Salary Cap: Pittsburgh Penguins Salary Cap: The Trades We'd Make Before The Play Offs

[Mr Jiggyfly]

But what about Letang then?

His NTC I believe is he can list 18 teams he can be traded to.

That’s a big shakeup moving him, but if you get back another Kessel like return, it just sinks the team deeper into a longer rebuild.

 

[K Fleur]

Death, taxes, and “it’s time to trade Letang” every single offseason.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Schultz is awful and will be gone in the off season. IMO he's the worst player on the team. The PP is awful with and without him. Joseph or Riikola will likely be more effective in his role.

JJ was solid as a #5-6 Dman during the season, tho he struggled in the playoffs. I don't think he's going anywhere tho I wouldn't be upset if he's bought out.

Marleau is gone.

Bjugstad needs to be bought out. His body clearly can't handle the NHL. He's a waste aof $4+ million. But he has 1 year left on his deal so if they can fit him under the cap next year I think they'll try to keep him.

Sheary is a UFA and needs to be re-signed. He's a great depth scoring guy, and Sid likes playing with him.

I would try to re-sign McCann, or trade him for a similar pedigree player. Perhaps a big physical center with 3c upside.

Both MM and Jarry need to be re-signed. Both can be sigend cheap (IMO) and its never a bad thing to have 2 solid goalies. If we MUST keep one, I vote Jarry. He'll likely be cheaper and has been far more reliable this season.

Anyone who wants to trade away Letang is an idiot. 30 NHL teams would kill to have a player like him and he's only signed for 2 more years at a relatively cheap deal.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Death, taxes, and “it’s time to trade Letang” every single offseason.

I mean, he's either been injured or crappy in the playoffs pretty damn regularly.

Last off-season I suggested deals like Letang for Spurgeon and Letang for Petry and Gallagher and caught flak.

But he's been identified as part of the core and in all likelihood won't get dealt.

 

[The Old Master]

Step one of my offseason plan would be taking a deep breath and realizing the Penguins can't trade away their best players while having no plan to replace them via a thin UFA market/nonexistent trade options every time they don't win the Cup because there's a lot of parity in the league and the season is just not going to end well most years.

and then take a look at the coaching. if its to blame, make a move to fix it. then and only then you need to decied if the team is done or just needs tweaking. if done, its better to finnish at the bottom and not be a 500 team. so blow it up. the best way to build is through the draft so more/higher picks, the better. if it just needs some tweaking and you think sid and geno can get another one. we all know what changes need to be made.

 

[The Greatest 101]

I will re-sign Sheary too. If Crosby wants to play with him, why not?

 

[K Fleur]

I mean, he's either been injured or crappy in the playoffs pretty damn regularly.

Last off-season I suggested deals like Letang for Spurgeon and Letang for Petry/Gallagher and caught flak.

But he's been identified as part of the core and in all likelihood won't get dealt.

I’d imagine you got flack for this one because trading Letang for a worse player than him that also is about have a higher cap hit than him is, too put it nicely, a bad idea.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I’d imagine you got flack for this one because trading Letang for a worse player than him that also has a higher cap hit than him is, too put it nicely, a bad idea.

For whatever reason, Pens fans seem to believe this until they see the other defenseman regularly. People have no problem seeing Petry's value now.

Spurgeon is much less mistake-prone than Letang.

 

[audioslaved]

You can make sizable changes without moving Letang. Dumoulin, Hornqvist and Murray all can be considered substantial changes that don't involve moving Letang.

And then have the same result and the sane excuses next season? No thanks!

 

[Empoleon8771]

If you're trading Letang, it's not to get someone less "mistake prone" than Letang. You're trading Letang to get that PPQB that you've lacked on the back end since Gonchar.

I can't think of anyone who would fit this, but that's what you trade Letang for. A younger #3D or better who can be that PPQB that Gonchar was.

And then have the same result and the sane excuses next season? No thanks!

Why would trading Letang be the only way to have different results next year? Why does trading Hornqvist, Dumoulin or Murray count as basically nothing?

