Salary Cap: Salary Cap + Roster Building | Well, now what?

[Honour Over Glory]

Agreed but the bolded underlined has been so by you that it's now glue!

This said our D ain't that bad with a healthy Schultz and Tanger.

JR is just betting on full offensive throttle, get the puck to the O zone (layer).

Because he sticks out like a sore thumb on that blueline because of his short comings. If he was playing smarter D, fine, but he isn't so he stands out even more now because of it. The worst part is he has been trending towards this kind of play since last year.

I'm not beating that dead horse into glue, I'm using it to build my house of Maatta hate at this point and honestly, the kid deserves to be on a team that he suits with his lack of speed, somewhere out west. He's not an Eastern Conference Player anymore.

 

[BladeRunner66]

Because he sticks out like a sore thumb on that blueline because of his short comings. If he was playing smarter D, fine, but he isn't so he stands out even more now because of it. The worst part is he has been trending towards this kind of play since last year.

I'm not beating that dead horse into glue, I'm using it to build my house of Maatta hate at this point and honestly, the kid deserves to be on a team that he suits with his lack of speed, somewhere out west. He's not an Eastern Conference Player anymore.

@ the underlined and agreed at the bold i guess, if we have to and CAN trade him that is.

Small sample size though and it's not like he's old by any means so there's still time for him to turn his shit around imo.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

@ the underlined and agreed at the bold i guess, if we have to and CAN trade him that is.

Small sample size though and it's not like he's old by any means so there's still time for him to turn his **** around imo.

Ah the excuse now is that he can turn it around.

Remember when it was he will get faster when he has an off season to work on stuff since he hasn't had a proper one and then did this last summer and some how, got worse?

In any case, he's a decent trade chip for a RHD. Carolina has always seemed like a good target, I like Pesce and his skill set on this blueline.

 

[BladeRunner66]

Ah the excuse now is that he can turn it around.

Remember when it was he will get faster when he has an off season to work on stuff since he hasn't had a proper one and then did this last summer and some how, got worse?

In any case, he's a decent trade chip for a RHD.

Not an excuse, if we're stuck with him in that mode yeah trade him but the turn around part is hope, not for more speed but him using high hockey I.Q. again of which he's proven before that he has.

 

[Riptide]

His cap hit is rough, yeah, but I'd totally love to see him on the 4th line on this team instead of Grant.

I know why the Pens like Grant, he's a W/C.

But the guy is bland.

Bland or not.. he's also our 13F right now, and as you say a center. We don't have to like our 5C... but we still need to have one. Also, if Kassian is in for Grant... who is he bumping out of the lineup? Because it won't be Cullen or Rust... and probably won't be Simon... so that doesn't leave too many options...

 

[Riptide]

So what should we be looking for at this early point in the season to snatch up at the deadline?

Looks to me like a solid #3 defenseman would be nice. Along with a LW?

3/4D would be great... but good luck with that. Also the only way that would happen is if Rutherford had already traded a D for the LW that many want. And I have a really hard time seeing Rutherford actually trade a blueliner for a forward, only to go out and try and get another blueliner to replace them.

I think what's much more realistic is a small move for a utility player add up front (someone who can play anywhere in the top 9), and JR calling it a day.

 

[Andy99]

3/4D would be great... but good luck with that. Also the only way that would happen is if Rutherford had already traded a D for the LW that many want. And I have a really hard time seeing Rutherford actually trade a blueliner for a forward, only to go out and try and get another blueliner to replace them.

I think what's much more realistic is a small move for a utility player add up front (someone who can play anywhere in the top 9), and JR calling it a day.

I could see Brass being traded under the circumstances of his tenure here to date for a winger or D, but it’s likely to be someone who’s also a rental or a borderline AHL player if we’re getting a roster player back....the ideal for the Pens is for someone in WBS to play well enough to get a call up and then play well on the team, freeing the Pens to get a first back for Brass...that would be sweet....

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I could see Brass being traded under the circumstances of his tenure here to date for a winger or D, but it’s likely to be someone who’s also a rental or a borderline AHL player if we’re getting a roster player back....the ideal for the Pens is for someone in WBS to play well enough to get a call up and then play well on the team, freeing the Pens to get a first back for Brass...that would be sweet....

I can't imagine any WBS call-up could play well enough to make a player with Brassard's talent and track record expendable for a contender. With our current line-up he'd slot in between Rust and Sprong, which could be an amazing line.

Cups > 1st rounders.

 

[Andy99]

I can't imagine any WBS call-up could play well enough to make a player with Brassard's talent and track record expendable for a contender. With our current line-up he'd slot in between Rust and Sprong, which could be an amazing line.

Cups > 1st rounders.

