

Feels like FSG is a Red Herring when it's really just a bystander of what we knew was going to happen regardless of who was signing the checks.

Let's talk again in 2/3 years before we officially deem them idiots.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

Your first paragraph is about making change, but when they potentially make a change with Malkin you're upset?

"I understand if they want to make changes....but not MALKIN!"

I made myself pretty clear. If one wanted changes, there were plenty of opportunities to do so. Management clearly decided to stay the course and their attitude towards Malkin makes very little sense considering the rest of their actions.

Personally, I think we could have made plenty of other chances AND keep the big 3. That is my position. To me, Malkin, Letang and, of course, Crosby are off limit.

 

[HandshakeLine]

why do you never answer questions or posts about you or to you

What does this even mean? Are you Joey?

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Because it took Hextall until 48 hours before free agency to even get to that offer, if it was even the offer at all

Do you know this for a fact?
Just because it became public on X day doesn't mean it wasn't offered a week ago. Or that could very well be true.

Tons of suppositions happening with your statement

 

[HandshakeLine]

I made myself pretty clear. If one wanted changes, there were plenty of opportunities to do so. Management clearly decided to stay the course and their attitude towards Malkin makes very little sense considering the rest of their actions.

Personally, I think we could have made plenty of other chances AND keep the big 3. That is my position. To me, Malkin, Letang and, of course, Crosby are off limit.

Yeah, that's the whole crux of the matter. The team's not serious enough about rebuilding or competing. And it's just so cynically hollow that a terrible Jeff Carter got the royal deluxe treatment and Geno got shit on for months before the negotiations even started, and in bad faith nonetheless.

Maybe some people are cool with that, but man, if you're going to do the blow it up, rebuild, shouldn't we be blowing it up for more than Vincent f***ing Trocheck?

 

[TimmyD]

Do you know this for a fact?
Just because it became public on X day doesn't mean it wasn't offered a week ago. Or that could very well be true.

Tons of suppositions happening with your statement

Every report that came out last week or before said the Penguins offered him a 2 year deal and were hesitant to go to 3 or 4 years. So yeah I’m pretty sure Hextall didn’t budge on anything until 2 days ago because he thought he could play chicken and win.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Every report that came out last week or before said the Penguins offered him a 2 year deal and were hesitant to go to 3 or 4 years. So yeah I’m pretty sure Hextall didn’t budge on anything until 2 days ago because he thought he could play chicken and win.

I think there's zero reliable sources to state something is a fact related to the Pens.
But if you wanna be mad about it, nothing is stopping you.

Contracts with franchise players aren't easy. If it was, it'd be done a month ago

 

[molon labe]

The folks saying "we aren't competing" or "we're washed" are just flat out wrong.

This team could have easily been the team to lose to Colorado in the finals.

If you want to argue that we're not cup worthy...well a lot of good fortune comes into play there. I think with a few tweaks we're absolutely contenders barring matchup. But yeah, we about beat NYR with an AHL goalie and 1.5 offensive lines. Carolina folded. And we have Tampa's number. You just never know.

But to keep rolling out the same stuff year on end is a little ridiculous. I like trying Rakell again. Would like a big shakeup on D. Depending on the Geno situation another forward would be gravy.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I think there's zero reliable sources to state something is a fact related to the Pens.
But if you wanna be mad about it, nothing is stopping you.

Contracts with franchise players aren't easy. If it was, it'd be done a month ago

That's why you start them months prior?

You think Hextall is going to wait until the day before his contract expires to begin negotiating his new one?

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Yup...bad luck is the reason why we are not seven-time defending champs. Just pure luck. This team is perfect, clearly. From top to bottom, from ownership to the coach. Nothing needs to change. We're golden.

Oy vey.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

That's why you start them months prior?

You think Hextall is going to wait until the day before his contract expires to begin negotiating his new one?

Again, there's no reliable source to say they DIDN"T start them months ago.

I'm not saying they did or didn't. I just wish people would stop all the suppositions to support whatever narrative they like

It's possible they had negotiations when their season ended.
It's possible they didn't.
It's also possible they were very far apart on original negotiations and Hextall said "I'm putting this on the backburner and focusing on other things that I know I can accomplish (CDS/Letang/Rak)"

 

[molon labe]

Yup...bad luck is the reason why we are not seven-time defending champs. Just pure luck. This team is perfect, clearly. From top to bottom, from ownership to the coach. Nothing needs to change. We're golden.

Oy vey.

Who is saying that? Drop the hyperbole.

Saying how washed we are is just false. 16 straight* playoffs with no signs of stoppage from this team OR the competition is pretty damn good. Throwing in the towel now would be downright idiotic. We have 3* guys who've been here during that time. It's not like we've signed every cup champ to eternity contracts. The team IS mostly new... and keeps changing. Our problems right now are that GMJR signed/traded for mediocre players to big deals.

My point above is that we could have EASILY been the champs out of the east with mediocre goaltending. I didn't try and blame luck, or Rakell getting injured, or the bottom 6... I mean this exact team nearly went big with 1.5 scoring lines and that's it. That's impressive. You can keep that and shake things up. You don't tear it to the studs because of that. And yeah - we wouldve been stomped by Colorado but what if it were St Louis instead? You just don't lose your cool based on 1 thing. Changes are necessary for sure.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Again, there's no reliable source to say they DIDN"T start them months ago.

I'm not saying they did or didn't. I just wish people would stop all the suppositions to support whatever narrative they like

It's possible they had negotiations when their season ended.
It's possible they didn't.
It's also possible they were very far apart on original negotiations and Hextall said "I'm putting this on the backburner and focusing on other things that I know I can accomplish (CDS/Letang/Rak)"

Burke very clearly said they'll begin the negotiations once they dealt with Letang. I don't know how else you want me to read that.

My point above is that we could have EASILY been the champs out of the east with mediocre goaltending

Cool, good thing we spent that money we saved on Malkin for an elite goaltender.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Yup...bad luck is the reason why we are not seven-time defending champs. Just pure luck. This team is perfect, clearly. From top to bottom, from ownership to the coach. Nothing needs to change. We're golden.

Oy vey.

Don't forget, we're extending everyone for 5+ years. Having concerns regarding age and overall team performance are for losers.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Burke very clearly said they'll begin the negotiations once they dealt with Letang. I don't know how else you want me to read that.

I honestly must have missed that.
Either way, they established a pecking order (critique that if you want). I probably would have approached it the same way if I was the ownership.
They feel Letang is more valuable than Geno. Geno has a right to be upset about that and take his services elsewhere.