 

[K Fleur]

This team has 3 defenseman that can both skate and pass. Wouldn’t move any of them.

The other 3 and their terrible contracts can all f*** off.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

The only way to improve the defense is to trade Letang at this point. I have a hard time seeing a young coach coming in here and telling Letang that he no longer will be playing 26 mins/game. That he is no longer the team's PPQB.
I have an even harder time seeing Sullivan realize this himself.

But those two things are absolutely critical for this team improving going forward. It would be like demoting Evgeni Malkin to the third line. Letang has been the 24-26 minute first D on this team for so long, it is too late to give him a lesser role in my opinion. Especially since he is coming off a good regular season and has the stamina for it. But just because he CAN play all those minutes and see time on the first PP unit and the second PK unit, does not mean he SHOULD.

I have been saying this for a long time but they need to completely redistribute the ice time (and the roles) on defense. Pettersson and Marino should become our new No. 1 pairing, going up against all the top players in the league. A NEW PP QB should be added and he should play next to Dumoulin, who limits errors and mistakes when he is right. I don't know why he was not right against Montreal. But for what he brings to the table, I think he should stay.

The third pairing should be brand new. Ruhwedel is a 7 and no more. Joseph could be given a shot but there has to be a backup plan in case he is not ready for the jump. I honestly don't know what to do with Johnson. Maybe a team with significant cap space would take him in a package with a Hornqvist, a McCann, a Bjugstad, a DeSmith for minimal return (like the Gudbranson trade, basically). He can't stay, though. I actually like Jack Johnson but there is no point in keeping him if we are going to overhaul the blueline (which is what we should do, for sure).

The other option would be to trade Letang and instead of adding a PPQB only, go after Pietrangelo as your new No. 1. Pietrangelo is a better all-around defenseman than Letang and would at the very least stabilize things back there. Then you can add a potential PP QB on the cheap to run the first unit and play third-pairing minutes. Someone like Erik Gustafsson (not necessarily him).

Either way, this team cannot improve its defense with Letang still here. Merely dumping Schultz and Johnson won't solve everything if Letang is still being used 26 mins/game, on the top PP unit and on the second PK unit.

Those minutes have to go to someone else and those players are not on the roster right now.

 

[audioslaved]

Why would trading Letang be the only way to have different results next year? Why does trading Hornqvist, Dumoulin or Murray count as basically nothing?

Trading them would not count as nothing. I want Murray traded as well, but Dumoulin and Hörnqvist is still part of the group of players I wanna keep.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

I will re-sign Sheary too. If Crosby wants to play with him, why not?

The only reason I wouldn't sign him is because he's terrible

 

[The Old Master]

The only way to improve the defense is to trade Letang at this point. I have a hard time seeing a young coach coming in here and telling Letang that he no longer will be playing 26 mins/game. That he is no longer the team's PPQB.
I have an even harder time seeing Sullivan realize this himself.

But those two things are absolutely critical for this team improving going forward. It would be like demoting Evgeni Malkin to the third line. Letang has been the 24-26 minute first D on this team for so long, it is too late to give him a lesser role in my opinion. Especially since he is coming off a good regular season and has the stamina for it. But just because he CAN play all those minutes and see time on the first PP unit and the second PK unit, does not mean he SHOULD.

I have been saying this for a long time but they need to completely redistribute the ice time (and the roles) on defense. Pettersson and Marino should become our new No. 1 pairing, going up against all the top players in the league. A NEW PP QB should be added and he should play next to Dumoulin, who limits errors and mistakes when he is right. I don't know why he was not right against Montreal. But for what he brings to the table, I think he should stay.

The third pairing should be brand new. Ruhwedel is a 7 and no more. Joseph could be given a shot but there has to be a backup plan in case he is not ready for the jump. I honestly don't know what to do with Johnson. Maybe a team with significant cap space would take him in a package with a Hornqvist, a McCann, a Bjugstad, a DeSmith for minimal return (like the Gudbranson trade, basically). He can't stay, though. I actually like Jack Johnson but there is no point in keeping him if we are going to overhaul the blueline (which is what we should do, for sure).