I hope he plays well for us....right now he hasn’t....it’s up in the air...depending on his play and others’ it’ll be worth considering trading him at the TDL....

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I hope he plays well for us....right now he hasn’t....it’s up in the air...depending on his play and others’ it’ll be worth considering trading him at the TDL....

It would not be worth it to trade him. He's an established scoring center who just turned 31 and had some injury issues, and he just started finding his groove again before this last LBI. There's nothing at all wrong with 5 points in 8 games.

He's a proven scorer and he's not a band-aid...these injuries are out of character as he's usually very durable. If we want to give all our scoring wings a good option to center them, keeping Brass is a must.

 

[Andy99]

It would not be worth it to trade him. He's an established scoring center who just turned 31 and had some injury issues, and he just started finding his groove again before this last LBI. There's nothing at all wrong with 5 points in 8 games.

He's a proven scorer and he's not a band-aid...these injuries are out of character as he's usually very durable. If we want to give all our scoring wings a good option to center them, keeping Brass is a must.

Let’s be honest...his tenure with the Pens so far has been shaky regardless of his past success...it may be out of character for him to be injured but he has been injured quite a bit here...look, I hope he kills it for us when he gets back and creates a formidable 3rd or 4th line...but he’s been a disappointment to date...wish it were otherwise

 

[Ogrezilla]

Let’s be honest...his tenure with the Pens so far has been shaky regardless of his past success...it may be out of character for him to be injured but he has been injured quite a bit here...look, I hope he kills it for us when he gets back and creates a formidable 3rd or 4th line...but he’s been a disappointment to date...wish it were otherwise

He was good last year before he got hurt. And even if he was disappointing early this year, he still has 5 points in 8 games. Brassard's struggles are being exaggerated imo. He's played right at his career pace since getting here when he's been healthy.

We need him to control the game more than he has, but even if he's struggling a bit compared to what we'd like to see, he's certainly not been bad here.

 

[Riptide]

I hope he plays well for us....right now he hasn’t....it’s up in the air...depending on his play and others’ it’ll be worth considering trading him at the TDL....

All depends on the rest of the roster, our needs and what someone would actually offer up for him. However the biggest hurdle wouldn't be getting a 'good return', it would be getting the 'right return'. Moving Brassard for a boat load of futures makes zero sense. However if you could move him for a younger center and a good LW then perhaps it might make sense. But the conditions where it would "make sense" would be a pretty narrow position, which makes the likely hood of it happening extremely slim.

Not that I know why Calgary would be interested, but say they'd consider Jankowski and Brodie for Maatta and Brassard. Definite downgrade at center... but he's a young skilled big kid who's proven himself to be an NHL player. And you get an upgrade offensively on the blueline.

But it would probably take something like that to make Rutherford pause and think about it. Because most of the other options out there if you were going to move him won't include getting good players back, but futures.

 

[JTG]

I do think with our defense, we could stand to trade someone for a top 6 winger. Kempe is an interesting guy.

 

[Andy99]

He was good last year before he got hurt. And even if he was disappointing early this year, he still has 5 points in 8 games. Brassard's struggles are being exaggerated imo. He's played right at his career pace since getting here when he's been healthy.

We need him to control the game more than he has, but even if he's struggling a bit compared to what we'd like to see, he's certainly not been bad here.

I didn’t say he was “bad,” just disappointing. Maybe I expected something better from him given my past experience watching him. But he’s not been much of a playmaker or possession-generator yet....

 

[Ogrezilla]

I didn’t say he was “bad,” just disappointing. Maybe I expected something better from him given my past experience watching him. But he’s not been much of a playmaker or possession-generator yet....

I think it'll take some time for him to get used to a different role. He's always been one of the top 2 centers on the team. And he's obviously not had much of a chance to really get settled in with a line at any point thanks to the injuries. And despite that, he's still scoring as well as he typically has even with fewer minutes. His career best ES points is 42. He's scored at a 41 ES point pace since getting here.

I agree I'd like him to be better, but I'm not really worried about it. The fact that he's producing even though he's looked kind of disappointing is a good sign imo. I think he just needs to stay healthy.

 

[vikingGoalie]

He was good last year before he got hurt. And even if he was disappointing early this year, he still has 5 points in 8 games. Brassard's struggles are being exaggerated imo. He's played right at his career pace since getting here when he's been healthy.

We need him to control the game more than he has, but even if he's struggling a bit compared to what we'd like to see, he's certainly not been bad here.

