Salary Cap: 2014-15 Roster-building Thread XI | All UFA and Trade proposals here | Cap SET: $69M

[SEALBound]

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#Pens Botterill says Simon Despres will get a legitimate look on D this year; said he went down to WBS for playoffs “with a better attitude"

I would have a bad attitude too if I was getting jacked around as much as he did.

He should get a legit look. Let him make the mistakes and play through them.

We need 2 top 6 wingers. Very possible through free agency. To me, if Kulemin wasn't a no brainer signing, then now its being done to help appease Malkin after they dumped his 40g winger.

Bennett should be on the 3rd line. No way we should be penciling him in on the top 6. No way. Maybe snag Hemsky and Downie and trade Suttter for Stewart.

Kun-Sid-Horn
Kul-Geno-Hemy
Downie-Spal-Stewart
Bennett-Vitale-Megna

 

[mpp9]

Ok, that does it. I'm sick to f'ing death of hearing about this guy, like he's God's gift to pro hockey

Tell me right now why he's so perfect for the Pens and do it without saying anything about how he and Geno are best friends that built a tree house together when they were nine years old.

Why is he good for this team and the direction it's going in?

Go.

If you're sick to death of hearing about him, you probably ran into one of us explaining why he'd be a great addition. We only did so about a million times.

You won't be convinced until you see it for yourself. So it's pointless. Much like trying to convince the cliff jumpers that Hornqvist is a better fit for what we've been missing in playoff hockey.

 

[BrunoPuntzJones]

They should shock the world are lure Mozyakin over. Two year deal on the cheap and a shot at American glory.

 

[Michael8771*]

That 4th line is small and soft.

Exactly, and the rest of that line up isn't physically imposing either. We need more toughness there.

 

[cygnus47]

I agree with guys that say Bennett shouldn't be automatically given the top 6 spot, but I also think that he's going to quickly take it. Bennett played as well as he did at the end of the season with a bum wrist. He's going to rock it next season.

 

[Michael8771*]

I don't want Niskanen at 6 million.

I wouldn't want him at anything more than four million per to be honest. True he had a monster year, (although the last 20 games or so his play started to drop off). But if you look at his entire tenure here, his play was far more on par with a 4/5 defensemen than a 1/2.

 

[steelcity24]

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/2...nt-nikolai-kulemin-could-be-a-penguins-target

Good article giving some optimism to the Kulemin rumors imo. Been wanting us to get this guy for years now, hopefully it can really happen finally.

 

[Shockmaster]

I would have a bad attitude too if I was getting jacked around as much as he did.

He should get a legit look. Let him make the mistakes and play through them.

We need 2 top 6 wingers. Very possible through free agency. To me, if Kulemin wasn't a no brainer signing, then now its being done to help appease Malkin after they dumped his 40g winger.

Bennett should be on the 3rd line. No way we should be penciling him in on the top 6. No way. Maybe snag Hemsky and Downie and trade Suttter for Stewart.

Kun-Sid-Horn
Kul-Geno-Hemy
Downie-Spal-Stewart
Bennett-Vitale-Megna

Yeah, put him on the 4th line on his off-wing. Then he'll really "earn" his way onto the top 6.

 

[Michael8771*]

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/06/2...nt-nikolai-kulemin-could-be-a-penguins-target

Good article giving some optimism to the Kulemin rumors imo. Been wanting us to get this guy for years now, hopefully it can really happen finally.

Barring some team offering this guy a silly amount of term and money I'd say our chances for landing him are very high.

 

[Michael8771*]

I would have a bad attitude too if I was getting jacked around as much as he did.

He should get a legit look. Let him make the mistakes and play through them.

We need 2 top 6 wingers. Very possible through free agency. To me, if Kulemin wasn't a no brainer signing, then now its being done to help appease Malkin after they dumped his 40g winger.

Bennett should be on the 3rd line. No way we should be penciling him in on the top 6. No way. Maybe snag Hemsky and Downie and trade Suttter for Stewart.

Kun-Sid-Horn
Kul-Geno-Hemy
Downie-Spal-Stewart
Bennett-Vitale-Megna

Switch Vrbata for Hemsky and I'm on board.

 

[steelcity24]

Barring some team offering this guy a silly amount of term and money I'd say our chances for landing him are very high.

Same thing I been thinking man. I never like to get my hopes up only to get let down, but this time is an exception. Dude is just to much of a perfect fit skill wise, cap wise and chemistry wise you would think with Malkin.

http://youtu.be/m4zmqdIfw9w

 

[SEALBound]

Yeah, put him on the 4th line on his off-wing. Then he'll really "earn" his way onto the top 6.

Ok fine lets play that game.

