Salary Cap: Salary Cap & Roster Building | Everybody's Up In Trees, Feeding Pigeons Out On A Limb

[DegenX]

All figures are cap numbers, not salaries.

2017-18 salary ceiling	$75,000,000
Projected dollars committed	74,298,633​
2016-17 bonus overage	50,000​
Approximate cap space	668,239​

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PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Forward..................................	Pos.​	Age​	..........2017-18​	..........2018-19​	..........2019-20​
Evgeni Malkin	C​	31​	9,500,000​	9,500,000​	9,500,000​
Sidney Crosby	C​	30​	8,700,000​	8,700,000​	8,700,000​
Phil Kessel	RW​	29​	6,800,000​	6,800,000​	6,800,000​
Patric Hornqvist	RW​	30​	4,250,000​	UFA​
Carl Hagelin	LW​	29​	4,000,000​	4,000,000​	UFA​
Conor Sheary	LW​	25​	3,000,000​	3,000,000​	3,000,000​
Riley Sheahan	C​	25​	2,075,000​	RFA​
Ryan Reaves	RW​	30​	1,125,000​	UFA​
Jake Guentzel	LW​	22​	734,167​	734,167​	RFA​
Josh Archibald	RW​	24​	675,000​	675,000​	RFA​
Greg McKegg	C​	25​	650,000​	RFA​
Bryan Rust	RW​	25​	640,000​	RFA​
Scott Wilson	LW​	25​	635,000​	RFA​
Tom Kuhnhackl	LW​	25​	625,000​	RFA​
Carter Rowney	C​	28​	612,500​	UFA​
Defense	Pos.​	Age​	2017-18​	2018-19​	2019-20​
Kris Letang	D​	30​	7,250,000​	7,250,000​	7,250,000​
Justin Schultz	D​	27​	5,500,000​	5,500,000​	5,500,000​
Brian Dumoulin	D​	26​	4,100,000​	4,100,000​	4,100,000​
Olli Maatta	D​	23​	4,083,333​	4,083,333​	4,083,333​
Matt Hunwick	D​	32​	2,250,000​	2,250,000​	2,250,000​
Ian Cole	D​	28​	2,100,000​	UFA​
Chad Ruhwedel	D​	27​	650,000​	650,000​	UFA​
Goalie	Pos.​	Age​	2017-18​	2018-19​	2019-20​
Matt Murray	G​	23​	3,750,000​	3,750,000​	3,750,000​
Tristan Jarry	G​	22​	630,833​	RFA​

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WILKES-BARRE/SCRANTON PENGUINS

Forward..................................	Pos.​	Age​	..........2017-18​	..........2018-19​	..........2019-20​
Zach Aston-Reese	LW​	23​	925,000​	925,000​	RFA​
Adam Johnson	C​	23​	925,000​	925,000​	RFA​
Thomas Di Pauli	C​	23​	742,500​	RFA​
Freddie Tiffels	LW​	22​	742,500​	742,500​	RFA​
Sam Miletic	LW​	20​	710,000​	710,000​	710,000​
Teddy Blueger	C​	23​	705,000​	RFA​
Daniel Sprong	RW​	20​	692,500​	RFA​
Dominik Simon	C​	23​	692,500​	RFA​
Jean-Sebastien Dea	C​	23​	650,000​	RFA​
Garrett Wilson	LW​	24​	650,000​	650,000​	UFA​
Greg McKegg	C​	25​	650,000​	RFA​
Tom Sestito	LW​	29​	650,000​	UFA​
Defense	Pos.​	Age​	2017-18​	2018-19​	2019-20​
Andrey Pedan	D​	24​	750,000​	RFA​
Jeff Taylor	D​	23​	742,500​	742,500​	RFA​
Ethan Prow	D​	24​	730,000​	RFA​
Lukas Bengtsson	D​	24​	705,000​	RFA​
Frank Corrado	D​	24​	650,000​	RFA​
Jarred Tinordi	D​	25​	650,000​	RFA​
Zach Trotman	D​	27​	650,000​	UFA​
Kevin Czuczman	D​	26​	650,000​	UFA​
Chris Summers	D​	29​	650,000​	650,000​	UFA​
Goalie	Pos.​	Age​	2017-18​	2018-19​	2019-20​
Sean Maguire	G​	25​	705,000​	RFA​
Casey DeSmith	G​	25​	675,000​	675,000​	UFA​

