Salary Cap: Pittsburgh Penguins Salary Cap Thread - Please go full Redden on JJ's...

[Speaking Moistly]

I think people should brace themselves for us taking on a bad player or contract in return for JJ.

Still totally happy that he will be gone though.

Yeah. Expect it to hurt one way or the other. Be deliriously happy if it doesn't.

 

[Pancakes]

Can you think of any bad contracts out there that are sufficiently lower than JJ's that moving him allows us to get cap compliant though? I mean, I'm braced for anything, but the maths here seems against that idea.

I can't but that seems like the likeliest possibility for us actually getting rid of JJ unless JR is also packaging him with someone good like Rust. And if he did that, how many teams can afford to take on that much salary?

I suppose JR could also package him with a pick. If that's the route, I dearly hope it's not our first, but I guess I'd live with it if it meant no more JJ.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

if it were to go down, and I’m pretty skeptical; gotta think the comps here are Guds-Pearson, Neal for Lucic. Imo there’s gonna have to be some semblance of crap for crap.

Can you think of any bad contracts out there that are sufficiently lower than JJ's that moving him allows us to get cap compliant though? I mean, I'm braced for anything, but the maths here seems against that idea.

John Moore comes to mind. Can’t remember last time we dealt with Bs or what their cap situation is though.

 

[Pancakes]

If he gets traded, what are you going to ***** about for the next five years? You'll have to find several hobbies to fill the gap between "Jack Jackson, amiright?" posts.

I'm both excited and scared for you if this happens.

If Gudbranson reverts to his Vancouver form we will have a new whipping boy and then some

 

[Gurglesons]

If Gudbranson reverts to his Vancouver form we will have a new whipping boy and then some

Well, I’d hope not. The big issue was JJ and Maatta making 7+ combined on the LD side when Petts and Riikola provided similar impacts.

 

[ColePens]

Well, I’d hope not. The big issue was JJ and Maatta making 7+ combined on the LD side when Petts and Riikola provided similar impacts.

JJ/Maatta were 7.5m or whatever of bad. If you have the same result from Riiko/Marino - it's 1.1m or whatever. It's a significant difference because you can use that 6m elsewhere to hopefully hide some mistakes. Now i'm not even saying that Riiko/Marino will be that bad but i'm guaranteeing they cannot be any worse than those 2 at 7.5. That is something I think we can all agree on.

 

[Peat]

I can't but that seems like the likeliest possibility for us actually getting rid of JJ unless JR is also packaging him with someone good like Rust. And if he did that, how many teams can afford to take on that much salary?

I suppose JR could also package him with a pick. If that's the route, I dearly hope it's not our first, but I guess I'd live with it if it meant no more JJ.

I don't think it's going to be Rust, not unless it gets complicated. Most of the teams named could take on that salary with a little finagling but for me, if you think JJ is a big enough cap dump that you deserve Rust for taking him - then why take him if you're a contender? There's other ways to get guys like Rust for contenders that don't involve that dead weight. And if you're not a contender, why would you take Rust over picks and prospects?

And if you're a contender who thinks JJ has a place on a contender... you're not going to stick to a demand of Rust.

Admittedly, whatever happens, something that most of us think is improbable is going to happen, but the classic cap dump is bad contract + futures/young cheap players. If he's a cap dump, that's how I think it happens.

I think there is a chance we take back a contract mind, just that it'll be hard for it to be a bad one. Or if its bad, it's meaningless bad.

 

[Gurglesons]

JJ/Maatta were 7.5m or whatever of bad. If you have the same result from Riiko/Marino - it's 1.1m or whatever. It's a significant difference because you can use that 6m elsewhere to hopefully hide some mistakes. Now i'm not even saying that Riiko/Marino will be that bad but i'm guaranteeing they cannot be any worse than those 2 at 7.5. That is something I think we can all agree on.

Plus Gudbranson is slotted behind Schultz and Letang. I dunno. I think expectations for Gudbranson are so low nobody cares.

 

[ColePens]

If Gudbranson reverts to his Vancouver form we will have a new whipping boy and then some

I will probably regret this, but I think Guds is a fine slightly overpaid dman. He has some good, some bad, but he's far far far less of an issue than both Olli/JJ were. Less of a ceiling than Maatta, but a higher floor. And I think he's significantly better than JJ. He boxes out, plays tough, adds a bit of toughness. Yeah he has some issues when speedy wingers come down his side. He isn't the quickest. We know that.

