Salary Cap: Pittsburgh Penguins Salary Cap Thread - If the dog days had dog days

[ZeroPucksGiven]

But the results were different. They were notably worse than what he's shown elsewhere. Which is quite impressive when you get down to it.

If Johnson is the same player he's always been, why can't he go back to being only quite bad as he was elsewhere?

edit: players completely overturning the evidence of the past season (for better or worse) isn't super common, but obviously it does happen.

Can't answer that. I'd say it wasn't supporting cast because he's had a better one here vs elsewhere.
Perhaps age? Which again is why you don't sign 31 yr old quite mediocre players to 5 yr contracts

 

[Andy99]

https://www.tsn.ca/minnesota-wild-t...-agm-bill-guerin-as-general-manager-1.1354003

Hopefully he has a deal in place to take the best LD in the league with him....Jack Johnson

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

No definitely not crazy. The way this Galchenyuk experiment goes best is if he gets a lot of PP time and Malkin carries him at ES.

Yeah that's kind of my line of thinking, there. I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around how Gooch is going to help Malkin as ES. But then again I guess if you can find the exact right wing for the other side anything can happen and they have, uh... lots of choices. But Gooch seems like he'll really only put up good numbers with prime PP time.

But I guess I also don't see any slots for him to naturally fit into there either so IDK.

Honestly this whole roster still seems awkward as hell to me.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

Apparently he’s losing weight, but pretty much.

Improving his quickness/agility certainly won't hurt him.

 

[The GM]

Apparently he’s losing weight, but pretty much.

So he'll be quicker to make mistakes?

 

[K Fleur]

Yeah that's kind of my line of thinking, there. I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around how Gooch is going to help Malkin as ES. But then again I guess if you can find the exact right wing for the other side anything can happen and they have, uh... lots of choices. But Gooch seems like he'll really only put up good numbers with prime PP time.

But I guess I also don't see any slots for him to naturally fit into there either so IDK.

Honestly this whole roster still seems awkward as hell to me.

Gotta hope Galchenyuk’s skills(as opposed to Kessel’s) mesh better with Malkin’s, but I don’t really see it either.

 

[Andy99]

So he'll be quicker to make mistakes?

Ha...yes he needs Adderall or something to improve brain agility...

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Ha...yes he needs Adderall or something to improve brain agility...

He can flail around in the goal mouth well after the puck is already in the net even faster now!

 

[Zirakzigil]

My sources are saying Zucker for JJ and Rust. Solid Z3.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

Yeah that's kind of my line of thinking, there. I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around how Gooch is going to help Malkin as ES. But then again I guess if you can find the exact right wing for the other side anything can happen and they have, uh... lots of choices. But Gooch seems like he'll really only put up good numbers with prime PP time.

But I guess I also don't see any slots for him to naturally fit into there either so IDK.

Honestly this whole roster still seems awkward as hell to me.

Yeah, Galchenyuk is an awkward fit on the Pens, and the only thing he'll do for Geno is some help carrying the puck in the NZ. That has value, but his drawbacks as an ES player are tough to make up for. No idea how we can get 4.9m worth of value out of him here unless Geno is out half the year and Gally gets his spot on the PP.

I also have no idea how they expect the PP to function properly, if there's anything to what Yohe is saying on the Athletic today about the org wanting 4 forwards on the PP, and deciding between Jake, Gally and PH for two of the spots. Would they possibly play Letang on the half-wall and put a forward at the top of an umbrella? What a recipe for disaster.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah, Galchenyuk is an awkward fit on the Pens, and the only thing he'll do for Geno is some help carrying the puck in the NZ. That has value, but his drawbacks as an ES player are tough to make up for. No idea how we can get 4.9m worth of value out of him here unless Geno is out half the year and Gally gets his spot on the PP.

I also have no idea how they expect the PP to function properly, if there's anything to what Yohe is saying on the Athletic today about the org wanting 4 forwards on the PP, and deciding between Jake, Gally and PH for two of the spots. Would they possibly play Letang on the half-wall and put a forward at the top of an umbrella? What a recipe for disaster.