The other option would be to trade Letang and instead of adding a PPQB only, go after Pietrangelo as your new No. 1. Pietrangelo is a better all-around defenseman than Letang and would at the very least stabilize things back there. Then you can add a potential PP QB on the cheap to run the first unit and play third-pairing minutes. Someone like Erik Gustafsson (not necessarily him).

Either way, this team cannot improve its defense with Letang still here. Merely dumping Schultz and Johnson won't solve everything if Letang is still being used 26 mins/game, on the top PP unit and on the second PK unit.

Those minutes have to go to someone else and those players are not on the roster right now.

tanger seems to play better the more he's played, not sure cutting his playing time will help.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Trading them would not count as nothing. I want Murray traded as well, but Dumoulin and Hörnqvist is still part of the group of players I wanna keep.

How can you possibly want to trade Letang but keep Hornqivst?

 

[audioslaved]

The only way to improve the defense is to trade Letang at this point. I have a hard time seeing a young coach coming in here and telling Letang that he no longer will be playing 26 mins/game. That he is no longer the team's PPQB.
I have an even harder time seeing Sullivan realize this himself.

But those two things are absolutely critical for this team improving going forward. It would be like demoting Evgeni Malkin to the third line. Letang has been the 24-26 minute first D on this team for so long, it is too late to give him a lesser role in my opinion. Especially since he is coming off a good regular season and has the stamina for it. But just because he CAN play all those minutes and see time on the first PP unit and the second PK unit, does not mean he SHOULD.

I have been saying this for a long time but they need to completely redistribute the ice time (and the roles) on defense. Pettersson and Marino should become our new No. 1 pairing, going up against all the top players in the league. A NEW PP QB should be added and he should play next to Dumoulin, who limits errors and mistakes when he is right. I don't know why he was not right against Montreal. But for what he brings to the table, I think he should stay.

The third pairing should be brand new. Ruhwedel is a 7 and no more. Joseph could be given a shot but there has to be a backup plan in case he is not ready for the jump. I honestly don't know what to do with Johnson. Maybe a team with significant cap space would take him in a package with a Hornqvist, a McCann, a Bjugstad, a DeSmith for minimal return (like the Gudbranson trade, basically). He can't stay, though. I actually like Jack Johnson but there is no point in keeping him if we are going to overhaul the blueline (which is what we should do, for sure).

The other option would be to trade Letang and instead of adding a PPQB only, go after Pietrangelo as your new No. 1. Pietrangelo is a better all-around defenseman than Letang and would at the very least stabilize things back there. Then you can add a potential PP QB on the cheap to run the first unit and play third-pairing minutes. Someone like Erik Gustafsson (not necessarily him).

Either way, this team cannot improve its defense with Letang still here. Merely dumping Schultz and Johnson won't solve everything if Letang is still being used 26 mins/game, on the top PP unit and on the second PK unit.

Those minutes have to go to someone else and those players are not on the roster right now.

The only way to improve the defense is to trade Letang at this point. I have a hard time seeing a young coach coming in here and telling Letang that he no longer will be playing 26 mins/game. That he is no longer the team's PPQB.
I have an even harder time seeing Sullivan realize this himself.

But those two things are absolutely critical for this team improving going forward. It would be like demoting Evgeni Malkin to the third line. Letang has been the 24-26 minute first D on this team for so long, it is too late to give him a lesser role in my opinion. Especially since he is coming off a good regular season and has the stamina for it. But just because he CAN play all those minutes and see time on the first PP unit and the second PK unit, does not mean he SHOULD.

I have been saying this for a long time but they need to completely redistribute the ice time (and the roles) on defense. Pettersson and Marino should become our new No. 1 pairing, going up against all the top players in the league. A NEW PP QB should be added and he should play next to Dumoulin, who limits errors and mistakes when he is right. I don't know why he was not right against Montreal. But for what he brings to the table, I think he should stay.

