Salary Cap: Roster Building | Contract Charts 1st Post | See You On The Dark Side Of The Moon

[66-30-33]

Same here. IF Cullen said he wasn't coming back to Pittsburgh, i would have chosen Moore as a target on 7/1. He would have fit well.

But the right move was to wait for Cully. While the bounces went our way in the playoffs (most definitely they did), I can safely say the bounces have not gone our way this offseason. We didn't get discounts, any player wanting to be on this team, no magical free prospect, etc.

But even when the bounces aren't going our way in terms of this offseason, JR hasn't turned those into problems. We are still in a great position, with cap space, to figure this all out.

Does any of that "player X wants to play for x team" work outside of the Hawks and Rangers? does not seem like it. Players go for the money these days.

 

[Shady Machine]

JR apparently used the words teams against the cap as potential partners. Toronto, Detroit and Dallas are over the cap. And Florida wants to cut salary. I think that's a sound plan for now. Detroit has every type of center you could possibly want. Longterm stud in Larkin. Win now impact player in Z. Nielsen. And cheaper guys in Sheahan and Glendening.

Capfriendly has the Stars roster at 24 players. I expect they will just waive someone to become cap compliant, but man would I love to target one of Janmark, Shore, or Faksa.

From Detroit, I'd love Larkin or AA, but Sheahan seems like the only likely one and he's low on my list.

From Toronto, it's Bozak or bust for me.

 

[Shady Machine]

There's a difference between "asking them to decide sooner" and saying "if you don't decide by July 1st, we're replacing you". It's completely being a dick to the player, at least if they were going to sign Moore instead of Cullen. It's basically the team saying "you have to inconvenience yourself because we don't want to wait for you". It's a total dick move by the team.

You have a weird way of wording things that makes every conversation sound like the GM is a total asshat.

Maybe Dom Moore would have waited a week if he knew the Pens were really interested. Not saying that's likely, but there's no guarantee he would have signed on July 1 if he had other serious playoff teams as suitors.

Anyway, whatever. I don't want to go back and forth on what is or isn't a dick move, I just think there is plenty of latitude in the language to not come off like a dick.

 

[Peat]

JR apparently used the words teams against the cap as potential partners. Toronto, Detroit and Dallas are over the cap. And Florida wants to cut salary. I think that's a sound plan for now. Detroit has every type of center you could possibly want. Longterm stud in Larkin. Win now impact player in Z. Nielsen. And cheaper guys in Sheahan and Glendening.

Rutherford eying up Bjugstad makes ever increasing amounts of sense to me.

 

[ColePens]

Does any of that "player X wants to play for x team" work outside of the Hawks and Rangers? does not seem like it. Players go for the money these days.

Even those who want to play for certain teams basically get normal contracts to play there, too. So as you said - players go for money and rightfully so.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

JR apparently used the words teams against the cap as potential partners. Toronto, Detroit and Dallas are over the cap. And Florida wants to cut salary. I think that's a sound plan for now. Detroit has every type of center you could possibly want. Longterm stud in Larkin. Win now impact player in Z. Nielsen. And cheaper guys in Sheahan and Glendening.

That's one guy who would be ideal for that 3C spot. Good defensively, great on the PK, and actually has enough skill to play on a scoring line.

Problem with him is contract (mainly length).

 

[Andy99]

Capfriendly has the Stars roster at 24 players. I expect they will just waive someone to become cap compliant, but man would I love to target one of Janmark, Shore, or Faksa.

From Detroit, I'd love Larkin or AA, but Sheahan seems like the only likely one and he's low on my list.

From Toronto, it's Bozak or bust for me.

I don't know....for the price Bozak is likely going to cost if he's available (Maatta?) I'd rather try to swing deal for Kadri, and pay much more for him, if TOR is willing to part with him. Doubtful, but I also don't see TOR putting Bozak on the market at least until the TDL and likely not until after the season

Dallas has too many D. All they have to do I see waive one of their $900k D men and they'll be under the cap. Doesn't force their hand on a center

 

[ColePens]

The Red Wings have 9 players with NTCs. Jesus. And half aren't worth it.

 

[Andy99]

That's one guy who would be ideal for that 3C spot. Good defensively, great on the PK, and actually has enough skill to play on a scoring line.

Problem with him is contract (mainly length).

If they could swing a deal for Nielsen at 50 percent retained, even at the length of his contract it would be worth it. Doubt DET would do that but he's almost a perfect two way center for us. Of course, who knows what he'll look like at 38 or so when his contract ends

 

[The Old Master]

Capfriendly has the Stars roster at 24 players. I expect they will just waive someone to become cap compliant, but man would I love to target one of Janmark, Shore, or Faksa.

