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

[Dipsy Doodle]

Jarry is particularly problematic because his presence in WBS is blocking Sergei Mursahov from taking one of those two goalie slots and Murashov is more than ready to be in the AHL. Hell that kid might be knocking on the NHL doors before too long.

How? He's one goalie.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The only moves that matter are Rakell, for the value (1st+ in this market imo) and Ned (to bring Jarry up and open a spot in the AHL for Murashov to develop in a better league). The Grz, Beau, Hayes, etc. stuff is all whatever. Talkin' about 4ths, maybe 3rds. I think when the EK deal happens, it'll be in the off season.

 

[Pancakes]

How? He's one goalie.

Because the WBS goalie platoon is Jarry and Larsson and the Pens aren't going to send either of those guys to the ECHL.

If Jarry weren't in the AHL there would be a chance that Murashov could snag one of those two goalie slots but as long as Jarry is there he's blocked.

 

[Jacob]

Does anyone know which team had scouts in attendance today?

the Huntsville Havoc and the St. Georges Cool 103.5 FM

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I think Karlsson, Rust who fits most teams needing a vet RW with cup experience. Rakell I keep unless an offer is just to good. Pickering will be here next year as will Brunicke and a healthy St Ivany. Pens also have Rutgers, Broz, Ponomarev ready to go next year. Maybe the Finnish LW if he can add more size to play in the NHL. His skill is very good but his size and skating limits him as a top 6 NHL forward. But can be improved this off season. Pens have three main issues. Geno is simply not the player he was. But one more year is not a killer. Letang still skates well and one more year is OK. Jarry physically is not capable to play at the level needed. Either LTIR or eat the money in a buyout which Dubas is loath to do. Graves third pairing in a rising cap can be OK. Select a top center and RW in this years draft and rebuild begins in 2026 with Rust traded, Karlsson for a nice package and new head coach.

None of this matters unless your last statement becomes a reality. And for the record, I would extend Malkin for one more season beyond next if he is interested in playing. We don't have anyone remotely close to replacing him, and IF we are able to get a quality center in this draft, he should replace Hayes on the roster, not Malkin.

What are your expectations with Rakell and our current roster over the next 3 seasons? Do you think it's worth taking the chance that Rakell can have another solid season like this one were his value is probably at the highest? Are you keeping him because you believe we are a playoff team over the next few seasons? We eventually have to give the younger players a shot as well here, McGroarty, Broz, Pono, Koivunen, 2025 pick...

The other players you mentioned which I agree regardless that are priorities to be moved out as they are UFA's to be, aren't bringing you back anything valuable to speed up anything... At best you are getting 4th round picks!! That's why I move Rakell and EK, I want to try to speed things up.

McGroarty-Crosby-Marner

As long as 87 plays for this team, he needs a first-line LW. Of course we need to make room for the kids. Guess what? THERE IS ROOM NOW if we wanted to make it. We clearly don't want to make room for kids because Mike Sullivan is the head coach. As for the other players to trade, just keep accumulating assets. And by moving THOSE players, you get to bring up the kids to play WITH guys like Rakell and Karlsson...instead of with guys like Cody fricking' Glass.

I agree that we need to speed things up. We just disagree on how we go about doing that. You want to trade our best players to get there, and I want to keep them to get there.

Status quo…we need to draft McKenna…anything else next season would be a travesty and set the Pens back…do NOT improve the goaltending lol!

This is the Kyle Davidson GM model for how not to rebuild a franchise. Putting all of our eggs in the Gavin McKenna basket is the worst plan. Might as well not have a plan because this is a 1/32 chance to succeed. When we landed Mario Lemieux the NHL was a 21-team league. 11 teams is a lot of teams.

Besides, we will likely be in the McKenna sweepstakes organically. Mike Sullivan will ensure this to be true. And if someone in the organization decides to make a coaching change, that is well worth losing out on McKenna IMHO.

Pens are sellers but the biggest moves are in the off season. Rakell unless Dubas is blown away will keep RR with a contract that is growing in value in a rising cap. I still think Karlsson will be moved at the draft and dubas is now in the young prospect return vs picks only. Hayes, Heinen, the LD who is playing better are all available for teams wanting depth for a run.

Grz is the only one of those three that has any value to teams. We don't know whether Dubas even wants to trade players with term, but in the cases of Hayes and Heinen he probably has no choice but to keep them. I doubt anyone wants either player.

