Salary Cap: '24-'25 Salary Thread: Crosbicles Volume MMXXV - Poolman and Poolparty?!?

[DesertedPenguin]

Yes, a corporation has never lied to anyone or shifted gears for the sake of their profit margins.

I understand the skepticism, but there is no evidence in any of FSG's actions that they're going to be skimping on salary and refuse to spend to the cap. They're paying Dubas ample money to run the team. They paid Sullivan. They sank money into arena upgrades.

Liverpool routinely has one of the top five wage budgets in the Premier League. The Red Sox were routinely one of the top payrolls in MLB until recently when they started a mini-rebuild with a few younger players - they're still projected to have a payroll of $160 million or so this year and were in on some of the top free agents.

They'll spend to win.

 

[SEALBound]

Sorry I forgot about the master plan for next year of signing Marner, Koivunen coming up and becoming Jake Guentzel 2.0 immediately, Sid putting up 100 points because why not, Malkin getting shoulder work done and coming back next season hammering one timers like he's John Daly on the back 9 hitting drives after his tenth coors lite, Karlsson slap passing his way into another Norris, Letang using whatever drugs they're giving Ovechkin to make him play like he's 19, and Mike Sullivan using his bushido to inspire the entire bottom six to master the hidden art of stick-to-itiveness.

Oh and Rutger McGroarty takes some skating lessons too somewhere in there.

Yyyyyyyeaaah *puts on sunglasses*

From your mouth to God's ears.

 

[IcedCapp]

Sorry I forgot about the master plan for next year of signing Marner, Koivunen coming up and becoming Jake Guentzel 2.0 immediately, Sid putting up 100 points because why not, Malkin getting shoulder work done and coming back next season hammering one timers like he's John Daly on the back 9 hitting drives after his tenth coors lite, Karlsson slap passing his way into another Norris, Letang using whatever drugs they're giving Ovechkin to make him play like he's 19, and Mike Sullivan using his bushido to inspire the entire bottom six to master the hidden art of stick-to-itiveness.

Oh and Rutger McGroarty takes some skating lessons too somewhere in there.

Yyyyyyyeaaah *puts on sunglasses*

finally, someone else getting realistic, thank you for joining me

 

[Gurglesons]

I understand the skepticism, but there is no evidence in any of FSG's actions that they're going to be skimping on salary and refuse to spend to the cap. They're paying Dubas ample money to run the team. They paid Sullivan. They sank money into arena upgrades.

Liverpool routinely has one of the top five wage budgets in the Premier League. The Red Sox were routinely one of the top payrolls in MLB until recently when they started a mini-rebuild with a few younger players - they're still projected to have a payroll of $160 million or so this year and were in on some of the top free agents.

They'll spend to win.

"no evidence" you say.

 

[SomeDude]

I understand the skepticism, but there is no evidence in any of FSG's actions that they're going to be skimping on salary and refuse to spend to the cap. They're paying Dubas ample money to run the team. They paid Sullivan. They sank money into arena upgrades.

Liverpool routinely has one of the top five wage budgets in the Premier League. The Red Sox were routinely one of the top payrolls in MLB until recently when they started a mini-rebuild with a few younger players - they're still projected to have a payroll of $160 million or so this year and were in on some of the top free agents.

They'll spend to win.

It doesn’t even make logical sense to need to spend to the cap when you’re rebuilding. As noted, with the rise in cap there should be less opportunity to take on bad contracts for an asset. Why else would they need to spend that money? Unless they plan to just never rebuild and think they can spend their way out of mediocrity. If that is the case, we’re really screwed.

 

[SEALBound]

I wish I knew what Weekes was referring to in his stupid tweet. It would at least give us something to talk about.

 

[Gurglesons]

I wish I knew what Weekes was referring to in his stupid tweet. It would at least give us something to talk about.

FSG selling minority shares.

I think we would struggle to replace Rakell for $5mil or less.

When you're trading Rakell, it comes with the acknowledgement that you are not getting better. I don't see us spending assets to bring in a top 6 and I don't see any realistic FA targets that come in at $5mil to do better. If you wanna say Marner, sure.

If you send him out, you just hope McGroarty is ready to go and can bridge the gap in a way that isn't detrimental to his overall development. OR you sign another Beauvillier and let him have a go at it.

I don't. I think people are really overrating what he brings.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

"no evidence" you say.

