Salary Cap: Salary Cap & Roster Building - Locked in until July

[Empoleon8771]

All these hot takes are hilarious. Rust himself said he feels more comfortable, prefers playing, and has more experience on the Left Wing.

Someone should tell Sullivan that, because Sullivan seems to seriously disagree with that.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Coach don't curr...

You’re right, he probably doesn’t. But to pretend like there’d be some drop off in his defensive game by having him play on the left is silly.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Rust can say that he prefers playing LW and can do it, but that doesn't actually mean it's true. If Rust could play LW as well as he thinks he can, I completely believe that Sullivan would stick him on LW because they need him on LW much more than they need him on RW.

Most wingers say they can play either side, but very few players are equally as effective on both wings.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Sullivan also thinks Tom Kuhnhackl is a regular NHLer. He isn’t perfect or some kind of litmus test.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

They'd just end up picking any draft eligible player who plays on the same team as Lauzon anyway, because they're that lazy.

Does Portland have any draft eligible defensemen who can't play a lick of defense?

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

I don't understand this misconception that handedness should always dictate which wing a player is on. In the defensive zone, when the opposition has the puck, it's more advantageous to play on the off-wing. Of course, as soon as the puck changes possession and the skaters head the other direction, the opposite becomes true. Then in the offensive zone, the off-wing is better for shooting, while the strong side is best for protecting the puck. The benefits become situational down to the second.

But I'll never buy that playing on the off-wing handicaps a player defensively in the least. Three-time Selke winner Jere Lehtinen preferred his off-wing, too.

 

[Jacob]

Sullivan has no issues playing Simon, Sheary and Kuhnhackl on their off wings.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You’re right, he probably doesn’t. But to pretend like there’d be some drop off in his defensive game by having him play on the left is silly.

Das dat HF narrative bruv.

Seriously, it's kind of funny to read it here, but when you see it in action you're like "lol what are those people on?"

 

[Empoleon8771]

Sullivan has no issues playing Simon, Sheary and Kuhnhackl on their off wings.

What does that say about his unwillingness to have Rust on his off wing, though? I don't think that's a case that helps the idea that Rust is super effective on LW. Sullivan is a coach that plays more guys on their off wings than a lot of coaches, yet he doesn't consistently keep Rust, a guy who claims he's better on LW, at LW.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

What does that say about his unwillingness to have Rust on his off wing, though? I don't think that's a case that helps the idea that Rust is super effective on LW. Sullivan is a coach that plays more guys on their off wings than a lot of coaches, yet he doesn't consistently keep Rust, a guy who claims he's better on LW, at LW.

Except Rust has admitted it, does it when he rushes up the ice, and looks comfortable there.

Sullivan has also played Kessel and Hornqvist on their off wings too.

 

[Ogrezilla]

What does that say about his unwillingness to have Rust on his off wing, though? I don't think that's a case that helps the idea that Rust is super effective on LW. Sullivan is a coach that plays more guys on their off wings than a lot of coaches, yet he doesn't consistently keep Rust, a guy who claims he's better on LW, at LW.

On a team that could really use another lw.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Except Rust has admitted it, does it when he rushes up the ice, and looks comfortable there.

Sullivan has also played Kessel and Hornqvist on their off wings too.

Again, that's not a case that helps Rust here. If Rust was as good on LW as he says he is, why isn't Sullivan playing him there anymore? Sullivan has shown an extreme willingness to play guys on their off wings, more than a lot of other coaches. If Rust is that good on LW, why isn't Sullivan playing him on LW more than he is? Especially considering the Penguins need a LW, like a lot. What does that say about Sullivan that he'd rather try guys like Hornqvist and Kessel, who have been very adamant about not being able to play LW, on LW over Rust?

On a team that could really use another lw.

Bingo. Either Sullivan is an idiot or Rust can't play LW as well as he thinks he can, in the eyes of the coaching staff. It's one of those two.

 

[PensPlz]

Sullivan also thinks Tom Kuhnhackl is a regular NHLer. He isn’t perfect or some kind of litmus test.

Kuhnhackl also has 2 cups....

It's almost like it's irreverent who is on the 4th line or something.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Again, that's not a case that helps Rust here. If Rust was as good on LW as he says he is, why isn't Sullivan playing him there anymore? Sullivan has shown an extreme willingness to play guys on their off wings, more than a lot of other coaches. If Rust is that good on LW, why isn't Sullivan playing him on LW more than he is? Especially considering the Penguins need a LW, like a lot. What does that say about Sullivan that he'd rather try guys like Hornqvist and Kessel, who have been very adamant about not being able to play LW, on LW over Rust?



Bingo. Either Sullivan is an idiot or Rust can't play LW as well as he thinks he can, in the eyes of the coaching staff. It's one of those two.

