Salary Cap: '24-'25 Salary Thread: Crosbicles Volume MMXXVI: Sid is Still Goat

[eXile3]

Sid should just rest. They need like 40 points out of the remaining 50.
Draft higher and come back healthy next year for more losing.

Dude loves to play the game. Hard to fault him for that.

 

[Rudy Russo]

I could see Toronto trading Marner for Bunting, McGroaty & Rags first.

The real question is would that trade be good for the franchise for both short and long term.?.

I hope that doesn't happen.

 

[cygnus47]

Well from that post alone, I didn't elaborate on everything that helps balance things out but also, I think you're missing some things if you don't think anything I said boosts player power.

For example, reducing the draft to 4 rounds might seem bad for players but as we've seen, plenty of guys that may be 5-7th round picks at 18, suddenly turn into 2-4th round picks at 19 or even 20. They they go undrafted, they now have the freedom to sign with whomever they'd like. They aren't beholden to a single organization that may or may not specific development plans for them for the majority of their prime years.
Also, with the cap going up, the league is still likely going to require a certain escrow % to start the year. By keep salaries a tad lower because the cap is a tad lower, you could lower (or eliminate) the escrow. That would put more money in pockets. More so, if there was no escrow, you could focus on salary vs bonus structure more which would be significantly easier if you only have a max of five years to work with.

I also suggested as a compromise, reducing UFA from 27 to 26 and making the ELCs a two-year contract provided the player actually plays in the NHL the first year. That would help get players to better negotiated contracts quicker.

The compliance buyout option is more about fairness to me more than anything. While I want guys to get their purse, I also feel there is a contractual requirement to actually provide the services you are being paid for. Example, Jarry making $5.75mil for anther 3 years while playing in the AHL isn't exactly what was negotiated. Jarry isn't living up to his end of the bargain so why should the team be forced to? I think in my notes/idea list, I said something like "if the player clears waivers and spends a full season in the minors, and clears waives one more time, they are eligible for the compliance buy out. So if Jarry stays in WBS next year and no one will trade for him or pick him up on waivers, we get a compliance buyout option that summer. That could easily benefit the player. Like no one wants Saad at $4mil because he's not a $4mil player but if you buy him out (or terminate) plenty of teams want him at $1mil. So it's an opportunity for the player to recalibrate their league value in order to play.

Again, plenty of fairness in my proposals if you look a tad deeper.

Fair enough, I'm not searching through anyone's posts haha.

From memory escrow was the number 1 remaining issue on the players side. You could probably get something out of them for getting rid of it and having the league take on the risk. 5 year contracts and years played minimums with trade restrictions for no escrow might be a fair deal.

I think there's something there with compliance buyouts. Seems better for everyone if they both compromise to make the suffering less for everyone. I'm not sure if your proposal is the one but it's interesting. Just spitballing but maybe each year you can pass them through waivers and buy one year out with the player's permission at 0.75 or something, so the player gets money up front and they become tradeable faster but it doesn’t give GMs an excuse to give out dumber contracts. Not sure, but I’d agree there’s compromise to be had there.

 

[The GM]

No Nieto is a nice surprise

Probably cause sully wasn’t back yet running the practice. I think greater chance velluci gets canned by sully for dising Nieto than nieto getting waived

 

[DesertedPenguin]

The Pens will have to make roster moves in the morning.

Malkin and Rust are still on IR, but they have a full roster. If Nieto was going to be waived to go to the AHL, it would have happened today. Imama will likely go on IR to create one spot. And the only player who doesn't need to go through waivers right now is Bemstrom.

So, unless there is a trade before the game, Bemstrom is likely headed back to WBS.

 

[Rudy Russo]

The Pens will have to make roster moves in the morning.

Malkin and Rust are still on IR, but they have a full roster. If Nieto was going to be waived to go to the AHL, it would have happened today. Imama will likely go on IR to create one spot. And the only player who doesn't need to go through waivers right now is Bemstrom.

So, unless there is a trade before the game, Bemstrom is likely headed back to WBS.

Crosby is a game decision tomorrow, but I agree Nieto should be waived.

 

[Zirakzigil]

I still think it'd be f***ing stupid to let Marner walk just to keep Tavares but the Leafs are gonna Leafs.

Leafs dont want to lose him. I have it on good authority Marner has decided to move on due to how hes been treated by media and locals, being from Toronto. Maybe that changes because of 4 Nations, but in the fall he was very much set on moving on. Hes also told the Leafs he will not waive for them to trade him.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Crosby is a game decision tomorrow, but I agree Nieto should be waived.

Crosby is on the active roster, so even if he doesn't play there will need to be a roster spot available.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

The more likely thing to happen to Marner this season is being traded for Rantanen. Which the Leafs should take a shot at. Swap Marner for Rantanen, both are free agents, both audition for new teams, both teams might get their guy out of it.

Marner going to Carolina takes all the media scrutiny in bat shit Toronto away immediately. Rantanen has the playoff pedigree to shut the Leafs media up.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

The more likely thing to happen to Marner this season is being traded for Rantanen. Which the Leafs should take a shot at. Swap Marner for Rantanen, both are free agents, both audition for new teams, both teams might get their guy out of it.

Marner going to Carolina takes all the media scrutiny in bat shit Toronto away immediately. Rantanen has the playoff pedigree to shut the Leafs media up.

It'd be impossible to make the money work in an in-season Marner/Rantanen deal. Even finding a way to get a third party team to retain 50% on Marner would mean his cap hit is still $1+ million more than Rantanen's, and Toronto is already pretty deep into LTIR space. Plus, Carolina is up against the cap, too, so they just can't add additional salary.