From Detroit, I'd love Larkin or AA, but Sheahan seems like the only likely one and he's low on my list.

From Toronto, it's Bozak or bust for me.

I like the way you think.

 

[Peat]

I don't know....for the price Bozak is likely going to cost if he's available (Maatta?) I'd rather try to swing deal for Kadri, and pay much more for him, if TOR is willing to part with him. Doubtful, but I also don't see TOR putting Bozak on the market at least until the TDL and likely not until after the season

Dallas has too many D. All they have to do I see waive one of their $900k D men and they'll be under the cap. Doesn't force their hand on a center

I'm pretty sure Toronto won't be putting him on the market after the season

 

[Shaffer]

Bjugstad is probably reasonable. I would be amazed if we got Larkin. Faska would be great. AA would be good but he's played wing so far in NHL. I'm all in for Bozak if we can get him extended by like 3yrs/4.5m

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

This is the key point. What makes you believe Staal stops cross checking Sid in the back of the head? I guess if Reaves starts cross checking McDonagh in the head, but does Staal/Rangers care that much about McDonagh? If you get Crosby/Malkin out, you really increase your odds of winning more than McDonagh out decreases your odds.

If Staal stops, great.

If he doesn't stop, I'd rather our Crosby-less Pens play a McDonagh-less Rangers than a Rangers team that gets away with it unscathed.

I guess some "protection" or deterrent is better than none. I'm in favor of Reaves not because of the deterrent factor, but because other team's D will have to look over their shoulders for once. I just don't like the makeup of a Rowney-Reaves line, but there's time to correct that.

That's what it boils down to for me. Reaves doesn't solve every problem, but he does potentially minimize a couple of them. For his price and term, and the fact that he's not only the best enforcer but the best enforcer at actually playing hockey, that's a good move for the team.

The reward has the potential to be very good and the risk is relatively minimal.

 

[SEALBound]

The Red Wings have 9 players with NTCs. Jesus. And half aren't worth it.

Hefty price tags for those NTCs considering the cap hits and performance they get from each.

I mean, Abdelkader is a good young player but...jesus $4.25 until he's 36? Ouch.

Nielsen at $5.25mil until he's 37? Holy smokes.

Darren Helm at $3.25 until he's 34? I mean...WTF...these are not players you tie yourself to. Reminds me a lot of the Kunitz, Dupuis, and Scuderi contracts.

The Ericsson and Daley contracts with the NTCs in them absolutely baffle me.

Detroit 100% did not need Daley. And now it's keeping them from being able to sign one of the young impact players they do have in AA.

 

[Peat]

I'm guessing that C on Nyquist on CF is a dirty lie?

I'm looking at Detroit's roster and I can't even begin to comprehend why they signed Daley. He's pretty much exactly what they are over the cap but is only their 5th most expensive dmen. They have 9 signed. I think I've guessed a spot where Detroit would like to deal from to solve their cap issues. Although even then, losing a C makes sense if they do have any hope of signing AA.

 

[Andy99]

I'm guessing that C on Nyquist on CF is a dirty lie?

I'm looking at Detroit's roster and I can't even begin to comprehend why they signed Daley. He's pretty much exactly what they are over the cap but is only their 5th most expensive dmen. They have 9 signed. I think I've guessed a spot where Detroit would like to deal from to solve their cap issues. Although even then, losing a C makes sense if they do have any hope of signing AA.

Detroit reporters saying Helm or Sheahan most likely to go, and also team may prefer to get rid of Green than a center

 

[Riptide]

If they could swing a deal for Nielsen at 50 percent retained, even at the length of his contract it would be worth it. Doubt DET would do that but he's almost a perfect two way center for us. Of course, who knows what he'll look like at 38 or so when his contract ends

We would be paying a massive price for that. Asking Detroit to pay out 12m to make him go away just isn't going to happen. At least not without ponying up big to make it worth it for them.

 

[Gurglesons]

Does any of that "player X wants to play for x team" work outside of the Hawks and Rangers? does not seem like it. Players go for the money these days.

Nashville and Carolina are perfect examples.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

And it's more likely the hundred other things puts them out than the handful of players that get scared off. So, yeah, 10 points is probably still worth more than a negligible difference. At best it breaks even and the injury risk is still stupidly high because the league is awful.

What Staal did was ****, it looked bad and a player like that shouldn't feel comfortable doing that. Players are still cross checking, slashing, ****ing wrestling and elbowing all over the ice. Staal and his ilk being turned off might feel good but it's not doing anything in the grand scheme of things.

It's funny when I hear people talk about the Pens managing Crosby and Malkin's minutes over the year to keep them fresh for the playoffs but then dismiss the impact of reducing the physical toll they take during those minutes over the course of a season.