The third pairing should be brand new. Ruhwedel is a 7 and no more. Joseph could be given a shot but there has to be a backup plan in case he is not ready for the jump. I honestly don't know what to do with Johnson. Maybe a team with significant cap space would take him in a package with a Hornqvist, a McCann, a Bjugstad, a DeSmith for minimal return (like the Gudbranson trade, basically). He can't stay, though. I actually like Jack Johnson but there is no point in keeping him if we are going to overhaul the blueline (which is what we should do, for sure).

The other option would be to trade Letang and instead of adding a PPQB only, go after Pietrangelo as your new No. 1. Pietrangelo is a better all-around defenseman than Letang and would at the very least stabilize things back there. Then you can add a potential PP QB on the cheap to run the first unit and play third-pairing minutes. Someone like Erik Gustafsson (not necessarily him).

Either way, this team cannot improve its defense with Letang still here. Merely dumping Schultz and Johnson won't solve everything if Letang is still being used 26 mins/game, on the top PP unit and on the second PK unit.

Those minutes have to go to someone else and those players are not on the roster right now.

Thank you!

 

[K Fleur]

The only reason I wouldn't sign him is because he's terrible

The deadpan of this got me

 

[Peat]

tanger seems to play better the more he's played, not sure cutting his playing time will help.

Don't think this is true. This season at 5v5, he played 12 games at over 21 minutes a night. He was a + on the scoreboard only twice, and only had a good xGF% four times. A lot of them had very bad xGFs. Add the 8 games with 20-21 minutes and he's now a + on the scoreboard 4 times out of 20, and a good xGF% seven times out of 20. I haven't looked at the details of who he's playing with but it looks like high ice times are bad for him.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The only reason I wouldn't sign him is because he's terrible

Sheary's a third liner, but because of the familiarity with this team, and the hole on Sid and Jake's RW, he's played on the 1st line.

He's not a terrible player in the sense that he shouldn't be in the NHL. But he is a terrible option for what (I believe) that top line needs; a Dupuis or Hagelin type.

If we could secure a legit 3C , I'd be fine keeping Sheary around, assuming it made sense cap-wise and with regard to the identity and direction of that line--i.e. offensively minded, with an emphasis on being a matchup nightmare. But, the big issue with keeping him around is that you know he'd eventually find his way back onto the top line with Sid and Jake, again, due to the familiarity there. It's best to move on, imo.

 

[The Old Master]

Don't think this is true. This season at 5v5, he played 12 games at over 21 minutes a night. He was a + on the scoreboard only twice, and only had a good xGF% four times. A lot of them had very bad xGFs. Add the 8 games with 20-21 minutes and he's now a + on the scoreboard 4 times out of 20, and a good xGF% seven times out of 20. I haven't looked at the details of who he's playing with but it looks like high ice times are bad for him.

i was just going off the eye test so you could be right.

 

[The Greatest 101]

The only reason I wouldn't sign him is because he's terrible

Kahun wasn’t terrible but he was still traded for Sheary. It’s really no secret Crosby only wants to play with a certain type of player that he likes. Just re-sign him.
If we do win the lottery,
Guentzel-Crosby-Sheary
Laffy-Malkin-Rust/Horns (Prefer Horny here)
X-X-Rust/Horn
X-Blueger-Tanev

Dumo-X
X-Marino
Petts-X

Zucker, McCann, Murray for defense. Letang for something.

This should be a good start.

 

[Gurglesons]

Don't think this is true. This season at 5v5, he played 12 games at over 21 minutes a night. He was a + on the scoreboard only twice, and only had a good xGF% four times. A lot of them had very bad xGFs. Add the 8 games with 20-21 minutes and he's now a + on the scoreboard 4 times out of 20, and a good xGF% seven times out of 20. I haven't looked at the details of who he's playing with but it looks like high ice times are bad for him.

This has always been the truth.

I also have no idea why we would play him more than 2021 minutes at this point in his career with emergence of Marino.

 

[wej20]

I'd honestly have chucked Marino out on the top PP unit over both Letang and Schultz.

 

[Gurglesons]

I think if we move JJ. Bogo on a one year deal brings a lot of what I want for little risk with Pettersson.

I do think Montour for McCann is a great deal though.