Confirmed with Link: Puustinen re-signed, 2 years at $775k AAV

[Pancakes]

Easily passing through waivers? lol doubt it.

Teams are way too reluctant with their waiver claims. Players who probably ought to be claimed make it through all the time.

Anyhow I doubt Puusy gets waived. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as the 13th forward though.

 

[SEALBound]

View attachment 868329

Meanwhile Sully over here all wolverinephotocaress.png with Jansen Harkins and his 45gp 0g 4a,

I remember JR, at the end of the Gladams era, make a snide remark to the effect of "you can't have guys going 40 games without a goal" and that was pretty much it for the Adams-Vitale-Glass players. Dubas didn't make such remarks to the public but I am hoping he is inside his head.

There's zero reason for Harkins to be on the roster next year. Not even for WBS. You just move on from guys like that. Nieto, I feel the same way about.

 

[Gurglesons]

I remember JR, at the end of the Gladams era, make a snide remark to the effect of "you can't have guys going 40 games without a goal" and that was pretty much it for the Adams-Vitale-Glass players. Dubas didn't make such remarks to the public but I am hoping he is inside his head.

There's zero reason for Harkins to be on the roster next year. Not even for WBS. You just move on from guys like that. Nieto, I feel the same way about.

Neither of Glass or Vitale was on any JR team.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Easily passing through waivers? lol doubt it.

I think NHL GMs are going to behave this offseason like drunken sailors finally on leave after 10 long months at sea. And then training camp will roll around and they'll have to waive good young players just to be under the cap for the start of the season.

I think there will be more good players passing through waivers this fall than there typically are, and if you time your moves correctly, teams will be able to stash good players in the AHL.

 

[Gurglesons]

I think NHL GMs are going to behave this offseason like drunken sailors finally on leave after 10 long months at sea. And then training camp will roll around and they'll have to waive good young players just to be under the cap for the start of the season.

I think there will be more good players passing through waivers this fall than there typically are, and if you time your moves correctly, teams will be able to stash good players in the AHL.

Weird take.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I'm Puusti glad he's back, and at a favorable cap hit.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Weird take.

GMs can never contain themselves when they suddenly have cap space. And I think the league is as wide open as it's been in a long time. Lots of very good teams, but no dynasties. That leads to more teams thinking they can be in the mix.

 

[Gurglesons]

GMs can never contain themselves when they suddenly have cap space. And I think the league is as wide open as it's been in a long time. Lots of very good teams, but no dynasties. That leads to more teams thinking they can be in the mix.

We just saw a draft where no teams moved a 1st round pick during draft weekend.

Continous focus on acquiring young players and developing through the draft.

 

[SEALBound]

We just saw a draft where no teams moved a 1st round pick during draft weekend.

Continous focus on acquiring young players and developing through the draft.

I was cruising Capfriendly looking at teams in trouble next year and really it's only Tampa and Vegas. And looking at both rosters, neither have any bad anchor contracts. Some some extent, everyone under contract next year for them could be moved.

Montreal could stand to send a few contracts out but they can still ice a team.

 

[Jacob]

I was cruising Capfriendly looking at teams in trouble next year and really it's only Tampa and Vegas. And looking at both rosters, neither have any bad anchor contracts. Some some extent, everyone under contract next year for them could be moved.

Montreal could stand to send a few contracts out but they can still ice a team.

Edmonton has like 79 million tied up in 13 skaters and 2 goalies when you factor in Brown's bonuses and the James Neal buyout.

It is still do-able but they're gonna have to fill out the other 9 skating spots with Hinostrozas and Zohornas.

 

[SEALBound]

Edmonton has like 79 million tied up in 13 skaters and 2 goalies when you factor in Brown's bonuses and the James Neal buyout.

True, but they have no one I would really target in a trade. They need the cheaper RFAs like Holloway. All of the other players are roster staples - Kane, RNH, Hyman. Then of course McDrai. No one I'd want from their defense.

 

[eXile3]

Put him in the top 6 and I think he becomes a 50 point guy.

With his skill set I don’t think he’ll succeed long term buried in d-zone starts.

Part of me still holds out hope Sully will actually give some of these young guys an actual chance.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

There's zero reason for Harkins to be on the roster next year. Not even for WBS. You just move on from guys like that. Nieto, I feel the same way about.

Thank God Harkins is an UFA.

Maybe they can offer Nieto back to SJ or COL for futures if he was happy there/they want him back. We need all the roster spots of Harkins/Carter/Neito/and IMO Acciari for young guys to come in and contribute.

Put him in the top 6 and I think he becomes a 50 point guy.

With his skill set I don’t think he’ll succeed long term buried in d-zone starts.

