Salary Cap: 24-'25 Salary Thread: Crosbicles Volume MMXXVII: Retool over! Time to go for a cup in 2026!

[Andy99]

I tend to agree. While I'm not down on offersheets, I think the max we can offer in the coming years is $2.29mil this year (because we don't own our 2nd) and $4.5mil in the next two-three because we do own our 2nds but I don't believe we should be giving out our 1sts.

I think the better route would be "hey GM, we want to offer sheet this person but we'll give you the picks instead plus something extra."

I don’t mind the offer sheet vehicle…but we should be using it on 23 and younger guys who are just breaking out…not a guy with a lot of hard miles in the NHL who’s at the end of his RFA status …

 

[SEALBound]

I don’t mind the offer sheet vehicle…but we should be using it on 23 and younger guys who are just breaking out…not a guy with a lot of hard miles in the NHL who’s at the end of his RFA status …

Totally fair. I think the cap going up and so few teams being in cap hell will really limit our abilities.

Gurgs had a decent idea (blind squirrels, broken clock, etc) of offer sheeting Mavrik Bourque which I am a fan of, but since we don't own our 2nd, it will be tough. I don't think Dallas would match a $4.5-5mil deal. But since we don't have a 2nd and we won't do our 1st, offering them a 2nd+3rd would be good value and it saves the heartache of an offer sheet.

That would be more in line with what I was thinking.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Taking it at face value- if we don’t want to strip it to the studs… why trade EK?

He’s gonna get a very mid return with an NMC and we’ll have to retain. Just keep him if the plan is to be good in 2026.

Not just EK but why did they trade 28 year old Petersson? Now the LD is the worst in the league and has to be rebuilt from scratch

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The "don't go the Chicago route of rebuild" is a front imo. It purposely neglects that that team's been run horrendously, by some of the most stupid (and despicable) people in hockey for years. Good teams are built through the draft, and when there are potential superstar talents available during your extreme down years, you *absolutely* chase the 1st overall pick. A year like this where there's three or four guys neck and neck? Okay, whatever. A year where you can potentially snag a Bedard, McKenna, or Dupont--dudes who have been the kind of prospects teams watch for like four years even before their draft year in anticipation? You swallow your dumb pride and try to land a guy who will hopefully massively improve your team's outlook for the next 20 years.

"We don't want to chase a McKenna" Okay , enjoy pretending like you've got some genius plan to retool on the fly as a small market team from western PA only to end up with a streak of miserable seasons rivaling the Sabres anyway.

Doofus-brain stuff.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Somehow drafting Misa this season, he heads to the NCAA and then joins the team for the stretch run next season woud be unreal.

There was a report a few months back about Boston U courting Misa, and Michigan courting McKenna and Martone. If that happens, you can bet Sullivan's gonna soapsock Dubas until he finds a way to trade up and land Misa.

 

[molon labe]

I know there's a lot of ...takes... on Elias Petterson - but he currently does not have trade protection...like at all (?). He has 3 more years at 11.6, which, starting next year isn't so bad.

If the idea at any point is to add impactful players - why not him? He wouldn't be playing 1C here and that could really open the team up with Malkin as his wing. From all the reports out there he wouldn't cost much.

And I don't know how in any planet the money would work - but you add Marner to that pot and you've got the makings of a team...sans a goalie of course. Maybe ship a guy like Rakell or Rust back to make the money work even moreso.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I know there's a lot of ...takes... on Elias Petterson - but he currently does not have trade protection...like at all (?). He has 3 more years at 11.6, which, starting next year isn't so bad.

If the idea at any point is to add impactful players - why not him? He wouldn't be playing 1C here and that could really open the team up with Malkin as his wing. From all the reports out there he wouldn't cost much.

And I don't know how in any planet the money would work - but you add Marner to that pot and you've got the makings of a team...sans a goalie of course. Maybe ship a guy like Rakell or Rust back to make the money work even moreso.

I have a gut feeling that the Canucks are basically cooked moving forward, and the EP40 situation's beyond repair after they publicly aired out all the shit between he and JT Miller. Miller's gone, Boeser might be gone, they may be forced to trade EP40, and once all those things happen, you have to imagine Hughes is gonna be like "Why the f*** am I still here after they traded everyone worth a damn, when I could leave to go play with my brothers in NJ?"