1. Injuries. Remember them? Been pleging the team for years now? Yeah they happen. He moves up accordingly. Tired of this "hand them a spot" ****.

2. Put him on RW. Geez dude.

 

[SEALBound]

Switch Vrbata for Hemsky and I'm on board.

Yes. Yes. Yes. I don't know why I forget about him but I support that.

 

[Shockmaster]

Ok fine lets play that game.

1. Injuries. Remember them? Been pleging the team for years now? Yeah they happen. He moves up accordingly. Tired of this "hand them a spot" ****.

2. Put him on RW. Geez dude.

You do know there's this thing called the salary cap, right? And maybe, just maybe, this team wants to do better than scrubs like Megna, Vitale, and/or Gibbons on the fourth line. He isn't going to earn anything playing in the wrong role on a third line. If the Penguins don't want to use him in a top 6 role, they should trade him. Otherwise, he needs a long look. If Yinzer Nation doesn't like that because Pixburgh is full of hard-workin' folk n'at, tough ****.

 

[Tek_Jansen]

Same thing I been thinking man. I never like to get my hopes up only to get let down, but this time is an exception. Dude is just to much of a perfect fit skill wise, cap wise and chemistry wise you would think with Malkin.

http://youtu.be/m4zmqdIfw9w

I don't watch as much hockey as I once did, especially games not involving the penguins. Any chance kulemin could approach his offense he had when he potted 30? Is he not the same type of player anymore (he's not old or has been injured to my knowledge)?

 

[DoktorZaius]

I don't watch as much hockey as I once did, especially games not involving the penguins. Any chance kulemin could approach his offense he had when he potted 30? Is he not the same type of player anymore (he's not old or has been injured to my knowledge)?

Who knows, playing with Geno consistently I'd expect him to pot 20 a year if healthy. I suspect when he got 30 though, he had consistent PP time. Something that seems unlikely here, as I suspect both Hornqvist and Kuny would be ahead of him in the net-front pecking order.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

I don't watch as much hockey as I once did, especially games not involving the penguins. Any chance kulemin could approach his offense he had when he potted 30? Is he not the same type of player anymore (he's not old or has been injured to my knowledge)?

Anything is possible, just don't count on it like I have been warning people. None of us really know what will happen in terms of his goal scoring with Malkin.

What I can tell you is that the guy can rip a puck. If Neal and AO velocity would be the benchmark at 10, Kulemin's shot is like an 8.

Here is the problem. The year he scored 30, he shot over 17%, which isn't sustainable. He also had over 170 shots. The last two years COMBINED he has barely broken 150 (being in a defensive role played a big part). He has a career shooting percentage of right around 11%. So if he starts to rip the puck more than 80 times a season, he can be a 20 goal guy IMHO.

The big question is, in a more offensive role, playing with Malkin, will he start ripping the puck again?

 

[eXile59]

I don't watch as much hockey as I once did, especially games not involving the penguins. Any chance kulemin could approach his offense he had when he potted 30? Is he not the same type of player anymore (he's not old or has been injured to my knowledge)?

No. It was a fluke year for him. I'm thinking around 15, maybe if he's lucky 20, if he is healthy. He does a lot of other things though.

 

[Asuna]

Why is the Russian spelling of Kulemin different?

 

[IcedCapp]

Yah, Kulemin will never come close to 30 again, IMO, but he'll be a great 3rd wheel for Malkin.

 

[Shockmaster]

Why is the Russian spelling of Kulemin different?

They spell quite a few of their players' names differently than we see in North America.

 

[Asuna]

They spell quite a few of their players' names differently than we see in North America.

I know. I believe they spell Malkin's name different as well.

I find it interesting.

 

[DearDiary]

So is it agreed that the Pens should target Vrbata and Kulemin? Jim said 4 players are targeted, but never said they were for 4 roles. They could all be for that 2nd winger slot

 

[cygnus47]

Anything is possible, just don't count on it like I have been warning people. None of us really know what will happen in terms of his goal scoring with Malkin.

What I can tell you is that the guy can rip a puck. If Neal and AO velocity would be the benchmark at 10, Kulemin's shot is like an 8.

Here is the problem. The year he scored 30, he shot over 17%, which isn't sustainable. He also had over 170 shots. The last two years COMBINED he has barely broken 150 (being in a defensive role played a big part). He has a career shooting percentage of right around 11%. So if he starts to rip the puck more than 80 times a season, he can be a 20 goal guy IMHO.

The big question is, in a more offensive role, playing with Malkin, will he start ripping the puck again?

Even if he only gets 20-20, the extra offensive zone time Geno will get will increase his scoring, especially in the playoffs. Our ability to have a more dangerous PK will also help.

 

[OnMyOwn]

I like how open JR is. There's no reason not to be IMO