If he puts up like 45 points next year, which is a pretty conservative estimate to begin with, that's 100% worth $4.9 million.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yohe lists Rust, Bjugstad, Jarry, JJ and Guds as the candidates to be traded (don’t think this is new). Calls Schultz UFA situation “delicate”. Says JJ is working “feverishly” this summer, which probably just means he’ll be healthy as a bull for 82 games. Also sounds like no Chucky on PP1- Letang, Hornqvist, Guentzel plus the big 2.

There’s more in his new piece. Solid article, helps give the reader some feel for how the organization views the roster.

Gudbranson being a trade candidate is an interesting thought if you think about it. I'd say that Johnson is better than Gudbranson (even with how well Gudbranson performed last year), and Johnson-Riikola is a pair I wanted to see tried last year. I also think the worst case scenario with Gudbranson is worse than the worst case scenario with Johnson, and Gudbranson would be less of a cap dump than Johnson would.

But on the flip side, trading Gudbranson is going to make JR go insane for toughness again, so I'm not sure. Personally, a 3rd pair of Johnson-Riikola makes me feel less uncomfortable than a 3rd pair of Riikola-Gudbranson. Maybe me liking Riikola on RD is playing a factor here, though.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Yeah, Galchenyuk is an awkward fit on the Pens, and the only thing he'll do for Geno is some help carrying the puck in the NZ. That has value, but his drawbacks as an ES player are tough to make up for. No idea how we can get 4.9m worth of value out of him here unless Geno is out half the year and Gally gets his spot on the PP.

I also have no idea how they expect the PP to function properly, if there's anything to what Yohe is saying on the Athletic today about the org wanting 4 forwards on the PP, and deciding between Jake, Gally and PH for two of the spots. Would they possibly play Letang on the half-wall and put a forward at the top of an umbrella? What a recipe for disaster.

I agree with a lot of this, yeah. I suppose we'll just have to see. There are some interesting aspects of Gooch playing on a line with Malkin that we haven't seen in a while and we know Malkin likes... namely the ability to get the puck on net quickly.

I think the powerplay can potentially be fine without Kessel. There is still a lot of talent there. But they have to get the scheme right and I would be remiss if I pretended that Kessel didn't help make that unit tick. Though honestly I still didn't like a lot of their "looks" even if they would often simply overcome by sheer force of skill.

 

[Jaded-Fan]

Do people really not remember how Kessel was on the power play for at least the second half of the year? Mostly useless and disinterested, when he was not flubbing receiving the pass and the puck going the other way.

He checked out long before he was traded and looked nothing like his usual self on the power play for a long stretch of the season. Chucky doll couldn't look any worse.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

If he puts up like 45 points next year, which is a pretty conservative estimate to begin with, that's 100% worth $4.9 million.

You can post as many stupid GIF's as you like, but he won't be worth much of anything to us if he's a defensive liability at ES and a -20, and drags Geno down with him. Then you've just got a poor-man's Kessel at ES without the powerplay time/impact. But if that starts to happen, he'll probably just be demoted off the line and traded eventually, as we have other players who can play a more well-rounded game on the roster.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

I agree with a lot of this, yeah. I suppose we'll just have to see. There are some interesting aspects of Gooch playing on a line with Malkin that we haven't seen in a while and we know Malkin likes... namely the ability to get the puck on net quickly.

I think the powerplay can potentially be fine without Kessel. There is still a lot of talent there. But they have to get the scheme right and I would be remiss if I pretended that Kessel didn't help make that unit tick. Though honestly I still didn't like a lot of their "looks" even if they would often simply overcome by sheer force of skill.

I just get worried when they try to jam all the forwards on that PP. I actually like Letang on the half wall a lot, but they should have Schultz at the top with Geno/Sid/PH or Jake down low. Forcing Gally on the top PP makes little sense, he needs to play where Geno plays, and he's just not as good.

 

[BHD]

Apparently Provorov’s camp is looking for 10 mill per season.