 

[Randy Butternubs]

I wonder if Kyle will use any of the draft picks to acquire a player from a team that's squeezed for cap space.

 

[SEALBound]

Not just EK but why did they trade 28 year old Petersson? Now the LD is the worst in the league and has to be rebuilt from scratch

Because he got an expensive long-term contract that doesn't fit with the current state of the team. That money is better used elsewhere and the return we got is better used internally or to get a younger player.

They should be trading EK this off-season for two-reasons: 1. The experiment didn't work. They bought him in to help push the team back into the playoffs and it didn't happen. 2. Opening up some cap and gaining some assets helps us reshape the back end for the future.

 

[SEALBound]

I wonder if Kyle will use any of the draft picks to acquire a player from a team that's squeezed for cap space.

I wish CapWages gave cap totals by year like CapFriendly did. Tough to see who is up against it though I suspect its not many with the relatively dramatic rise coming this off-season.

 

[Epic Neal Time]

Totally fair. I think the cap going up and so few teams being in cap hell will really limit our abilities.

Gurgs had a decent idea (blind squirrels, broken clock, etc) of offer sheeting Mavrik Bourque which I am a fan of, but since we don't own our 2nd, it will be tough. I don't think Dallas would match a $4.5-5mil deal. But since we don't have a 2nd and we won't do our 1st, offering them a 2nd+3rd would be good value and it saves the heartache of an offer sheet.

That would be more in line with what I was thinking.

We don't have our 2025 2nd, but we have our 2026 2nd, which would be what the offer sheet would take. I agree though, Bourque seems like a cap squeeze there.

 

[tnnr]

I wonder if Kyle will use any of the draft picks to acquire a player from a team that's squeezed for cap space.

I wonder about a team like St. Louis. They seemed to be teetering toward selling this deadline but when they inevitably miss the playoffs, will they start to tear it down?

You have to wonder about guys like Robert Thomas or Jordan Kyrou.
Would likely take a haul but they're 25/26 and could fit the 2C role.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Not just EK but why did they trade 28 year old Petersson? Now the LD is the worst in the league and has to be rebuilt from scratch

I think that is fine tbf

Easier to surround the EKs of the world and find complements than to keep the complementary types and find elite talent

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

The "don't go the Chicago route of rebuild" is a front imo. It purposely neglects that that team's been run horrendously, by some of the most stupid (and despicable) people in hockey for years. Good teams are built through the draft, and when there are potential superstar talents available during your extreme down years, you *absolutely* chase the 1st overall pick. A year like this where there's three or four guys neck and neck? Okay, whatever. A year where you can potentially snag a Bedard, McKenna, or Dupont--dudes who have been the kind of prospects teams watch for like four years even before their draft year in anticipation? You swallow your dumb pride and try to land a guy who will hopefully massively improve your team's outlook for the next 20 years.

"We don't want to chase a McKenna" Okay , enjoy pretending like you've got some genius plan to retool on the fly as a small market team from western PA only to end up with a streak of miserable seasons rivaling the Sabres anyway.

Doofus-brain stuff.

Yeah exactly

You don’t say you want to win in ‘26 and move EK for peanuts

Yohe doesn’t know squat, per usual.

 

[Pancakes]

Doofus-brain stuff.

It probably doesn't matter a whole lot what Dubas does to try and stop the tank tbh. The Penguins are more likely than not going to be bad next year and the year after that.

I mean what can Dubas do to prevent that? Sid and Geno are old af and no longer capable of keeping us out of the basement. Marner is extremely unlikely to come here. None of our prospects are going to make a dent next year or the year after in our standings position. I mean are Mcgroarty or Koivunen going to push us up the standings? Please.

The only way the Penguins fortunes are going to rapidly change for the better is by them doing the thing they allegedly don't wanna do....tank. Fortunately for us the Pens probably can't prevent tanking anyways even if they try. And no matter what Dubas says he's not moving our first any time soon. He's not that dumb.

 

[Khelandros]

I wish CapWages gave cap totals by year like CapFriendly did. Tough to see who is up against it though I suspect its not many with the relatively dramatic rise coming this off-season.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

It probably doesn't matter a whole lot what Dubas does to try and stop the tank tbh. The Penguins are more likely than not going to be bad next year and the year after that.