I like how you think because Sullivan won't try it, it's the right thing.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kuhnhackl also has 2 cups....

It's almost like it's irreverent who is on the 4th line or something.

Which is fine and Kuhn is a solid 4th liner, but let's not act like Sullivan doesn't have bizarre choices with his line-up, it's almost ridiculous that people here refuse to even admit that. This is worse than the last time we had a coach that the fan base was so in love with.

Even great coaches make idiotic choices at times. Sullivan has had his for sure. Like moving Sheary all around the roster and not keeping him in one spot even when he looked good on a line, over playing Letang when he said he'd keep his minutes in check, etc etc..

 

[Empoleon8771]

I like how you think because Sullivan won't try it, it's the right thing.

Considering he's the coach and knows these players more than anyone here does, I'd certainly say he knows what he's doing. It's not even a case where he's playing favorites over Rust, because Rust is a favorite of his. A team that is weak on LW won't play a guy on LW who's supposedly better on LW than RW, according to him. That either says that the coach is an idiot or the coach doesn't agree with the player that they're better on LW than on RW.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Considering he's the coach and knows these players more than anyone here does, I'd certainly say he knows what he's doing. It's not even a case where he's playing favorites over Rust, because Rust is a favorite of his. A team that is weak on LW won't play a guy on LW who's supposedly better on LW than RW, according to him. That either says that the coach is an idiot or the coach doesn't agree with the player that they're better on LW than on RW.

Great decision then with saying Letang won't like playing less, then not playing him less.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

No way in hell the Pens get a top 10 pick wrong.

 

[Gurglesons]

Great decision then with saying Letang won't like playing less, then not playing him less.

People love to bring this fact up, but who exactly is taking those minutes last year?

Concussed Schultz?
Ian Cole?
Olli Maatta?

 

[SouthGeorge]

My god you're clueless.

So is that a yes or no?

People love to bring this fact up, but who exactly is taking those minutes last year?

Concussed Schultz?
Ian Cole?
Olli Maatta?

Had no issue filling his minutes for 65 games last year with him logging 0 minutes. Some would even argue we were better without him. Won the Cup that year too.

 

[PensandCaps]

Rust, true is better on RW. But people acting like he can't play LW or looks out of place on LW are just making things up. I actually like when he is on his off wing on the rush, he gets around alot of Dmen with his speed when he is on his off wing. But his defensive play does suffer a bit...but he is still a solid LWer, the narrative that he becomes some 4th line scrub on LW is ridiculous.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

People love to bring this fact up, but who exactly is taking those minutes last year?

Concussed Schultz?
Ian Cole?
Olli Maatta?

Oh shit, I forgot that Schultz was hurt all season long.

Shades of yesteryear as always.

 

[Gurglesons]

Oh ****, I forgot that Schultz was hurt all season long.

Shades of yesteryear as always.

I’m all for limiting Letang’s minutes. But, we have to have a defenseman that can actually do that.

 

[Riptide]

I appreciate what Sheary did for this team the last 3 years, but we definitely need to move-on from him and his $3m cap-hit. Isn't it blatantly obvious that we should be doing everything we can to dump he and Hunwick even for nothing more than cap relief?

Cap relief is only useful if you're going to spend it on something. And given that most players want term when they sign a contract, that might be an issue for us given that we have some big raises to hand out in the next year or two.

There's also the fact that with Kessel's future being somewhat uncertain (if not this summer then more so next summer). Now if you're getting a skilled winger back for Kessel, then sure dump Sheary. However if you're getting a Pearson or Zucker type of player back, then we might not want to dump Sheary. Because whatever his faults are (and he certainly has them), he's still one of our more skilled wingers who can hang onto the puck and make plays with it.

 

[Riptide]

Edit: a player that may have an impact on Penguins signings: Drake Caggiula just signed a 2 year deal at $1.5 million a season. He's a pretty clearly worse version of Rust (~25 point defensive winger), so I feel like any thoughts of Rust getting in the low $2 millions just took a shot I think. I've seen some people expecting Rust to get a deal like 2 years at $2.25 million a season, I think Caggiula's contract kinda killed that thought. I think this might also mean that Kuhnhackl is going to end up getting more than $750k or so, like I've also seen people suggest.

Perhaps... but I don't think so. Cagguila had more than twice as many goals this season as Kuhnhackl had the past 2 years combined (13vs2+4). DC is also younger and they're paying for his potential. Kuhnhackl pretty much is what he is at this point, and while that's useful, it's certainly not worth much more than his QO (726k-760k at the high end - I can't remember if they get 10% or 15% on their current salary). In any case TK is likely to take term over AAV.