I always say - I can deal with mistakes. The NHL is tough and even perfect lineups in the NHL with all-time record regular seasons find a way to go winless in the postseason. But I can deal with mistakes of like Horny, Tanev, Guds. Those are mistakes I can 100000000% deal with. Every team has those.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

So if something like Johnson+ for Barberio...
Cap space = $1.468 (23 man roster)

Dumoulin Letang
Pettersson Schultz
Riikola Gudbranson
Barberio Ruhwedel

(Marino first call-up)

Avs:
Cap space: $5.645 (23 man roster)

Girard Johnson
Zadorov Makar
Graves Cole
Johnson

(Connauton first call-up)

They are rumored to want Jarry so he could be part of a deal. We might be able to pull this off with little hurt at all and I would consider Jarry a little loss considering he could get claimed anyways.

 

[ColePens]

Plus Gudbranson is slotted behind Schultz and Letang. I dunno. I think expectations for Gudbranson are so low nobody cares.

Yep... you stole my thunder. I would be 10000% fine w/ re-signing Schultz. I know he doesn't like to skate the puck up but that shot of his can change games. 3-5 years at the same rate is fine by me. That mix of Letang, Schultz, Guds is actually fine for my likings of RH dmen. Let Gudbrandson leave - Marino comes on in. Letang, Schultz, Marino (with seasoning/experience). YAS PLEAZZE. Addison far far far away but hopefully will fulfill expectations.

Then the left side is Dumo, Pets, Riiko, POJ (gaining experience and needing to gain experience), Almari (with a lot of experience left to gain), etc.

IMO - that's money well spent and a roster well utilized.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yep... you stole my thunder. I would be 10000% fine w/ re-signing Schultz. I know he doesn't like to skate the puck up but that shot of his can change games. 3-5 years at the same rate is fine by me. That mix of Letang, Schultz, Guds is actually fine for my likings of RH dmen. Let Gudbrandson leave - Marino comes on in. Letang, Schultz, Marino (with seasoning/experience). YAS PLEAZZE. Addison far far far away but hopefully will fulfill expectations.

Then the left side is Dumo, Pets, Riiko, POJ (gaining experience and needing to gain experience), Almari (with a lot of experience left to gain), etc.

IMO - that's money well spent and a roster well utilized.

The further thing is basically Gudbranson has this year with us and then he should be easily moved. Especially if he is decent.

It’s not like JJ where he has this year plus three more.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

I will probably regret this, but I think Guds is a fine slightly overpaid dman. He has some good, some bad, but he's far far far less of an issue than both Olli/JJ were. Less of a ceiling than Maatta, but a higher floor. And I think he's significantly better than JJ. He boxes out, plays tough, adds a bit of toughness. Yeah he has some issues when speedy wingers come down his side. He isn't the quickest. We know that.

I always say - I can deal with mistakes. The NHL is tough and even perfect lineups in the NHL with all-time record regular seasons find a way to go winless in the postseason. But I can deal with mistakes of like Horny, Tanev, Guds. Those are mistakes I can 100000000% deal with. Every team has those.

I like Gudbranson also and the way he has played for the Pens. I am sure the Jets would love him to fit into one of the RD spots and we would actually get something of value back and then play Marino in the 3rd pairing RD. That is just an option that would put us way under the cap and still have a very good option for the 3rd RD spot. I just wish Marino was LD because we would already have the top 6 ready to go.

If Johnson does go today it better not be with much of a hit such as a 1st or a good player like Rust. I would rather keep him and buy JJ out next summer when it is not that big of a hit. Send Rhuwedel down and you are under the cap. If Rhuwedel gets claimed so be it. That is much better than giving up much better assets. Marino is the 4th option at RD anyways.

 

[Peat]

if it were to go down, and I’m pretty skeptical; gotta think the comps here are Guds-Pearson, Neal for Lucic. Imo there’s gonna have to be some semblance of crap for crap.

John Moore comes to mind. Can’t remember last time we dealt with Bs or what their cap situation is though.

*checks* Yup. That's a bad contract for what he did last season. Heh. I remember people asking "Why Moore instead of JJ".

But Boston aren't swapping JJ for Moore, that's for almost sure. They're contending like us; they want to get rid of their JJs, not embrace them. Unless they actually like JJ.

edit: I guess Detroit have a lot of bad JJ-sized contracts if we went with them. It is possible.