Ned and MAYBE Acciari are the guys with term that contenders may have a passing interest in, but the return won't be much. If we can unload any of Grz, Ned, Acciari, Glass or Beauvillier, it will be a good move regardless of the return.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

the Huntsville Havoc and the St. Georges Cool 103.5 FM

Blue Ridge Bobcats too

 

[Jacob]

Heinen, Hayes and Acciari are just going to block Broz or Koivunen or Pono at this point. I don’t think Hayes is movable but I think the other 2 are worth a late pick, if not as a throw-in in some other deal.

Nobody likes Glass but I’m actually okay with re-signing him, just not for his QO. He’s fine for the bottom 6, not old, maybe still has some room to grow.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Also, if by some miracle we are able to trade Nedeljkovic, we should recall Larsson, not Jarry. AND, if we don't trade Ned for whatever reason, we should send Blomqvist down and recall Larsson. If Larsson is our best option right now, he should be up with the big team. Goaltenders are different. You can be 26 and still a potential starting goaltender for the NHL. Unlike Bemstrom, who is not an NHL top-six winger. It's just different with goaltenders.

Ideally, we find a taker/are willing to move Nedeljkovic, Murashov gets promoted to the AHL, and Larsson gets his shot (with Blomqvist in a 50/50 audition for both). Remember, Blomqvist has struggled badly but he is also being used as a backup. That is often even harder for younger goaltenders than playing a lot of games behind a bad defense.

If he continues to struggle, send him down and play him a lot in W-B/S. I don't think Jarry should be recalled until/unless he starts playing lights out at the AHL level. If he is uninterested, so should we be.

Heinen, Hayes and Acciari are just going to block Broz or Koivunen or Pono at this point. I don’t think Hayes is movable but I think the other 2 are worth a late pick, if not as a throw-in in some other deal.

Nobody likes Glass but I’m actually okay with re-signing him, just not for his QO. He’s fine for the bottom 6, not old, maybe still has some room to grow.

OK but you can't keep Glass if we can't move out the other guys you mentioned because then you are hurting your own narrative of creating space for the kids.

Personally, I just don't see what the fuss is with Glass. Sam Poulin can do the same job, Vasili Ponomarev can do the same job. And those guys still have untapped upside, unlike Glass.

 

[Jacob]

Also, if by some miracle we are able to trade Nedeljkovic, we should recall Larsson, not Jarry. AND, if we don't trade Ned for whatever reason, we should send Blomqvist down and recall Larsson. If Larsson is our best option right now, he should be up with the big team. Goaltenders are different. You can be 26 and still a potential starting goaltender for the NHL. Unlike Bemstrom, who is not an NHL top-six winger. It's just different with goaltenders.

Ideally, we find a taker/are willing to move Nedeljkovic, Murashov gets promoted to the AHL, and Larsson gets his shot (with Blomqvist in a 50/50 audition for both). Remember, Blomqvist has struggled badly but he is also being used as a backup. That is often even harder for younger goaltenders than playing a lot of games behind a bad defense.

If he continues to struggle, send him down and play him a lot in W-B/S. I don't think Jarry should be recalled until/unless he starts playing lights out at the AHL level. If he is uninterested, so should we be.


OK but you can't keep Glass if we can't move out the other guys you mentioned because then you are hurting your own narrative of creating space for the kids.

Personally, I just don't see what the fuss is with Glass. Sam Poulin can do the same job, Vasili Ponomarev can do the same job. And those guys still have untapped upside, unlike Glass.

I think Pono should be up as well. Our bottom 6 should be some mix of Lizotte, Hayes, Glass, Bunting, Pono, Hallander, Poulin. If Tomasino is in the top 6.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I think Pono should be up as well. Our bottom 6 should be some mix of Lizotte, Hayes, Glass, Bunting, Pono, Hallander, Poulin. If Tomasino is in the top 6.

Bunting should play with Sid if Rakell goes. Boost his trade value.

 

[chethejet]

Well if the cap floor is 72 million, moving Karlsson even with a retain of 1.5 per year and moving I believe Rust pens cap is Rakell. Sid , Geno, Letang, Graves, Bunting is 35 million. They may need to keep a couple players around if they start the season with the roster of the young guys of Bruniche, Pickering, ST Ivany, Rutgers M, Broz, Ponomarev, one of the goalies and Jarry either at WB or on LTIR.

Bunting Sid Rakell
Hayes Geno ?
Rutgers M Broz Tomasino
Ponomarev Glass Acciari.

