Salary Cap: Salary Cap: 2016-17 roster-building part VIII | Contract chart, cap info in post #1

[Dipsy Doodle]

What if the is no Cullen either? Re-sign Porter?

Sundqvist. He's looked ready for 2 years.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Sundqvist. He's looked ready for 2 years.

I honestly think Legwand would be a decent replacement.

 

[Headshot77]

I'm not sure actually. With as much as his name came up over the last season, I assumed he was UFA, which, apparently, he's not.

I find the fact that Elliot has just one year left is perfect for our cap situation, actually. I was looking around for decent potential backups signed to just one year, and all signs point to Moose 2.0 for me.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Except look a little deeper. The only times we heard about Rutherford trying to move him, was when we were getting a better winger in return. Looking around the league, how many of those are out there right now that actually make sense and who we'd want? Unlike last year, I'm not seeing many options this time around.

So while it's possible Kunitz is moved, I don't think it's going to be for futures or cap space. Personally, I expect him to be here for most of the season. Perhaps there's something that makes sense later on in the year, but right now, I think it's more likely he finishes out his contract then Rutherford trading him.

He's proven that he had no issue trading Kunitz if it improves the team. Last uear all the targets were wingers because the most obvious gaping hole was allways wingers. This year the options are more spread out that all. Thats no guarentee he will be traded but if a sotuation where a LW, RHD or a 1b goalie can be had for Chris Kunitz as the main piece going back. Well then bye bye Chris, it been a pleasure

 

[Nakawick]

Sundqvist. He's looked ready for 2 years.

I am not convinced on Sundqvist next year, but that leaves Sid, bones, Fehr who played mostly 4th line wing and unproven Sundqvist. Who fills in if there is an injury?

 

[Ogrezilla]

I'm sure Kessel raised his game, but it seemed to correlate with Hagelin's presence. When they got a few 2-on-1s in their early games together, it was like a Eureka moment.

Personally, though I'm open to experiment over the course of a season, I think people are crazy for wanting to break up HBK. Get someone else for the top six if you need to. Redistributing that wealth will mean less wealth overall.

I certainly would start my camp with Hagelin and Kessel together. The question for me is Bonino. The Eureka moment happened playing with Geno and Hags, and Kessel just kept getting better from there. It comes down to spreading the wealth vs building a more traditional top 6. Personally, I like the idea of building with the option of doing some of each. Not all the time, but when we need a shakeup.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Without Cullen, I'd have Sid, Geno, Bonino, Fehr, and Sundqvist as our top 5 centers. I'd prefer to add Cullen to the mix obviously.

 

[Peat]

I am not convinced on Sundqvist next year, but that leaves Sid, bones, Fehr who played mostly 4th line wing and unproven Sundqvist. Who fills in if there is an injury?

Carter Rowney from WBS.

If there's a second major injury, or this clearly isn't working, then a winger finds themselves getting turned into a centre via trade in a hurry.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I honestly think Legwand would be a decent replacement.

Maybe. His FO% is a bit concerning - one of Cullen's main attributes was his ability to take crucial defensive zone draws.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I am not convinced on Sundqvist next year, but that leaves Sid, bones, Fehr who played mostly 4th line wing and unproven Sundqvist. Who fills in if there is an injury?

I mean, we're already accounting for a Geno injury, and he'll be back. I'm not terribly worried about our #4 center coming up from WBS. We've got some options, and I'd rather check them out than have a glut of vets clogging the roster "in case of injury" again.

 

[Nakawick]

Carter Rowney from WBS.

If there's a second major injury, or this clearly isn't working, then a winger finds themselves getting turned into a centre via trade in a hurry.

I would rather a center who can play wing on the roster. If Geno needs the surgery I have heard, he is likely out until 2017. Anyway, it is moot until we know about Geno and Cullen, but free agency is 2 weeks away.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Interesting thought I just had, if Fleury gets traded to Toronto, could you see Kapanen being the center piece for him? Rutherford definitely likes Kapanen a lot, he tried trading up to draft him in 2014 and was giving him glowing reviews at basically every opportunity. With Sprong basically out for the year, a RW spot opens up and Kapanen is basically NHL ready. Just a thought.

 

[BustaKapanen]

Interesting thought I just had, if Fleury gets traded to Toronto, could you see Kapanen being the center piece for him? Rutherford definitely likes Kapanen a lot, he tried trading up to draft him in 2014 and was giving him glowing reviews at basically every opportunity. With Sprong basically out for the year, a RW spot opens up and Kapanen is basically NHL ready. Just a thought.

That'd be awesome imo, obviously I'm alil bias tho.

 

[Vujtek]

Interesting thought I just had, if Fleury gets traded to Toronto, could you see Kapanen being the center piece for him? Rutherford definitely likes Kapanen a lot, he tried trading up to draft him in 2014 and was giving him glowing reviews at basically every opportunity. With Sprong basically out for the year, a RW spot opens up and Kapanen is basically NHL ready. Just a thought.

Let's dream big: James van Riemsdyk

Fleury, Pouliot and maybe even our 1st 2017 for JVR and maybe another small piece?

JVR is two years away from UFA-status so Leafs could be willing to deal him because of that. Pouliot and 1st already should be good value for JVR and them getting Fleury is also good for them. They can protect Flower as their goalie and Pouliot as one of their four D-man in the expansion draft (even with JVR they don't really have more than four forwards worth protecting so they can take the 8+1 model).