Toronto would have to move out additional salary in other deals and that may be a challenge.

Marner is either going to re-sign in Toronto or go to free agency.

 

[Zirakzigil]

The more likely thing to happen to Marner this season is being traded for Rantanen. Which the Leafs should take a shot at. Swap Marner for Rantanen, both are free agents, both audition for new teams, both teams might get their guy out of it.

Marner going to Carolina takes all the media scrutiny in bat shit Toronto away immediately. Rantanen has the playoff pedigree to shut the Leafs media up.

Marner wont waive

 

[chethejet]

Marner to me will stay a leaf. He sees Mathews and Nylander as cogs in a good roster to be in the hunt. Pens are in a rebuild and will not be in a position to add high end talent for another 2 years. Sid gone, moving Rust, Karlsson and who knows how long Letang can play all have to be done. Add higher end talent in the draft next couple years and trades of said players for picks and prospects and begin the next chapter of Pens hockey.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I'd like to see Kolyachonok get a shot soon. He had good analytics for Utah, and just got waived due to an overloaded blue line. He can play both sides supposedly. Should see if we can develop him into good tradebait for the future.

A Grzelcyk deadline trade would help facilitate this. And even if that doesn't happen, you're pretty free to play him over Joseph or Graves or w/e. The season's lost already, so at least make use of the time the best you can. Develop your prospects.

 

[Ulf5]

Leafs dont want to lose him. I have it on good authority Marner has decided to move on due to how hes been treated by media and locals, being from Toronto. Maybe that changes because of 4 Nations, but in the fall he was very much set on moving on. Hes also told the Leafs he will not waive for them to trade him.

Again, the Leafs have plenty of cap to keep both Tavares and Marner.
If Marner decides to move on, the max contract is what next season? $19 million? No one is giving him that.
If he were interested in playing with Sid, we could match anyone's offer.
So if Marner has decided to move on, the question is what is his personal preference?
Play on the same team as his idol? Play in a lower tax state? Warm weather? Play on team with a better chance at a Cup?

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I think the idea is that we move Malkin to the wing and trade for (or sign) a hypothetical 2C in the offseason. For once, we have some cap space and some trade capital to feasibly be able to do that.

We need a center on top of keeping Malkin at center. Our third-line center is Kevin Hayes. And Cody Glass sucks.

The plan should be to find a new No. 2 center and make Malkin the third center. But we might have to bite the bullet on Malkin and Hayes for one more season because it is very difficult to find immediate fixes at the No. 2 center position. Which is why it is nice to have the greatest No. 2 center in NHL history still on the roster.

 

[Andy99]

We need a center on top of keeping Malkin at center. Our third-line center is Kevin Hayes. And Cody Glass sucks.

The plan should be to find a new No. 2 center and make Malkin the third center. But we might have to bite the bullet on Malkin and Hayes for one more season because it is very difficult to find immediate fixes at the No. 2 center position. Which is why it is nice to have the greatest No. 2 center in NHL history still on the roster.

If we’re going to continue to go for it and not rebuild by playing young players, our best option would be Sam Bennett if the team wants to throw some money at someone who’s actually a 2C…

 

[Jag68Sid87]

We are currently projecting to have the 16th most cap space in the league for 25/26. Literally smack dab in the middle. Columbus, SJ, and Winnipeg have almost double what we do. Other teams way ahead of us include Anaheim, Chicago, Carolina Toronto, Isles, Caps, etc. All more attractive cities and/or team situations than us.

You all are setting yourself up for unnecessary disappointment to think any needle moving UFA would have any reason to come here.

As I said, we are middle of the pack with cap space. We are not going to be offering the most money.

I don't think this is a situation like when Ray Shero decided to throw big money at Martin and Michalek. This is a very specific scenario where there is a player who is headed to market in all likelihood, and who is probably (but not absolutely) looking for a place near where he currently plays/resides. And we have two very attractive assets for this player (presumably): our captain and his former GM.

I doubt we can land any of the other big fishes like Rantanen et al, because there is no connection whatsoever. But there is a connection to Marner and that is what I will continue to hang my hat on until he decides to stay in Toronto.

Again, the Leafs have plenty of cap to keep both Tavares and Marner.
If Marner decides to move on, the max contract is what next season? $19 million? No one is giving him that.
If he were interested in playing with Sid, we could match anyone's offer.
So if Marner has decided to move on, the question is what is his personal preference?
Play on the same team as his idol? Play in a lower tax state? Warm weather? Play on team with a better chance at a Cup?

It has never been a question of whether Toronto has the cap space. It is whether they want to pay Marner more than Auston Matthews, which is what it's going to take to get him to stay. There is no question that in order to get him to play in Pittsburgh it is going to take either the most money in an offer or close to it.

If we’re going to continue to go for it and not rebuild by playing young players, our best option would be Sam Bennett if the team wants to throw some money at someone who’s actually a 2C…

I agree. But it is hard to see Bennett coming here for anything other than a contract that will look ugly two minutes after he signs it. Ugly for us, not for him, obviously.

 

[Ulf5]

It has never been a question of whether Toronto has the cap space. It is whether they want to pay Marner more than Auston Matthews, which is what it's going to take to get him to stay. There is no question that in order to get him to play in Pittsburgh it is going to take either the most money in an offer or close to it.

I've seen a couple posts, both here and on the main boards, that seem to indicate a belief otherwise shrug.