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SIGNED PROSPECTS

Player	Pos.​	Age​	Current team​	Contract​
Filip Gustavsson	G​	19​	Lulea HF (SHL)​	3 years/775,833 per​
Alex D'Orio	G​	18​	Saint John (QMJHL)​	3 years/716,667 per​
Jordy Bellerive	C​	18​	Lethbridge (WHL)​	3 years/716,667 per​

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UNSIGNED PROSPECTS

Player	Pos.​	Age​	Current team​
Niclas Almari	D​	19​	HPK (Liiga)
Anthony Angello	F​	21​	Cornell (ECAC)
Dane Birks	D​	21​	Michigan Tech (WCHA)
Kasper Bjorkqvist	F​	19​	Providence (HEA)
Jan Drozg	F​	18​	Shawinigan (QMJHL)
Connor Hall	D​	19​	Kitchener (OHL)
Ryan Jones	D​	21​	Nebraska-Omaha (NCHC)
Sam Lafferty	F​	22​	Brown (ECAC)
Zachary Lauzon	D​	18​	Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL)
Joe Masonius	D​	20​	Connecticut (HEA)
Linus Olund	F​	20​	Brynas IF (SHL)
Antti Palojarvi	D​	18​	Lukko U20 (SML Jr.A)
Nikita Pavlychev	F​	20​	Penn State (Big Ten)
Clayton Phillips	D​	17​	Fargo (USHL)
Will Reilly	D​	19​	RPI (ECAC)
Dominik Uher	C​	24​	HC Sparta Praha (ELH)

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Click to read more...

 

[Ogrezilla]

So you see nothing wrong if the Pens don’t trade Cole? That wouldn’t be a huge screw up on the Pens’ part? We will just pretend it never happened?

have I missed the team actually doing something around the Cole situation other than scratching him?

 

[Shady Machine]

have I missed the team actually doing something around the Cole situation other than scratching him?

Openly pursuing a trade with Cole and his agent cooperating. If a trade busts, it will be a little awkward, but nothing that can't be patched up.

 

[Ogrezilla]

Openly pursuing a trade with Cole and his agent cooperating. If a trade busts, it will be a little awkward, but nothing that can't be patched up.

gotcha. Yeah, this isn't like sitting on Duchene after trade talks. Cole is a guy that has been scratched at some point almost every year of his career.

 

[AjaxTelamon]

I don't think Cole is a solid number 4, but I do think all of these are true:

1. Cole played like a solid #4 last year when Letang was out, in both the regular season and playoffs.
2. I believe a team will look at Cole last year and say he's a top-4 defenseman caught in a numbers game in Pittsburgh, because he did play like one last year and played legit top-4 minutes.
3. I believe a team will pay Cole top-4 money on a long term deal to be a middle pair DFD for them.
4. If Cole is coming with an extension, I believe teams will value him like a middle pair DFD under contract, similar to Scandella. The issue with the Scandella comparison is that it was a really weird trade that saw Scandella get moved.

This makes sense, to a team that needs that role filled, Cole has solid value. I cannot see a deal with TOR, the pieces just don't fit great, and neither team wants to help the other. Cole's game works better in the west, and JR has motivation to send him there. Could do something like Karlsson + Sbisa @ 1/2 for Cole, waive McKegg to get under the cap. Not sure how much that helps VGK, and they use up one of their retentions which I'd expect them to use at the deadline to get futures, but oh well. Though a team like COL might want some leadership in the room I suppose.

 

[Andy99]

If you believe the three teams are Colorado, Vegas, and Toronto then the options appear to be:

Tor: Bozak
Vegas: Eakin, Lindberg, ....Haula, ...................Karlsson (in order of GMGM's willingness to trade IMO)
Colorado: Soderberg

IMO, the centers for Vegas are the most attractive. I'd be okay with Bozak as a rental, but I want JR to solve the 3C issue for the next few years.

Soderberg is 32. Not psyched about a 32 year old signed for 3 more years as the 3C.