That would give Penguins another top-6 LW and solve all problems regarding expansion draft protections. Opens up a bit of cap room, hopefully enough to be able to sign Schultz then.

 

[Peat]

I would rather a center who can play wing on the roster. If Geno needs the surgery I have heard, he is likely out until 2017. Anyway, it is moot until we know about Geno and Cullen, but free agency is 2 weeks away.

We have two of those in Fehr and Sundqvist. We'll start with 5 guys who can play centre on the roster. How many do you need?

Being honest, if Cullen doesn't re-sign, I'd be tempted to go grab a wing who can cover centre. But there's a lot of things that I'd be tempted to do. I'm making my peace with the fact that Jim Rutherford ain't gonna do a goddamn thing unless he a) Finds a good UFA laughably underpriced b) Something blows up during the season.

*pause* Okay, c) Flower says "I want to go".

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Maybe. His FO% is a bit concerning - one of Cullen's main attributes was his ability to take crucial defensive zone draws.

On the whole (ha), Buffalo was pretty terrible at faceoffs last season. ROR was the one exception.

Nevermind, I just looked at his FO stats for the last few seasons. Not that great at them.

 

[tom_servo]

I certainly would start my camp with Hagelin and Kessel together. The question for me is Bonino. The Eureka moment happened playing with Geno and Hags, and Kessel just kept getting better from there. It comes down to spreading the wealth vs building a more traditional top 6. Personally, I like the idea of building with the option of doing some of each. Not all the time, but when we need a shakeup.

I don't disagree with broadening our options, but I don't see how Bonino is a question mark at this point. He had 25 points in his last 25 games (that might've included some first round games, I don't recall), and more points than Crosby this postseason. HBK was immediately better than HMK. That chemistry is just not easily transferable. This line was the competitive advantage.

I think Malkin would've been better with Kunitz/Rust/Sheary etc if he wasn't injured. The top six looked worse than it should've.

 

[Headshot77]

I feel pretty certain that Pouliot won't be a Penguin next year.

If he doesn't do any good, time to cut the loses and run.

If he does come good, there's an excellent chance he gets targeted in the expansion draft, or gets traded anyway to prevent him going for nothing. Besides, even if none of that happens, he then needs a new contract, and I'm not sure the Pens want to be handing out two big new defensive contracts on the left while the right side of defence consists of Kris Letang, Tumbleweed, and Kris Letang insisting he can double-shift all season.

So yeah, we need some defensive prospects that will be ready soon.

That said, I'd love to steal an NHL ready left winger on an ELC from somewhere. I know that gives us too many forwards but we'll cope somehow.

The pleasant thing about winning the cup is that we become a more attractive market for free agents, and all of our players now have ↑↑↑ trade value. A team like Edmonton would want Chris Kunitz, bidding wars could be started over playoff overtime goal scorer Connor Sheary. I would like to see our offseason look like this:
1. Cullen retires, Lovejoy gets paid by a dumb team like Edmonton.
2. Trade Fleury. Maybe something like Fleury + Bennett's rights for a 2nd, D prospect, and Coburne's rights.
3. Sign Coburne
4. Sign one of Vesey or Bodeker
5. Trade Chris Kunitz @35% retained for Brian Elliot
6. Trade Connor Sheary for a really close D prospect, one or two years from NHL starter duty
7. Sign Schultz for two years, 2-2.5 million

Vesey/Boedker-Sid-Hornqvist
Coburne-Malkin-Rust
Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel
Fehr-Sundqvist-Kuhnhackl
Sprong stays in juniors to avoid the draft

Dumolin-Letang
Maatta-Daley
Pouliot-Schultz
Cole

Murray
Moose 2.0

 

[Randy Butternubs]

The one negative about attempting to sign Vesey is having to wait until August 15th. Start of Free Agency is less than a week away.

 

[66-30-33]

The one negative about attempting to sign Vesey is having to wait until August 15th. Start of Free Agency is less than a week away.

Huh? July 1st is 1 week 6 days from now.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Huh? July 1st is 1 week 6 days from now.

Damnit. I definitely thought next Friday was the 1st. My point still stands though.

 

[Vujtek]

Huh? July 1st is 1 week 6 days from now.

UFA interview period opens up on 25th, a week from now. These days you could see that as start of free agency.

 

[Sideline]

The one negative about attempting to sign Vesey is having to wait until August 15th. Start of Free Agency is less than a week away.

I would throw a conditional pick at Nashville for him; 4th if he walks 2nd if he signs. Vesey looks like a lock to be an NHL player. The odds of getting an NHL player in the 50s is like 10% iirc. The knowledge of where you stand with him gives more flexibility to make changes at the draft.

 

[Brandinho]

The one negative about attempting to sign Vesey is having to wait until August 15th. Start of Free Agency is less than a week away.

Vesey's salary is fixed so that isn't a big deal. I'd like to sign him obviously, but I think a lot of people are expecting too much of him. He's a good prospect, but the reason that there's so much interest in him is because he's a free prospect. We shouldn't expect him to come in and be an immediate impact player.

 

[froods]

I think this should be an easy offseason. 2 trades, 2 signings.

Trade Flower to Calgary for a 2017 1st
Trade Pouliot to St. Louis for Elliot and a pick
Resign Lovejoy and Schultz for around 4 million per year (combined).

I cant inderstand signing Bennett. Makes no sense to me. Still trying to figure out where Wilson fits.