Salary Cap: Salary Cap + Roster Building (Cap Details in First Post) | Trolololo

[dogthateats]

Edmonton claimed Zykov

 

[Andy99]

Edmonton claimed Zykov

I'm glad the Pens didn't get him...but this just shows everyone if they think Sprong will clear waivers that he won't...Zykov is 2 years older...it's better to spend effort developing these kids first and if it doesn't work out and you can't trade him then waive him if you need to have that roster spot...there is absolutely no reason to do this to Sprong...at minimum this only emphasizes how important it is for the Pens to play him and try to bring up his value...

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

A little hot-takey because I like 59-87 being attached at the hip, but imo Zykov would have worked very well with Sid and Simon. All have great hands and operate well in tight areas and can work the cycle game. Not a big deal EDM snagged him though.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Regarding the pmd's.
It's important to get Riiko comfortable cuz he's pretty capable with his skating/passing.
Once you do that, you can flirt with taking Ruh for a spin again and sitting the likes of an Olli, Rig, JJ or perhaps even better, trading one.

On goaltending, theres no sense in paying a premium for it atm(the reported 1st for Howard) with what this current D is collectively+where they are in the standings+with how CDS has played.

On Sprong, theres no reason to move him unless you win on the deal. I'm not giving up on him for peanuts atm when theres rif raff like ZAR/Wilson, etc. that can go up and down to keep him on the roster.
One thing i tell him tho, if i was the brass, is he's not getting back into the lineup until theres a need for him in the top 9 where he'll be playing with either Sid, G or Brass. Guys will slump, injuries will happen. You'll get your shot and be/get prepared for it.

 

[chethejet]

Riikola gives the Pens a better skater and with more play, he can be a very good 5 or 6. He has a little more physical play as well. In short, GMJR has to get over his man crush on Olli and move him for filling a hole. He also knows Schultz returning in February is not enough as questions of his play with a broken leg comes into play. My hope is he comes back close to 100% but not sure that is the case. Still think a D of the following is good enough:

Letang Dumo
Schultz JJ
Riikola Oleksiak
Ruhwedel

 

[KIRK]

The defensemen group on this team are both flawed and better than what people give them credit for. This group legitimately lacks skating ability and puck moving talent, but a significant part of the defensive issues on the team come from their forwards. The team needs 2 strong puck movers for their 2nd and 3rd pairs, they have 1 guy in Schultz (assuming his injury doesn't cause him to fall off a cliff) and Riikola looks like he may be that 2nd. If Riikola can't establish himself, they need to add another puck mover.

I think in an ideal situation, you trade Oleksiak and bring in a veteran right handed PMD to battle with Riikola for a roster spot. It doesn't have to be someone absurdly good, but getting a safety net for Riikola (or for injuries, to prevent Ruhwedel being a regular) seems like a smart move.

This team's entire approach to playing offense is predicated on having multiple defensemen who can make smart, quick, reliable decisions with the puck.

Right now, they have 1 healthy one (MAYBE Riikola can be one, although with Maatta that's kind of hard).

For as much as the defensive issues on the team may come from the forwards, the offensive issues start with the defense far more.

 

[Riptide]

Riikola gives the Pens a better skater and with more play, he can be a very good 5 or 6. He has a little more physical play as well. In short, GMJR has to get over his man crush on Olli and move him for filling a hole. He also knows Schultz returning in February is not enough as questions of his play with a broken leg comes into play. My hope is he comes back close to 100% but not sure that is the case. Still think a D of the following is good enough:

Letang Dumo
Schultz JJ
Riikola Oleksiak
Ruhwedel

I'd move Oleksiak long before Maatta.

 

[Empoleon8771]

This team's entire approach to playing offense is predicated on having multiple defensemen who can make smart, quick, reliable decisions with the puck.

Right now, they have 1 healthy one (MAYBE Riikola can be one, although with Maatta that's kind of hard).

For as much as the defensive issues on the team may come from the forwards, the offensive issues start with the defense far more.

Hence why I said "this group legitimately lacks skating ability and puck moving talent". I do think they either need to add another puck mover or have Riikola step in and firmly establish himself as a NHLer. If your D pairs end up being:

Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Schultz
Johnson-Riikola

with all of your bottom-4 playing to their abilities, your defense is in a great spot. Maybe look to add a veteran puck moving RD to challenge Riikola for a spot/improve depth, but otherwise, I don't think you need to do much with your defense.