If they have to fight less, that helps. If they take fewer targeted cross-checks and punches to the face, that helps. And if guys like Dubinsky and Staal don't stop, it'll help that we have one player who will inflict punishment to them and/or their stars in kind.

The dirty play and potential injury still happened, and I think part of Malkin answering it was him being pissed. Reaves addressing it doesn't be necessarily mean Malkin's reaction goes away. Reaves handling one thing and potentially getting thrown out because it's the god damn NHL doesn't mean Malkin isn't still, well, Malkin.

You're essentially making an argument against yourself here.

We don't know how Reaves addressing it would affect Malkin's reaction, but we do know how Malkin reacts when there is no Reaves. He makes dirty hits and then has to answer for them. There's at least potential for the situation to play out differently if we have someone else to step up.

I'm all for seeing how Reaves addresses it, because it's better than doing absolutely nothing and expecting things to turn out differently.

 

[CanadianPensFan1]

Hefty price for a guy who is injured more than even our own walking wounded.



Meh.



So you listed him anyway, even though you acknowledge he'd be way too expensive? This is the problem. You're on JR for not acquiring guys who even you don't think we could afford.



They're both wingers who haven't shown to be very effective when tried at center. They're also from division rivals who likely would never deal with the Pens unless the Pens drastically overpaid.



Salary cap? Not to mention, I don't recall JR having the 7th overall draft pick available in his arsenal to pull off the deal.



This is the third winger you've listed as an answer to our 3C woes. Why do you keep listing guys who can't even play center effectively as options?

What's next, Hamonic was also moved. Maybe he'd be the answer at 3C!



On that list, it basically boils down to Bonino or an overpaid and often-injured Hanzal. And for all we know, Hanzal wouldn't have signed anyway because he'd never see top six minutes.

So essentially, Nick Bonino is what all this outcry is over.

Owned.

 

[Shady Machine]

I don't know....for the price Bozak is likely going to cost if he's available (Maatta?) I'd rather try to swing deal for Kadri, and pay much more for him, if TOR is willing to part with him. Doubtful, but I also don't see TOR putting Bozak on the market at least until the TDL and likely not until after the season

Dallas has too many D. All they have to do I see waive one of their $900k D men and they'll be under the cap. Doesn't force their hand on a center

Sure I'd take Kadri too, but I figured he was close to unavailable.

 

[Shady Machine]

It's funny when I hear people talk about the Pens managing Crosby and Malkin's minutes over the year to keep them fresh for the playoffs but then dismiss the impact of reducing the physical toll they take during those minutes over the course of a season.

If they have to fight less, that helps. If they take fewer targeted cross-checks and punches to the face, that helps. And if guys like Dubinsky and Staal don't stop, it'll help that we have one player who will inflict punishment to them and/or their stars in kind.



You're essentially making an argument against yourself here.

We don't know how Reaves addressing it would affect Malkin's reaction, but we do know how Malkin reacts when there is no Reaves. He makes dirty hits and then has to answer for them. There's at least potential for the situation to play out differently if we have someone else to step up.

I'm all for seeing how Reaves addresses it, because it's better than doing absolutely nothing and expecting things to turn out differently.

We just disagree that Reaves will have a material impact on any fatigue or cheap shots the players take. Time will tell who is right.

 

[Riptide]

We just disagree that Reaves will have a material impact on any fatigue or cheap shots the players take. Time will tell who is right.

While it might not have a material impact... at least my emotional demands for someone to step up and deal with the **** will now get answered. That first Winnipeg game last year (Feb 16th?) enraged me like few have. At least now however we have someone who can go out there and hand out retribution, physical payback and answer whatever bells might be needed.

Will that make us a better team? I think not - at least if we're being honest. But it will make us a more entertaining team. And there's always the possibility that Reaves can help Crosby and Malkin's game.

 

[SEALBound]

While it might not have a material impact... at least my emotional demands for someone to step up and deal with the **** will now get answered. That first Winnipeg game last year (Feb 16th?) enraged me like few have. At least now however we have someone who can go out there and hand out retribution, physical payback and answer whatever bells might be needed.

Will that make us a better team? I think not - at least if we're being honest. But it will make us a more entertaining team. And there's always the possibility that Reaves can help Crosby and Malkin's game.

Indeed.

If there's a game that gets rowdy and you expect the next one to be the same way...call up Sestito. Sestito on one line with Geno, Reaves with Sid...there's at least an illusion of safety rather than "welp, time for Sid and Geno to fend for themselves".

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

We just disagree that Reaves will have a material impact on any fatigue or cheap shots the players take. Time will tell who is right.

That's about it. If nothing else, I'd be very surprised if we see Sid and Geno reach 3 fights combined next year, like they did last (if you count the McDonagh tilt that only got a roughing).