Yes. They still have the 13th highest payroll in baseball heading into the 2025 season, with a current projection of $158 million. Last year they were 11th.

Boston has the No. 2 farm system in MLB, per the Athletic, with several top players primed to make the leap to the majors this year.

They cleared some space to create room for those players, so their payroll has dropped from astronomical to reasonable. They've decided to be more strategic, too, by avoiding triggering the competitive balance tax for a couple of years. They were more aggressive this year, including pursuing Juan Soto and reportedly offered him $700 million. The Mets just went off the charts and gave him $765 million over 15 years, the largest contract in sports history.

They're willing to spend to win. They're not willing to burn piles of cash.

 

[SEALBound]

I don't. I think people are really overrating what he brings.

Maybe. Who is the replacement?

In theory...maybe. In practice, I have doubts. We have to remember that it's someone who has to legitimately work with Sid so that they stay on that line. No top line time, no top line production. We thought Beauvillier could be that guy but he was off the line in what, 3 games?

 

[Gurglesons]

Maybe. Who is the replacement?

In theory...maybe. In practice, I have doubts. We have to remember that it's someone who has to legitimately work with Sid so that they stay on that line. No top line time, no top line production. We thought Beauvillier could be that guy but he was off the line in what, 3 games?

Try a young player with Rust.

Yes. They still have the 13th highest payroll in baseball heading into the 2025 season, with a current projection of $158 million. Last year they were 11th.

Boston has the No. 2 farm system in MLB, per the Athletic, with several top players primed to make the leap to the majors this year.

They cleared some space to create room for those players, so their payroll has dropped from astronomical to reasonable. They've decided to be more strategic, too, by avoiding triggering the competitive balance tax for a couple of years. They were more aggressive this year, including pursuing Juan Soto and reportedly offered him $700 million. The Mets just went off the charts and gave him $765 million over 15 years, the largest contract in sports history.

They're willing to spend to win. They're not willing to burn piles of cash.

So why are they spending to the cap on a team that has no chance of making the playoffs for 3 consecutive years when we know the Penguins are only a plus asset when they make the playoffs.

 

[sovietsanta87]

Yes, a corporation has never lied to anyone or shifted gears for the sake of their profit margins.

Because John Henry has never spent significant assets to ensure his sports teams were given the best opportunity to win at the right time.

 

[cookthebooks]

old enough to remember when fsg blew peoples minds by paying 75 million for a defender and broke their second of two curses

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'd trade Bunting now and trade Rakell if they actually manage to somehow sign Marner. I'd run with:

McGroarty-Crosby-Rust
Koivunen-Malkin-Marner

If they don't sign Marner, I'd keep Rakell and run with:

McGroarty-Crosby-Rakell
Koivunen-Malkin-Rust

I don't see a need to do anything more aggressive than this. They should give both Crosby and Malkin at least 1 established top-6 winger.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I'd trade Bunting now and trade Rakell if they actually manage to somehow sign Marner. I'd run with:

McGroarty-Crosby-Rust
Koivunen-Malkin-Marner

If they don't sign Marner, I'd keep Rakell and run with:

McGroarty-Crosby-Rakell
Koivunen-Malkin-Rust

I don't see a need to do anything more aggressive than this. They should give both Crosby and Malkin at least 1 established top-6 winger.

If by any chance we ever end up signing Marner, it's not going to be to play with Geno!

 

[sovietsanta87]

"no evidence" you say.

They were top 6 in mlb payroll from 2011-2022 according to sportrac. I’d go back further but I’m too lazy. I’ll just assume my memory is correct in that the Red Sox were one of the biggest spenders in baseball and won a World Series in 2004 and 2007

 

[Empoleon8771]

If by any chance we ever end up signing Marner, it's not going to be to play with Geno!

Why? Malkin needs Marner far more than Crosby does. Sullivan is also obsessed with the Crosby-Rust duo and keeping that together makes it easy.

 

[Darren McCord]

Try a young player with Rust.

They did with O'Connor and that line was awful this year. Rakell is the second best player on that line not Rust. Crosby does better with Rakell + Random Player than with Rust + Random Player.

If you look at advanced stats Rakell has the highest Corsi on the team too. Most lines have been boosted when you add him to them.

Rakell has been the 2nd best forward on the team this year. I don't know why you are knocking him so much.