 

[KIRK]

Hence why I said "this group legitimately lacks skating ability and puck moving talent". I do think they either need to add another puck mover or have Riikola step in and firmly establish himself as a NHLer. If your D pairs end up being:

Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Schultz
Johnson-Riikola

with all of your bottom-4 playing to their abilities, your defense is in a great spot. Maybe look to add a veteran puck moving RD to challenge Riikola for a spot/improve depth, but otherwise, I don't think you need to do much with your defense.

You know what's sad . . .

Imagine if JR had tried to go Blueger and De Haan instead of Sheahan and Johnson

Imagine if Sully weren't a douche and we'd (a) kept Cole for the low 3M deal it would've taken 14 months ago and (b) moved Maatta over the summer for futures/young, cheap help up front.

1. All of that would've been cap neutral.
2. The Pens would've had more assets/a better mix up front if Maatta had been moved.
3. Your defense would've been Dumo-Letang, De Haan-Schultz, Cole-Oleksiak (only time Oleakiak looked good).

What might have been . . .

End of the day, JR spent the last 16 months ******* this up, and Sully exacerbated it. Any other conclusion is wishful thinking.

EDIT: That's not necessarily disagreeing with your post . . . more a tangential reply with which I suspect you'd agree.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Edmonton claimed Zykov

Ruining everyone else's prospects is now added to their resume.

 

[Empoleon8771]

End of the day, JR spent the last 16 months ******* this up, and Sully exacerbated it. Any other conclusion is wishful thinking.

You can go back even further and say that the defense has been absolutely botched ever since the 2017 cup win:

1. They let Hainsey (who wasn't that good here, but he was playing over his head) and Daley go and signed....Matt Hunwick for 3 years? Hunwick started out pretty good IIRC, got hurt and was a mess afterwards. He couldn't play RD, which was the entire purpose of signing him, so they added a LD who could only skate well and was crap for a majority of the time here.
2. You then added a pure reclamation project in Oleksiak, which stems from their arrogance of being able to fix any bad defenseman, when there really wasn't a good spot for him to fit (since he's an OFD who can't move the puck well).
3. You then traded Cole in the Brassard deal, which has been a flop so far from both angles of trading Cole and acquiring Brassard. They traded Cole as he was playing well over a petty feud with Sullivan, when he wanted to "spend his career" in Pittsburgh according to him.
4. You then don't add another defensemen at the deadline despite your bottom pair being Hunwick-Oleksiak. This caused Ruhwedel to play in a lot of playoff games, because Hunwick was terrible after coming back from his injury.
5. You then sunk Sheary as an asset to dump Hunwick, which looks even worse right now because your bottom-6 can't buy a goal with their overpaid salaries.
6. You used the cap space you got from trading Sheary and Hunwick to sign Jack Johnson, who is Jamie Oleksiak if Oleksiak was 6'1". You then committed $2.1 million a year to Oleksiak after he had 40 games of looking like a NHL defenseman, so now you're spending around $5.5 million for 2 OFD who can't move the puck well.

The only good decision they've made on defense in the last 18 months is getting lucky with Riikola. I'm even iffy on them agreeing to pay Schultz $5.5 million a year, too.

 

[KIRK]

Ruining everyone else's prospects is now added to their resume.

Perhaps. Edmonton just needs the help, so I get them taking the flier here.

 

[KIRK]

You can go back even further and say that the defense has been absolutely botched ever since the 2017 cup win:

1. They let Hainsey (who wasn't that good here, but he was playing over his head) and Daley go and signed....Matt Hunwick for 3 years? Hunwick started out pretty good IIRC, got hurt and was a mess afterwards. He couldn't play RD, which was the entire purpose of signing him, so they added a LD who could only skate well and was crap for a majority of the time here.
2. You then added a pure reclamation project in Oleksiak, which stems from their arrogance of being able to fix any bad defenseman, when there really wasn't a good spot for him to fit (since he's an OFD who can't move the puck well).
3. You then traded Cole in the Brassard deal, which has been a flop so far from both angles of trading Cole and acquiring Brassard. They traded Cole as he was playing well over a petty feud with Sullivan, when he wanted to "spend his career" in Pittsburgh according to him.
4. You then don't add another defensemen at the deadline despite your bottom pair being Hunwick-Oleksiak. This caused Ruhwedel to play in a lot of playoff games, because Hunwick was terrible after coming back from his injury.
5. You then sunk Sheary as an asset to dump Hunwick, which looks even worse right now because your bottom-6 can't buy a goal with their overpaid salaries.
6. You used the cap space you got from trading Sheary and Hunwick to sign Jack Johnson, who is Jamie Oleksiak if Oleksiak was 6'1". You then committed $2.1 million a year to Oleksiak after he had 40 games of looking like a NHL defenseman, so now you're spending around $5.5 million for 2 OFD who can't move the puck well.

The only good decision they've made on defense in the last 18 months is getting lucky with Riikola. I'm even iffy on them agreeing to pay Schultz $5.5 million a year, too.

Will only add . . .

1. Cole is the one partner with whom Oleksiak looked like a NHL defenseman.
2. @Mr Jiggyfly has been beating the Daley drum since he walked, because he was the only other defenseman we had who could rush the puck up ice like Letang (that's not Schultz's thing).

Otherwise, spot on. Bad decision compounded by bad decision.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm going to throw out a name that may draw some ire from a lot of people here, but I think it's worth throwing out. How about Voynov as a target? You'd get him for dirt cheap, since LA still has his rights and likely wants nothing to do with him, and he has the potential to be a game changer for you on defense. It wouldn't be a reclamation project in the sense that Oleksiak was a reclamation project, since Voynov is known to be a good player. It's a reclamation project based on Voynov being a piece of **** human.

Outside of Voynov, there really aren't any rentals available in terms of bottom-4 RD who can move the puck. Madden actually wrote an article about Voynov nearly a month ago, and he made a very good point:

Pittsburgh probably shouldn’t have an opinion on this.

When James Harrison was arrested for domestic violence in 2008, he didn’t miss a day of work or lose one dollar. This being Pittsburgh and him being a Steeler, charges were dropped inside a month after Harrison completed anger management. Nary a peep of protest was heard in Pittsburgh, Yinzer Nation having chosen Steeler Sundays over the moral high ground. When convicted dogfighter Mike Vick joined the Steelers in 2015, negativity was kept to a minimum. The Animal Rescue League moved a fundraiser from Heinz Field to PPG Paints Arena, but everybody else rolled over and played dead.

Perhaps Pittsburgh is a good landing spot for Voynov. He’s a right-handed defenseman, and he’s really good. If the citizens didn’t care about what Harrison did, they shouldn’t care about Voynov’s malfeasance.

Mark Madden: Slava Voynov has paid debts, but return to NHL unlikely

 

[mpp9]

I don't see the point in acquiring a rental D-man. We need said D-man for the rest of 87 and 71's window.

Maatta isn't gonna suddenly become a burner. Johnson is only going to get worse. Schultz is a UFA in a couple summers.

We need a longterm solution to this problem. Badly.

 

[KIRK]

I'm going to throw out a name that may draw some ire from a lot of people here, but I think it's worth throwing out. How about Voynov as a target? You'd get him for dirt cheap, since LA still has his rights and likely wants nothing to do with him, and he has the potential to be a game changer for you on defense. It wouldn't be a reclamation project in the sense that Oleksiak was a reclamation project, since Voynov is known to be a good player. It's a reclamation project based on Voynov being a piece of **** human.

Outside of Voynov, there really aren't any rentals available in terms of bottom-4 RD who can move the puck. Madden actually wrote an article about Voynov nearly a month ago, and he made a very good point:



Mark Madden: Slava Voynov has paid debts, but return to NHL unlikely

Without addressing the SHOULD or COULD questions, I'll just say that I can't see the Pens going there.

 

[enviSAGE]

You know what's sad . . .

Imagine if JR had tried to go Blueger and De Haan instead of Sheahan and Johnson

Imagine if Sully weren't a *****e and we'd (a) kept Cole for the low 3M deal it would've taken 14 months ago and (b) moved Maatta over the summer for futures/young, cheap help up front.