Completely agree with this. No to Soderberg, Bozak only as a rental, and any center from Vegas except Lindberg. Cole is worth more signed than him...he hasn't shown that he could be a 3C here and his offensive prowess is suspect, and we need scoring from our center...

 

[Shady Machine]

This makes sense, to a team that needs that role filled, Cole has solid value. I cannot see a deal with TOR, the pieces just don't fit great, and neither team wants to help the other. Cole's game works better in the west, and JR has motivation to send him there. Could do something like Karlsson + Sbisa @ 1/2 for Cole, waive McKegg to get under the cap. Not sure how much that helps VGK, and they use up one of their retentions which I'd expect them to use at the deadline to get futures, but oh well. Though a team like COL might want some leadership in the room I suppose.

We will have to add a very big + to Cole to get Karlsson. Dude has 13 goals and 22 points in 22 games. IMO, it would have to be at least Cole + 1st and probably more.

 

[Ogrezilla]

We will have to add a very big + to Cole to get Karlsson. Dude has 13 goals and 22 points in 22 games. IMO, it would have to be at least Cole + 1st and probably more.

yeah, if JR gets Karlsson with Cole as the main piece going back he is some sort of wizard. That would be beyond Scuderi for Daley level of fleecing.

 

[Empoleon8771]

This makes sense, to a team that needs that role filled, Cole has solid value. I cannot see a deal with TOR, the pieces just don't fit great, and neither team wants to help the other. Cole's game works better in the west, and JR has motivation to send him there. Could do something like Karlsson + Sbisa @ 1/2 for Cole, waive McKegg to get under the cap. Not sure how much that helps VGK, and they use up one of their retentions which I'd expect them to use at the deadline to get futures, but oh well. Though a team like COL might want some leadership in the room I suppose.

It's not going to be Karlsson if the Penguins trade with Vegas. I think it's going to be Eakin if I had to guess. I think Karlsson is way too good for Vegas to trade, Haula is playing too well and has too good of a contract to trade and Lindberg isn't quite good enough for the Penguins to trade Cole for. But Eakin, I think that makes a ton of sense. Eakin has basically everything you want out of a 3C, he's peak Hagelin if Hagelin played center. His possession stats are mediocre, but he gets a ton of ES points, is very reliable defensively, kills penalties and is laser fast. He'd be a good target for the 3C spot, he's just as good as Bonino is. It's just a question of how do you fit his $3.85 million cap hit here? That's fair for him, but that's pricey for the Penguins.

The nice thing about Eakin too is that he can play wing, so if Sheahan suddenly explodes into a 3C, you can have Eakin on LW with Kessel and have that wing duo be really effective. My concern is if he ages similarly to Hagelin. Hagelin fell off at age 28, Eakin will be 28 in the last year of his contract.

 

[Shady Machine]

Completely agree with this. No to Soderberg, Bozak only as a rental, and any center from Vegas except Lindberg. Cole is worth more signed than him...he hasn't shown that he could be a 3C here and his offensive prowess is suspect, and we need scoring from our center...

Agreed. The other 3 allow you to slide Sheahan down to 4C. Lindberg hasn't proven he's an upgrade on Sheahan. Not a terrible acquisition or anything, but not the jolt I'd want to the center depth to lose a popular and effective dman like Cole.

 

[Shady Machine]

It's not going to be Karlsson if the Penguins trade with Vegas. I think it's going to be Eakin if I had to guess. I think Karlsson is way too good for Vegas to trade, Haula is playing too well and has too good of a contract to trade and Lindberg isn't quite good enough for the Penguins to trade Cole for. But Eakin, I think that makes a ton of sense. Eakin has basically everything you want out of a 3C, he's peak Hagelin if Hagelin played center. His possession stats are mediocre, but he gets a ton of ES points, is very reliable defensively, kills penalties and is laser fast. He'd be a good target for the 3C spot, he's just as good as Bonino is. It's just a question of how do you fit his $3.85 million cap hit here? That's fair for him, but that's pricey for the Penguins.

The nice thing about Eakin too is that he can play wing, so if Sheahan suddenly explodes into a 3C, you can have Eakin on LW with Kessel and have that wing duo be really effective.