Part of me still holds out hope Sully will actually give some of these young guys an actual chance.

This is how I view him, too. He's a top-six or bust kind of player. He's smart enough defensively, but he isn't big enough.

He needs some extended looks in the top-six this year to see what kind of player he really is. Maybe he can be a third wheel on a scoring line?

 

[SEALBound]

Thank God Harkins is an UFA.

Maybe they can offer Nieto back to SJ or COL for futures if he was happy there/they want him back. We need all the roster spots of Harkins/Carter/Neito/and IMO Acciari for young guys to come in and contribute.


This is how I view him, too. He's a top-six or bust kind of player. He's smart enough defensively, but he isn't big enough.

He needs some extended looks in the top-six this year to see what kind of player he really is. Maybe he can be a third wheel on a scoring line?

I think you offer him around the league as a courtesy, but I have no qualms about just waiving him. Sending him to WBS isn't the worst thing.

 

[Gurglesons]

If Mike Sullivan had a brain he would be using Puustinen in our top six and dropping Rust into the bottom six.

Sadly, he doesn't.

DOC - Trenin - Rust would be such a fun third line.

 

[SEALBound]

Put him in the top 6 and I think he becomes a 50 point guy.

With his skill set I don’t think he’ll succeed long term buried in d-zone starts.

Part of me still holds out hope Sully will actually give some of these young guys an actual chance.

I really hope so. I can't tell yet if he's Sheary or Simon. He flashes the skill to be Sheary but it doesn't always manifest itself. Like Simon, I think he's benefited from a weak Penguins prospect pool. I can't imagine he sees NHL with a team like the Hurricanes. I'm 100% on board with keeping him but when faced with an off-season after missing the playoffs and about $9mil in cap space...do I always pencil him into the lineup? I'd be lying if I said yes.

 

[Pancakes]

Puustinen with his shot could be a potent powerplay weapon. I know they dabbled with him there a little bit, but they never really committed to it.

He should be given every opportunity next year to win that slot on pp1. Rakell and Rust have not earned the right to hold that spot down.

 

[Rudy Russo]

Even with Smith's struggles last year, I'd be content going into next year with Smith and Puustinen as the 3rd line wingers and betting on a Smith bounce back. I think they need a better 3C than Eller, though.

I'm sure Vasili Ponomarev will be given a shot at either the third line (Hopefully) or the 4th line centerman for the penguins. Move Eller to the 4th line.

Kinda shocked here. He was a UFA and he doesn’t really have a spot guaranteed next year out our prospects in Koivunen, Poulin and Pono trying to make the NHL.

Basically guarantees Koivunen ain’t given a fair shake unless we sign no UFA forwards.

I'm sure Koivunen will be with th ebaby pens to start the season. Ponomarev will hopefully be with the penguins this coming season.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Puustinen with his shot could be a potent powerplay weapon. I know they dabbled with him there a little bit, but they never really committed to it.

He should be given every opportunity next year to win that slot on pp1. Rakell and Rust have not earned the right to hold that spot down.

I noticed a difficulty in getting his shot off last year. He has a good shot, but he needs time/space to use it. Hope he works on that this summer.

 

[Pancakes]

I noticed a difficulty in getting his shot off last year. He has a good shot, but he needs time/space to use it. Hope he works on that this summer.

Yeah needs to get a quick release down. I think he has that in him. He showed flashes of it. But not consistently enough for me.

If he could turn himself into a good trigger man it'd help a lot whether on pp1 or 2. He was quite good at it in the AHL.

 

[Ulf5]

I'm sure Vasili Ponomarev will be given a shot at either the third line (Hopefully) or the 4th line centerman for the penguins. Move Eller to the 4th line.

Eller to the 4th line? The one who got top power play time? You'll have to pry him from Sully's cold, dead, iron-fist grip first.

 

[Jdodd]

Good signing at great price.!

 

[Gurglesons]

I noticed a difficulty in getting his shot off last year. He has a good shot, but he needs time/space to use it. Hope he works on that this summer.

The player we saw in the NHL was more of the player Puustinen profiled as when we drafted him.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

He had really good production relative to his deployment.
I'm super happy with him at league minimum for 2 years. One of the few value contracts we have.

 

[Al Smith]

Good value signing, although I think people overrate his ceiling here. He has a nice one-timer that he struggles to get off quickly and missed a lot of chances to finish that a quality top 6 forward would pot. He's got some good offensive instincts, but he didn't show last year he could play effectively in the top 6 when he got time there. And he's not really a 3L player. But he's young, has time to improve, and a 30-point guy at league minimum is a pretty good deal.