Salary Cap: Pittsburgh Penguins Salary Cap Thread: Cole's House of Pain

[dogthateats]

My model has Malkin winning the scoring race.

 

[Factorial]

If the current Pens ownership is in place in two years, no question Sids buddy would give some thought to playing with Sid. But hard to see how the Av's don't pay up to keep him. Malkin could go either way here. Pens extend believing his play is still really good or they use that money for a UFA or a player in his last year of his contract to play center. I just don't see the Pens tanking with the talent they have. But then again, they could trade for picks and begin the rebuild with a boatload of picks ala the Sens. But that scenario is unlikely unless they sell the franchise and new ownership cuts costs and begins the 5 year Russian plan.

 

[K Fleur]

If the current Pens ownership is in place in two years, no question Sids buddy would give some thought to playing with Sid. But hard to see how the Av's don't pay up to keep him. Malkin could go either way here. Pens extend believing his play is still really good or they use that money for a UFA or a player in his last year of his contract to play center. I just don't see the Pens tanking with the talent they have. But then again, they could trade for picks and begin the rebuild with a boatload of picks ala the Sens. But that scenario is unlikely unless they sell the franchise and new ownership cuts costs and begins the 5 year Russian plan.

The only one of Sid’s buddies the Pens are ever getting is JJ.

 

[Ugene Magic]

He's so beautiful.

In a... "throw some lipstick and some Cindy Brady Pig Tails" kind of way...where you just get 33 year old Cindy Brady.

Yeah, I did that on purpose. Try getting that image out of your head.

 

[TySmith4Norris]

Appreciate the idea of JR swinging for the fences on a free agent to extend the window

But offer sheeting a RFA is even more intriguing and less discussed, and there's some unbelievable RFA classes coming up

He's in the old boys club, but it would be a great final move before retirement. Undoubtedly won't happen, but worth imagining

Tkachuk, Boeser, Hughes, PLD, Kirby Dach all RFAs in 2022

 

[Flying Dego]

My model has Malkin winning the scoring race.

Your 'model' once Geno has his annual 15 game injury

 

[Honour Over Glory]

My model has Malkin winning the scoring race.

I really hope he does, with him and Sid healthy and Geno having Zucker on his line, I really really want that to happen. Then JR & Sully can go f*** themselves with the whole Jake & Sid thing.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Your 'model' once Geno has his annual 15 game injury

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Hockey PBP - "Seems odd to see Ceci out there in such a crucial moment no? Maybe Mike Sullivan knows something we d.....AND THE FLYERS SCORE FROM AN AWFUL TURNOVER BY CECI! You hate to see it, awful decision."

 

[Peat]

Dom L's model reckons our chances of winning the Cup drop by 0.7 pc simply due to divisional alignment. Cool.

 

[chethejet]

Pens will make moves here to stay relevant. But no question the Sid Geno Letang era is coming to a close. When exactly does the bell ring I don't know. But Pens have a nice corp of late teens to mid 20's guys to build around. What they don't have are centers of quality in the system and that has to be addressed to compete for playoff wins. Who knows the financial landscape will be in the contracts expirations of Geno and Letang.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Pens will make moves here to stay relevant. But no question the Sid Geno Letang era is coming to a close. When exactly does the bell ring I don't know. But Pens have a nice corp of late teens to mid 20's guys to build around. What they don't have are centers of quality in the system and that has to be addressed to compete for playoff wins. Who knows the financial landscape will be in the contracts expirations of Geno and Letang.

Sid and Geno will go downhill, sure, but as long as you surround them with good players, the Pens will be a good team for a number of years here. Whether they can make another cup run is a longshot just due to increasing likelihood of injury to Sid and Geno as they age.

But if you have them both taking primarily O zone faceoffs and playing on PP1, they will still be effective and put up points for quite some time. Even an empty jersey like Brassard was scoring at a decent clip when given cherry opportunities. As soon as he had to play a more defensive and two-way game, he fell apart.

The job of 3C and 4C will get even worse in Pittsburgh in the coming few years though. And it was always a crap job no one really wanted to begin with. They should ink Blueger to as cheap a mid-term deal they can right now, as I see there is already belly aching about getting a "bigger role" from him, and there has been no contract extension talk.

That will be the next big mistake. Thinking they can attract any kind of quality 3C here in FA, and not locking up Blueger to do the dirty work.

 

[SEALBound]

My model has Malkin winning the scoring race.

Model setup: Run NHL20 simulation until Malkin wins the scoring title.

Sid and Geno will go downhill, sure, but as long as you surround them with good players, the Pens will be a good team for a number of years here. Whether they can make another cup run is a longshot just due to increasing likelihood of injury to Sid and Geno as they age.

But if you have them both taking primarily O zone faceoffs and playing on PP1, they will still be effective and put up points for quite some time. Even an empty jersey like Brassard was scoring at a decent clip when given cherry opportunities. As soon as he had to play a more defensive and two-way game, he fell apart.