Hagelin fast? I don't know about that. He's a good skater though. He's proven last year was an outlier so I'm comfortable going after him, but I'd really want a bit of retention.

Agree about his versatility and it allows you to play Rowney-Sheahan on line 4 so you have 5 centers in the lineup. You can slide Sheahan up to 3C during the game and Eakin at wing to give a different look.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Hagelin fast? I don't know about that. He's a good skater though. He's proven last year was an outlier so I'm comfortable going after him, but I'd really want a bit of retention.

Agree about his versatility and it allows you to play Rowney-Sheahan on line 4 so you have 5 centers in the lineup. You can slide Sheahan up to 3C during the game and Eakin at wing to give a different look.

Here's the way I look at it, I've seen many people call Sheahan a good skater and I agree with that. Eakin is closer to Hagelin fast than just a "good skater" if Sheahan counts as a good skater. There are very few players who are as fast as Hagelin, but I think Eakin would probably be in the top-3 for fastest skaters on the team. I think his speed is comparable to Rust's speed.

The big thing I see here is that Eakin eliminates any need to have Hagelin on the roster. They're extremely similar players, it's redundant to have both of them. But the sad thing is that Hagelin is probably already isn't needed on this roster

 

[Gurglesons]

This makes the Pouliot trade a little frustrating in my opinion.

Also, who cares how Cole feels? He was going to walk anyway and he is a # 5. We got cups, he did too, good luck making 3-4 mil somewhere.

 

[Andy99]

Agreed. The other 3 allow you to slide Sheahan down to 4C. Lindberg hasn't proven he's an upgrade on Sheahan. Not a terrible acquisition or anything, but not the jolt I'd want to the center depth to lose a popular and effective dman like Cole.

Yeah, also wouldn't want Soderberg at his contract. If Cole's being signed long term, I'd like us to find a younger 3C signed for at least a couple more years and Vegas has those.

Having said that, I really can't see why Vegas would be interested in Cole as either a UFA or signed long term. They haven't been able to get rid of their other D men, some of whom have been playing well for them, and they seem to want futures. Cole will be 29. I think BUF would have an interest in Cole and definitely Shero, though he's in the Metro. NJD would have nice pieces for us to trade for if we were inclined. Maybe Vegas thinks they can flip Cole for better futures and he'll end up in NJ anyway....

 

[Shady Machine]

Here's the way I look at it, I've seen many people call Sheahan a good skater and I agree with that. Eakin is closer to Hagelin fast than just a "good skater" if Sheahan counts as a good skater. There are very few players who are as fast as Hagelin, but I think Eakin would probably be in the top-3 for fastest skaters on the team. I think his speed is comparable to Rust's speed.

Yeah I agree with that. I guess "good skater" is all subjective. I should have said "skating is a strong attribute" and he's "fast". If he's as fast as Rust, I'd be stoked. I recall him being fast, but not that fast.
Anyway, we agree that his skating ability fits this team's identity.

 

[Riptide]

Regarding the comments in the last thread about what it would cost to re-sign Bozak... Given his amazing level of play this year and the fact that he will be 32 this spring... I do not see him getting much of a raise - especially if term is added. He maybe gets 2-3 years at 3.5-4.25m. And that's more-so based on what he did last year and the fact that he's a center then anything else.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah I agree with that. I guess "good skater" is all subjective. I should have said "skating is a strong attribute" and he's "fast". If he's as fast as Rust, I'd be stoked. I recall him being fast, but not that fast.
Anyway, we agree that his skating ability fits this team's identity.

Exactly, and that's a big reason why I'm okay with having Eakin at his full cap hit when I wasn't willing to give Bonino that much. I don't think Eakin is quite as good as Bonino, but I do think that Eakin fits the system a lot better than Bonino did. It's just a question of how to make the cap work.

Speaking of Lindberg, I'd inquire with Vegas about making it a bigger deal to include both Hagelin and Lindberg, too. Something like Hagelin, Cole with an extension and futures for Lindberg and Eakin. Actually, after writing that deal out, I think that deal makes a lot of sense. It allows Vegas to simultaneously improve their roster while also building for the future. Vegas gets a guy who'd be a top-4 D for them, a replacement for Eakin on the roster and what probably would be a high pick or a good prospect, and the Penguins get 2 3rd liners that give them significant roster flexibility. The Penguins get better now while not giving up anything of significant long term importance, and the Knights get both help now and good future pieces.