 

[sovietsanta87]

If by any chance we ever end up signing Marner, it's not going to be to play with Geno!

Marner will be standing at the blue line like Mr Peanut waiting for malkin

 

[DesertedPenguin]

It doesn’t even make logical sense to need to spend to the cap when you’re rebuilding. As noted, with the rise in cap there should be less opportunity to take on bad contracts for an asset. Why else would they need to spend that money? Unless they plan to just never rebuild and think they can spend their way out of mediocrity. If that is the case, we’re really screwed.

If you think that a few potential elite players are going to be available in free agency over the next year or two, it can at least speed up the rebuild.

This is done in 5 minutes on PuckPedia with the new cap space. This doesn't take into account any assets acquired from trades - in fact, the only non-UFA trade I've made here is sending Noel Acciari out for a 7th round pick. This is free agency only. Players in blue are UFAs. They're not perfect matches, just hypotheticals to prove a point.

Now, if you trade Rakell or Bunting or Lizotte or Karlsson or anyone else, you have additional assets and cap flexibility. Maybe it's enough to add another top six player or top four defenseman.

Teams typically don't spend their way out of mediocrity because they typically don't have the cap space to do it effectively. The significant cap jump may make it more feasible, especially for teams like the Penguins who have the cap space plus the draw of a couple of future Hall of Famers who are well-liked and players might want to play with them in their final year(s).

They were top 6 in mlb payroll from 2011-2022 according to sportrac. I’d go back further but I’m too lazy. I’ll just assume my memory is correct in that the Red Sox were one of the biggest spenders in baseball and won a World Series in 2004 and 2007

Boston and Liverpool have been two of the biggest spenders in their sports under FSG.

 

[Ulf5]

Kuzmenko succeeding under Torts would be the 10th wonder of the world.

A legit lol.

 

[Gurglesons]

They did with O'Connor and that line was awful this year. Rakell is the second best player on that line not Rust. Crosby does better with Rakell + Random Player than with Rust + Random Player.

If you look at advanced stats Rakell has the highest Corsi on the team too. Most lines have been boosted when you add him to them.

Rakell has been the 2nd best forward on the team this year. I don't know why you are knocking him so much.

I thought we were rebuilding? Why do we care?

Do 32 year olds improve usually?

 

[Empoleon8771]

If you think that a few potential elite players are going to be available in free agency over the next year or two, it can at least speed up the rebuild.

This is done in 5 minutes on PuckPedia with the new cap space. This doesn't take into account any assets acquired from trades - in fact, the only non-UFA trade I've made here is sending Noel Acciari out for a 7th round pick. This is free agency only. Players in blue are UFAs. They're not perfect matches, just hypotheticals to prove a point.

Now, if you trade Rakell or Bunting or Lizotte or Karlsson or anyone else, you have additional assets and cap flexibility. Maybe it's enough to add another top six player or top four defenseman.

Teams typically don't spend their way out of mediocrity because they typically don't have the cap space to do it effectively. The significant cap jump may make it more feasible, especially for teams like the Penguins who have the cap space plus the draw of a couple of future Hall of Famers who are well-liked and players might want to play with them in their final year(s).

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Boston and Liverpool have been two of the biggest spenders in their sports under FSG.

If they're signing Marner they absolutely better trade Bunting. They need to give top-6 opportunities for young guys and keeping Rakell, Rust, Marner and Bunting would basically guarantee that doesn't happen.

At minimum, they should be running with:

Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Koivunen/McGroarty-Malkin-Marner
Hallander-Glass-Tomasino
Lizotte-Ponomarev-Acciari

 

[Gurglesons]

They were top 6 in mlb payroll from 2011-2022 according to sportrac. I’d go back further but I’m too lazy. I’ll just assume my memory is correct in that the Red Sox were one of the biggest spenders in baseball and won a World Series in 2004 and 2007

Nobody is saying FSG won't spend if we are winning. But keep making that argument with your wall if you'd like.

 

[Ugene Magic]

This team doesn't get top wingers/players to sign here. They either draft or trade for them.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Why? Malkin needs Marner far more than Crosby does. Sullivan is also obsessed with the Crosby-Rust duo and keeping that together makes it easy.

Because Geno can't keep up. By next season, Geno will be much closer to being a 3rd line center than a 2nd line center, if he isn't already.

Rust is slower, he can play with Geno..