? Letang
Pickering Bruniche
Graves St Ivany
Quick cap hit is approx 60M to 64M depending on Jarry
Retain 1.5 on karlsson and still not at the floor so probably one of the RD or Heinen is here next year.

 

[SEALBound]

If you trade Rakell, you just put Malkin with Sid. If you're trading Rakell, the writing is on the wall. Get Sid and Geno their points, tank and get the pick.

Malkin-Sid-Rust
Bunting-Glass/Hayes-Tomasino
Heinen-Hayes/Glass-XXXX
XXXX-Lizotte-Acciari

 

[Ulf5]

Blue Ridge Bobcats too

Reggie Dunlop was in attendance. He thinks many of the non- top 6, err, top 3, would fit in nicely with his club.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

You just have to trade Raks this season.

 

[Jacob]

I’d hope to get at least a 1st for Rakell. Ideally one this year. But a lot of teams you’d think would be interested don’t have their 1st.

 

[Coastal Kev]

I never got the Jarry signing, but sending him to WBS was a terrible decision. Keep the up, let him play through it, the team isn't playing for anything anyway. If they chose this path, most likely he would playing well enough by the end of the season to trade him for something of value.

obtuse

 

[Victor Z]

Reggie Dunlop was in attendance. He thinks many of the non- top 6, err, top 3, would fit in nicely with his club.

If he's looking for the new Hanson Brothers, he's wasting his time scouting this team of wusses.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I’d hope to get at least a 1st for Rakell. Ideally one this year. But a lot of teams you’d think would be interested don’t have their 1st.

With the iffy-ness of this years draft class I actually think I'd like the 1st to be in 2026.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Karlsson expanded on his earlier comments after the game, by the way:

“With my situation, I have full say on whether anything happens or not. ... Until I do get asked — whenever that is and if that is — then I’ll take a stance,” Karlsson said. “Until then I’m not worrying about it. I have nothing to worry about because I would be the first one to know, I’m sure. Then I’ll deal with that situation if that occurs.”

“I’ve always liked this group,” the former All-Star defenseman said. “We haven’t played up to the potential that we believe we have in here. That’s tough. But I love all the guys. I’ve had a good time here, and I’ll continue and do so until my time is over.”

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2025/03/02/maple-leafs-erik-karlsson-rickard-rakell-joel-blomqvist/stories/202503020107

 

[The Old Master]

With the iffy-ness of this years draft class I actually think I'd like the 1st to be in 2026.

plus you never know what a team might do next year.

 

[orby]

I don't see them trading Rakell in-season for a few reasons:
1. He won't be a rental, so there's not necessarily a strong incentive to trade him before the deadline
2. Rakell helps Sid's cause as he tries to get the point-per-game season record.


I think Rakell might (might!) fetch a first round pick, but I don't really know if the team is after another 2025 1st rounder; they could potentially even trade him after the draft for another 1st in 2026. More realistically I think he will return something a little closer to Guentzel; a second and a grab bag of multiple okay to good prospects. But you never know.

 

[Malkinstheman]

You can either take this to mean that they have their eyes on another RD or aren't interesting in doing another big addition after Granlund. Everything Nill has said publicly is that they won't be doing anything else big

 

[Empoleon8771]

You can either take this to mean that they have their eyes on another RD or aren't interesting in doing another big addition after Granlund. Everything Nill has said publicly is that they won't be doing anything else big

I think what Nill said when asked about it a few days ago is legit: he doesn't want to add an expensive player with term when they have numerous RFAs due for extension in the next 2 years.

My gut feeling at this point is that Karlsson goes to Carolina in the off-season as a Burns replacement.

 

[Pancakes]

I have a feeling that we don't do much at the deadline. No Rakell move. No EK move. I'd love to be proven wrong but that's my gut feeling.

I think guys like Grzy and Beauvillier might get moved but that's about it. Spare parts players for 3rds and 4ths. It won't be very exciting.

My biggest fear right now with the Pens' upcoming moves isn't that they hold onto Rakell or EK too long though. My biggest fear is that Dubas tries to accelerate the rebuild by moving that Ranger's pick. And he brings back an asset who ends up being worse than the pick would have been.

I truly hope the Pens are patient with that pick and don't move it. It's too good of a potential asset to move.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

The dumbest thing the Penguins could do is not offload some of the miscellaneous guys in the bottom 6. What is the point of having a season this awful if they don’t in turn spend some time finding out how the young prospects perform in the NHL?

The last 15 games should be spent finding out if they can play with the big boys. Not watching retreads leading us to our worst record in 20 years.