With Lindberg and Eakin, you have a lot of flexibility to construct your forward lines, because you can have any of Sheahan, Lindberg or Eakin as the 3C on any given day. Both Lindberg and Eakin can play wing and Sheahan would probably be the 4C if not the 3C.

 

[Shady Machine]

This makes the Pouliot trade a little frustrating in my opinion.

Also, who cares how Cole feels? He was going to walk anyway and he is a # 5. We got cups, he did too, good luck making 3-4 mil somewhere.

Agreed. Having Pouliot around to step in as a number 5/6 would be nice if they move out Cole. It's clear Sully didn't like him though, so what are you going to do?

 

[Shady Machine]

Exactly, and that's a big reason why I'm okay with having Eakin at his full cap hit when I wasn't willing to give Bonino that much. I don't think Eakin is quite as good as Bonino, but I do think that Eakin fits the system a lot better than Bonino did. It's just a question of how to make the cap work.

Speaking of Lindberg, I'd inquire with Vegas about making it a bigger deal to include both Hagelin and Lindberg, too. Something like Hagelin, Cole with an extension and futures for Lindberg and Eakin. Actually, after writing that deal out, I think that deal makes a lot of sense. It allows Vegas to simultaneously improve their roster while also building for the future. Vegas gets a guy who'd be a top-4 D for them, a replacement for Eakin on the roster and what probably would be a high pick or a good prospect, and the Penguins get 2 3rd liners that give them significant roster flexibility. The Penguins get better now while not giving up anything of significant long term importance, and the Knights get both help now and good future pieces.

That sounds good to me, but I don't see Vegas moving out two pivots.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Sully shouldn't have liked him. Pouliot sucked ass here. I understand he's playing much better hockey in Vancouver, but he was a total shit-show here for like 60+ of his 67 games.

 

[Peat]

Agreed. Having Pouliot around to step in as a number 5/6 would be nice if they move out Cole. It's clear Sully didn't like him though, so what are you going to do?

The bolded is where I'm at. The odds on him doing it here were astronomically low. Lets be happy that Ruhwedel's playing pretty well and hope for Corrado/Bengtsson to put it together.

 

[Empoleon8771]

That sounds good to me, but I don't see Vegas moving out two pivots.

Vegas has 6 centers on their roster right now that have taken more than 100 faceoffs already. They have a lot of centers on that roster, they could have their centers be Karlsson-Marchessault-Haula-Bellemare if they trade both Eakin and Lindberg. It's also possible for the Penguins to include Rowney in the deal if they want to bring back another center, because I don't see why he'd be needed on the roster if the Penguins pull off a trade like that.

Vegas is actually pretty blessed with having really good depth, they have 9 or more legit top-9 forwards, the issue is that over half of them are 3rd liners. They're probably one of the only teams who can lose 2 top-9 forwards and not feel any pain, because they'd just have Leipsic or Nosek jump into the top-9 to replace them. I don't know how Vegas makes their lines, but a top-9 with Karlsson, Marchessault and Haula as the centers and Neal, Perron, Hagelin, Smith, Tuch and Leispic sounds pretty alright.

 

[cheesedanish87]

According to Drager what happened was

Cole was pissed when he first got scratched

Cole's agent reached out to JR to ask for a trade

JR was ok with that request and allowed Cole's agent to talk to other teams about a trade.

So basically Cole is the one who asked for the trade because he was unhappy about being a scratch.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

Pens x.
Yes, you move forward. If he is in the lineup he will play hard. If hes not then it doesnt matter

 

[Pens x]

According to Drager what happened was

Cole was pissed when he first got scratched

Cole's agent reached out to JR to ask for a trade

JR was ok with that request and allowed Cole's agent to talk to other teams about a trade.

So basically Cole is the one who asked for the trade because he was unhappy about being a scratch.

This actually makes a lot of sense. This likely means that teams aren't lining up for Ian Cole.