1. All of that would've been cap neutral.
2. The Pens would've had more assets/a better mix up front if Maatta had been moved.
3. Your defense would've been Dumo-Letang, De Haan-Schultz, Cole-Oleksiak (only time Oleakiak looked good).

What might have been . . .

End of the day, JR spent the last 16 months ******* this up, and Sully exacerbated it. Any other conclusion is wishful thinking.

Are you sure JR didn't try to get De Haan, but De Haan didn't want to come here? Not everyone is about winning a Stanley Cup.

I also thought no one wanted to come here?

"The period leading up to free agency, we received a good amount of calls, we got some offers here and there, but the Hurricanes seemed very intriguing for me," de Haan said. "It seemed like a good fit. At the end of the day it seemed like the right decision to make. You never know, but I'm very intrigued and very happy."

 

[Empoleon8771]

I don't see the point in acquiring a rental D-man. We need said D-man for the rest of 87 and 71's window.

Maatta isn't gonna suddenly become a burner. Johnson is only going to get worse. Schultz is a UFA in a couple summers.

We need a longterm solution to this problem. Badly.

The problem is that you have none of the cap space, the roster spot or the assets to get that kind of guy. This is especially true with Schultz being hurt, Schultz being injured just completely ****s the Penguins D structure. It just makes it an absolute mess to deal with, because it's $5.5 million in dead space.

 

[mpp9]

The problem is that you have none of the cap space, the roster spot or the assets to get that kind of guy. This is especially true with Schultz being hurt, Schultz being injured just completely ****s the Penguins D structure. It just makes it an absolute mess to deal with, because it's $5.5 million in dead space.

I'd consider using Schultz as a piece in a trade for a guy who can legitimately carry our 2nd pairing for us.

You'd likely have to wait closer to when Schultz is ready to come back to assure the team acquiring him that he's good to go, but it's a possibility I'd look into.

This team badly needs to reallocate cap space to bring in that legit #2-3 D-man.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'd consider using Schultz as a piece in a trade for a guy who can legitimately carry our 2nd pairing for us.

You'd likely have to wait closer to when Schultz is ready to come back to assure the team acquiring him that he's good to go, but it's a possibility I'd look into.

This team badly needs to reallocate cap space to bring in that legit #2-3 D-man.

That's just the problem, I agree with you entirely but you're going to really struggle with being able to trade a rehabbing Schultz. Trading Schultz and revamping the depth RD on your roster seems like the absolute path to go, but you can't trade him when he's injured or coming off this kind of injury.

 

[Clare2904]

Pens to Honor 2009 Stanley Cup Team At January 6 Game vs. Chicago

 

[Riptide]

Will only add . . .

1. Cole is the one partner with whom Oleksiak looked like a NHL defenseman.

Because Cole had the assets to insulate Oleksiak's weaknesses. I think the bigger question is why are we keeping Oleksiak? He's an offensive minded D who can't pass the puck and sucks defensively. Yes he's a monster who can skate pretty well... but I'd still dump his ass, even if it meant playing Ruhwedel in his place.

 

[KIRK]

Because Cole had the assets to insulate Oleksiak's weaknesses. I think the bigger question is why are we keeping Oleksiak? He's an offensive minded D who can't pass the puck and sucks defensively. Yes he's a monster who can skate pretty well... but I'd still dump his ass, even if it meant playing Ruhwedel in his place.

No argument there. Once Cole was gone, I wouldn't have kept Oleksiak. But, I think this misses the bigger picture last summer.

We spent a little over 7 million dollars per for 2 (generously described) 3rd pairing defenseman and a 2M per year 4C. You could've had a WBS kid for under a million and at least THEN the Cullen thing would've made sense. BUT, that would've left you with about 6.5 million per for 2 defenseman.

For as good as JR has been with 1 for 1 struggling for struggling player deals, he's been an absolute ****show when it comes to spending precious free agency dollars.

 

[KIRK]

Pens to Honor 2009 Stanley Cup Team At January 6 Game vs. Chicago

Can we use Gonchar in our starting D for the game?

 

[Clare2904]

Can we use Gonchar in our starting D for the game?

Only if Disco Dan coaches the game for shit & giggles