 

[Riptide]

If Gudbranson reverts to his Vancouver form we will have a new whipping boy and then some

Sure. But him even that bad is still very tradeable.

 

[SEALBound]

I still cannot recall any JR trades that were this leaked by guys like Yohe/Dreger instead of other sources who are far far far more in the know.

To be fair, with a lot of the recent JR trades, there has not been much leaking at all. Lack of leaks doesn't mean stuff isn't being discussed. I don't think there's really anyone in the know. To me, Yohe, Dreger, Bob Mac...they're all going to be able to tell us roughly the same thing if there is anything to actually be said.

If Johnson is getting sent down, that just tells me that Rust isn't as injured as I expected him to be. I think he'd be staying up if Rust was seriously injured.

That was my thought as well. We have enough to cover the one injured forward right now.

Interesting player on waivers today:



Connauton going to the AHL opens up a spot for Johnson in the NHL. They'd have Barberio as their extra D in that case.

Indeed. Really odd to see him on waivers. Didn't look at the Avs camp but I wonder if this is more in anticipation of a trade, if Barberio or equiv outplayed him, or if he just sucks. Being that they sent Soderberg out for him, I found that a little strange.

JJ+Jarry for Connauton makes sense for both sides IMHO and I would call that a tremendous win. I could even see something like JJ+Jarry+pick for Conno+one of their fringer F/D.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Yea, i tend to look at the teams with either bad contracts or in the case of ANA, them potentially wanting to get something tangible on the ice(i do believe some teams would want JJ added to their PK) for the $ they are paying Kesler or Eaves.
WPG's really the only team that may want 'em cuz they simply lost alot of vets.

Reading thru the twitterverse. DAL and NJD fans are nervous...

 

[SEALBound]

If Gudbranson reverts to his Vancouver form we will have a new whipping boy and then some

If Malkin reverts to 2018-2019...

If Crosby reverts to 2014-2015...

If Letang reverts to 2016-2017...

I mean, we can say this same thing about literally any player on the team. I'm not the biggest Gudbranson fan but fact is, when you look at his body of work in Pittsburgh it has been good. He's met both the eye test and adv stats test and so far, there is more evidence pointing to him continuing his Penguin form than reverting to his Vancouver form.

If a player plays well for this team, that should be a good thing. If he plays bad, he plays bad. The worst type of fan or poster on this board is one who judges a players on the negatives he had on a previous team, especially in the face of all the positives he's provided the current team.

That's a big part of what makes this board insufferable. Gudbranson could play like a Norris candidate and Tanev could lead the league is points and people here would still have sour grapes over JR obtaining them. Not looking forward to reality that those two will not be getting a fair shake here regardless of their play.

 

[BHD]

@KIRK

I might be eating coriander for the foreseeable future.

 

[Sideline]

Really curious to see how much JR has to give up.

Also assuming JJ is as good as gone, I nominate Bjugstad for whipping boy.

 

[Peat]

Indeed. Really odd to see him on waivers. Didn't look at the Avs camp but I wonder if this is more in anticipation of a trade, if Barberio or equiv outplayed him, or if he just sucks. Being that they sent Soderberg out for him, I found that a little strange.

JJ+Jarry for Connauton makes sense for both sides IMHO and I would call that a tremendous win. I could even see something like JJ+Jarry+pick for Conno+one of their fringer F/D.

Iirc, they sent Soderberg out for cap space, and accepted getting Connauton in order to get it. I wasn't aware of him having a good rep.

 

[BrokenStick]

I do feel that Gudbranson & Schultz are going to be competing this year for who will be the 2nd RD going forward.

If they Gudbranson continues to play at a 2nd pairing level for us, they could easily let Schultz walk after this season and run with Letang, Gudbranson, Marino down the right side next year.

Or if he doesn't, or if Schultz plays better and has reasonable demands on his next contact, they'll move Gudbranson & go Letang, Schultz, Marino next year.

 

[Pens1566]

The only thing comparable between Schultz and Guds is they both shoot RH.

 

[Jacob]

Johnson + for Eaves? He's LTIR'd anyway.

 

[BrookswasHere44]

Really curious to see how much JR has to give up.

Also assuming JJ is as good as gone, I nominate Bjugstad for whipping boy.

Let's just go all out and nominate him as the JJ sweetner