I agree that he was legit looking like what we thought we were going to get right before he got injured last season. However, this season other then the first game and few shifts here and there we are not seeing the Brassard that at least *I* have seen on other teams. He has 5 points in 8 games averaging 15:47 in ice time, or if you like 5 pts in 126 minutes played. (point per 25 minutes)
Sprong by comparison has 4 pts in 9 games averaging 8:23, or 4 pts in 75 minutes played. (point per 18 minutes)

If someone told me Sprong right now is a better player then Brassard I'd say phooey. My point is points are far from the whole story when evaluating a player, if those points are because they drove they play or if they are oh I was on the ice too kinda points. Brassard has not looked like Brassard except for short stints. I say he's struggling to fit in our system and find his way. He's pretty darn good and I really wanted him, I think he will find his way. But it's not a stretch to say he's not playing up to his standards despite his pt/g pace being somewhat at his career pace. Sorry long winded way to say, I agree he's not bad per se, but he's definitely not playing great and the points per game being near career norms is not telling the story. I still preach you gotta give the guy 20 games this season before you can really evaluate. Same holds true here...

 

[Peat]

I could see Brass being traded under the circumstances of his tenure here to date for a winger or D, but it’s likely to be someone who’s also a rental or a borderline AHL player if we’re getting a roster player back....the ideal for the Pens is for someone in WBS to play well enough to get a call up and then play well on the team, freeing the Pens to get a first back for Brass...that would be sweet....

I can see cases for Brass getting traded and don't think he's settled the question of him belonging here yet, but I can't see it happening unless it makes the team better, which means no borderline AHL players and no rentals unless in a three way - and if we've got someone in WBS who can make Brass expendable, we'll be lucky as all hell given what it looks like we've got there.

 

[Andy99]

I can see cases for Brass getting traded and don't think he's settled the question of him belonging here yet, but I can't see it happening unless it makes the team better, which means no borderline AHL players and no rentals unless in a three way - and if we've got someone in WBS who can make Brass expendable, we'll be lucky as all hell given what it looks like we've got there.

One can always hope Johnson figures it out and makes a leap....

 

[Peat]

One can always hope Johnson figures it out and makes a leap....

I'm pretty high on Johnson, but him replacing what we hoped to get from Brassard would be seriously unexpected and impressive. Well. To me at least. Ditto getting a ~40 ES point pace.

And, of course, even if Johnson - or Bluegers or whoever - becomes that guy, that really doesn't affect Brassard's future here, merely what we'd do in the event that we traded him. As long as he finds his bearings here, he's too valuable to a cup run to trade away unless everybody explodes.

I've gotta say that, while I'm still bullish on Brassard fitting in here, I'm a little perturbed that pretty much all the good stuff has come with Phil and Sid. That's cool, but we've got a bunch of guys who can do great things as complimentary pieces. Brassard was brought here to be more than that imo.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Are we finally coming to the conclusion that we should move on from Brassard or are we still dreaming about what he might look like if he manages to stay healthy and find chemistry as a LW'er or C?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Let's say for fun...Nylander's wanting to be traded and just does not want to play for the Leafs anymore.

What would we need to give up to land him? Leafs defense is brutal, I would guess that is where we would need to target, right?

1st, Maatta (yes yes I know...), Lauzon, and a roster player?

 

[Gurglesons]

I really don’t get anyone talking about trading Brassard.

He can play how he played in the playoffs last year and he is still better than nearly 95% or what we would get if we traded him.

 

[Riptide]

Sprong by comparison has 4 pts in 9 games averaging 8:23, or 4 pts in 75 minutes played. (point per 18 minutes)

If someone told me Sprong right now is a better player then Brassard I'd say phooey. My point is points are far from the whole story when evaluating a player, if those points are because they drove they play or if they are oh I was on the ice too kinda points. Brassard has not looked like Brassard except for short stints. I say he's struggling to fit in our system and find his way. He's pretty darn good and I really wanted him, I think he will find his way. But it's not a stretch to say he's not playing up to his standards despite his pt/g pace being somewhat at his career pace. Sorry long winded way to say, I agree he's not bad per se, but he's definitely not playing great and the points per game being near career norms is not telling the story. I still preach you gotta give the guy 20 games this season before you can really evaluate. Same holds true here...

Sprong has had some terrible games... and some very good ones. I actually liked the last game despite the score and his stat line. He just needs to continue playing like that and he'll get his chances. But that said... I'd take Brassard over Sprong every single day of the week. Might not have had his highs... but also hasn't had his lows.

 

[WayneSid9987]

Only worry i have with Brass atm is his groin(if thats whats keeping him out again).
Would i put his name out there as a possible sign and trade to potentially get something really nice? Yes. But it'd have to be a really nice piece coming back. Would obviously need a new 3C as well either via the deal or in another deal.

Putting Olli up for sale makes sense to me atm.
You'd obviously be looking for a piece back in season but
even if it means ultimately trading him in the summer for picks and banking 4M in cap...i'm down for that.