The job of 3C and 4C will get even worse in Pittsburgh in the coming few years though. And it was always a crap job no one really wanted to begin with. They should ink Blueger to as cheap a mid-term deal they can right now, as I see there is already belly aching about getting a "bigger role" from him, and there has been no contract extension talk.

That will be the next big mistake. Thinking they can attract any kind of quality 3C here in FA, and not locking up Blueger to do the dirty work.

I agree and disagree in a couple areas - I do agree that the team can remain competitive if you surround Sid and Geno with good players. Boston remains competitive with Bergeron at 35, so I believe we can do it as well. In the playoffs, so much depends on health, match ups, chemistry, and flat out luck. As long as you can put a roster on the ice that gets you to the playoffs, you have a chance. It's more, will everyone click at the right time.

I disagree in that the 3 and 4C jobs will get worse. The problem is what our expectation of a 3C is. Everyone expects Staal or the Bonino of HBK. Those are 3Cs that over-achieved in a big and unsustainable way. The average 3C performances of Sheahan and Sutter should be the realistic expectation, even though we hate it. That said, I think Bleuger already fits that bill incredibly well. I expect him to be the longer term bottom 6 center. I imagine he will take a 3 year extension after this year. That should roughly close out the Sid/Geno era. With that, 4C level guys are always available via free agency. Even Jordan Nolan is a decent 4C candidate. Even now, a guy like Nick Shore is still unsigned. Guys like that are available every year. Are they the super sexy stud names, no. Available and acceptable by realistic standards, yes.

 

[KIRK]

Yeah, but is Vatanen REALLY 750K better than Ceci?

EDIT: Joke aside, IF the Pens could've grabbed Vatanen for 2M, imagine what THAT defense would've looked like. I'd have gone Dumo-Tang, Matheson-Marino, and Pets-Vatanen. Nothing like having a GM who keeps prematurely shooting . . . er, never mind.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Dumo-Letang, Matheson-Marino, Petts-Riikola please and thank you.

 

[Extra Texture]

On the bright side, Ceci was cheaper and we kept that extra 1.3M for some solid JR moves since he signed.

Okay, okay. That's the last time I joke about the Ceci deal. But seriously, its not about Vatanen signing now because its doubtful he was going to be some kind of one year messiah...though alot better than Ceci will likely be for us. The whole thing is worthy of plenty of at JR getting him so early. Like he was some massively coveted name on the FA market we couldnt WAIT to jump all over.

My guess is if he hadnt signed that deal with us, Cody Ceci would still be out there as a UFA today, and would've happily accept a PTO in Pitt to salvage his career. Meanwhile, the 2.5 million wouldve been a nice little cushion to throw at any unexpected names who were still out there.

 

[The Old Master]

Dumo-Letang, Matheson-Marino, Petts-Riikola please and thank you.

that should work just fine.

 

[KIRK]

Dumo-Letang, Matheson-Marino, Petts-Riikola please and thank you.

****, while you're at it, why not just ask to win the Powerball, because that's as likely as that 3rd defensive pairing.

 

[KIRK]

On the bright side, Ceci was cheaper and we kept that extra 1.3M for some solid JR moves since he signed.

Okay, okay. That's the last time I joke about the Ceci deal. But seriously, its not about Vatanen signing now because its doubtful he was going to be some kind of one year messiah...though alot better than Ceci will likely be for us. The whole thing is worthy of plenty of at JR getting him so early. Like he was some massively coveted name on the FA market we couldnt WAIT to jump all over.

My guess is if he hadnt signed that deal with us, Cody Ceci would still be out there as a UFA today, and would've happily accept a PTO in Pitt to salvage his career. Meanwhile, the 2.5 million wouldve been a nice little cushion to throw at any unexpected names who were still out there.

I'm afraid I've got some bad news about cap savings, my friend.

$2,000,000 - $1,250,000 = $750,000

Ceci agrees to one-year, $1.25 million contract with Penguins

 

[Tom Hanks]

Marino is on here but it doesn’t matter we are never waiving him

 

[Peat]

Yeah, but is Vatanen REALLY 750K better than Ceci?

EDIT: Joke aside, IF the Pens could've grabbed Vatanen for 2M, imagine what THAT defense would've looked like. I'd have gone Dumo-Tang, Matheson-Marino, and Pets-Vatanen. Nothing like having a GM who keeps prematurely shooting . . . er, never mind.

Honestly, I'd question that if he's not getting major PP time. I don't want Ceci but didn't really want Vatanen either.

 

[Gurglesons]

Honestly, I'd question that if he's not getting major PP time. I don't want Ceci but didn't really want Vatanen either.

I don’t want either, but I take Vatanen as a fit systematically over Ceci.

 

[Peat]

I don’t want either, but I take Vatanen as a fit systematically over Ceci.

Mate, I'd take you as a fit systematically over Ceci, and I don't even know whether you can skate.

 

[Gurglesons]

Mate, I'd take you as a fit systematically over Ceci, and I don't even know whether you can skate.

Yeah, played up until I was 18. I handle the puck like Ceci and skate like Gumby.

 

[Peat]

Yeah, played up until I was 18. I handle the puck like Ceci and skate like Gumby.

Still better than Jack Johnson.