 

[mpp9]

I don't disagree that AG isn't a guy who's gonna necessarily elevate Malkin's game.

But I totally disagree that AG can't be a huge weapon here. Putting a laser cannon one timer with two center man who are still among the premiere playmakers in the game is going to have some level of success, period.

Plus, he's never had that type of center to fully utilize his skillset. There's still upside there.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don't think you are wrong. He does have a cannon and he does get rid of the puck quickly. The problem from what I've seen and what fans of his last two teams have often said is that he's always trying to cut it too fine and misses quite a bit.

Though I suppose if there is enough volume...

 

[Empoleon8771]

You can post as many stupid GIF's as you like, but he won't be worth much of anything to us if he's a defensive liability at ES and a -20, and drags Geno down with him. Then you've just got a poor-man's Kessel at ES without the powerplay time/impact. But if that starts to happen, he'll probably just be demoted off the line and traded eventually, as we have other players who can play a more well-rounded game on the roster.

And he'll be worth a **** load to us if he meshes with Malkin and puts up 25-30 goals and 55-60 points. Why is yours more likely than mine?

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

- Puts Bellerive under C for future but not Lafferty

I would've thought Bellerive, being a feisty goal-scorer type, would project more as a winger.

 

[Peat]

I would've thought Bellerive, being a feisty goal-scorer type, would project more as a winger.

That was always my guess too, particularly with him playing as a W for Lethbridge a lot of last season.

And maybe this is just Yohe being off base and he'll be a W after all. But maybe he isn't and that'd be interesting to see.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Yeah that's kind of my line of thinking, there. I'm really having a hard time wrapping my head around how Gooch is going to help Malkin as ES. But then again I guess if you can find the exact right wing for the other side anything can happen and they have, uh... lots of choices. But Gooch seems like he'll really only put up good numbers with prime PP time.

But I guess I also don't see any slots for him to naturally fit into there either so IDK.

Honestly this whole roster still seems awkward as hell to me.

A lot has to break just right for Gooch to succeed here, let alone justify trading Kessel for him.

And he'll be worth a **** load to us if he meshes with Malkin and puts up 25-30 goals and 55-60 points. Why is yours more likely than mine?

Because he only produced in that range (goals or points) once in his life, when he played center and had considerable #1PP unit time...which is less likely here than anywhere he's ever played.

Maybe he'll match or exceed career highs in everything next year because he's playing for a more talented offensive team with elite centers at ES. But career highs should always be hoped for rather than counted on.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

A lot has to break just right for Gooch to succeed here, let alone justify trading Kessel for him.

"By god that Geno Malkin better get his act together this season or else!

So... uh... here is a castoff reclamation project and a bunch of third liners, many of which are new here. Defense is still a disaster zone, BTW. Go get 'em, tiger! Or, uh... bear... whatever. Honestly my guy... we usually send Gonchar to talk to you so I don't even really know where to go with this."

I mean I'm being more than a little cynical and a bit over the top. But yeah...

 

[Empoleon8771]

Because he only produced in that range (goals or points) once in his life, when he played center and had considerable #1PP unit time...which is less likely here than anywhere he's ever played.

Maybe he'll match or exceed career highs in everything next year because he's playing for a more talented offensive team with elite centers at ES. But career highs should always be hoped for rather than counted on.

Expecting him to be able to put up 20-30 goals and 50-60 points is not "counting on career highs", it's a perfectly reasonable expectation for him. He has hit a pace of 45 or more points in all but 1 season (13-14), the absolute minimum expectation for him should be 30 ES points and 45 points overall. Him getting 10 points beyond that is a reasonable expectation, especially considering he has done it before on a worse team with worse linemates when scoring was lower.

A lot has to break just right for Gooch to succeed here, let alone justify trading Kessel for him.

...what? Are people forgetting who Galchenyuk is or something?

Galchenyuk is at worst a 2nd line forward who has put up top-6 numbers consistently over his career. I think people convinced themselves that he's somehow terrible to say the Kessel trade was worse than it actually is.