I mean what can Dubas do to prevent that? Sid and Geno are old af and no longer capable of keeping us out of the basement. Marner is extremely unlikely to come here. None of our prospects are going to make a dent next year or the year after in our standings position. I mean are Mcgroarty or Koivunen going to push us up the standings? Please.

The only way the Penguins fortunes are going to rapidly change for the better is by them doing the thing they allegedly don't wanna do....tank. Fortunately for us the Pens probably can't prevent tanking anyways even if they try. And no matter what Dubas says he's not moving our first any time soon. He's not that dumb.

Yeah, I think Dubas can f*** up the tank. Stop the team from being bad? No. f*** things up by reducing the chances this team's a *genuine* basement dweller? Absolutely.

He already has by keeping Rakell, and reinforcing this team's idiotic adoration for Bryan f***ing Rust of all players. Not only did he pass up on potentially valuable assets at the TDL (32 year old having a career year and shooting like 6% above his normal rate, in an insane seller's market) for a team with a mediocre prospect pool, but Rakell's removal makes this team that much worse, and every little bit helps in that regard. Genuinely. This team's comfortably sitting 3rd worst without a handful of loser points. The margin is pretty razor sharp at both the top and the bottom of the league, ironically enough.

 

[molon labe]

I have a gut feeling that the Canucks are basically cooked moving forward, and the EP40 situation's beyond repair after they publicly aired out all the shit between he and JT Miller. Miller's gone, Boeser might be gone, they may be forced to trade EP40, and once all those things happen, you have to imagine Hughes is gonna be like "Why the f*** am I still here after they traded everyone worth a damn, when I could leave to go play with my brothers in NJ?"

He might already feel that at the next contract. But - they are about to do the same thing that happened last time - with JT...wait around til the trade protections kick in THEN float around trade ideas. Miller was on the trade block before the NMC (I used to push that we get him). Feel the same might happen with E.Pettersson based on all the recent stuff.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Normally I'd agree with you.

However, with the rapidly escalating cap ceiling, I think you may see a push from players (and especially agents) to test the market to see just how much they can make.

I’d love to be wrong tbh, but really I don’t think we’ll be able to compete with other destinations. Where it could possibly help would be teams looking to clear cap space for a UFA move and so they unload players on us.

 

[Pancakes]

Yeah, I think Dubas can f*** up the tank. Stop the team from being bad? No. f*** things up by reducing the chances this team's a *genuine* basement dweller? Absolutely.

He already has by keeping Rakell, and reinforcing this team's idiotic adoration for Bryan f***ing Rust of all players. Not only did he pass up on potentially valuable assets at the TDL (32 year old having a career year and shooting like 6% above his normal rate, in an insane seller's market) for a team with a mediocre prospect pool, but Rakell's removal makes this team that much worse, and every little bit helps in that regard. Genuinely. This team's comfortably sitting 3rd worst without a handful of loser points. The margin is pretty razor sharp at both the top and the bottom of the league, ironically enough.

We're already tracking to finish like 5th or 6th overall. How much worse do you think we could have gotten? We were never going to pass San Jose or Chicago this year.

The thing is though both of those teams are poised to improve next year as they have way better prospect pools than we do.

The Pens should only get worse as Crosby and Malkin get older. There's a real case to be made that we might be the worst team next year. We're among the oldest. We have a shitty system. We have a coach way past his expiration date. We have horrific goaltending. Dubas isn't going to address a single one of those points either. Not in one off season.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I think snagging Jason Robertson with an offersheet is a possibility with the Stars signing Rantanen. UFAs I agree, but I think the RFA talk there could be interesting.

Yeah I think that or teams clearing room to go after big names are the only ways we take advantage of the free agency period.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Faber whipping the glove at Sid after the ENG

 

[SEALBound]

We don't have our 2025 2nd, but we have our 2026 2nd, which would be what the offer sheet would take. I agree though, Bourque seems like a cap squeeze there.

Oh damn, you are 100% correct! That is just a pure oversight by me! Thanks for pointing that out!

View attachment 991020

Yes, I know they have that. I was talking more all teams in a spreadsheet/table form like CF had on their front page. That allowed you to see all teams and like 3 or so years into the future all at once. Having to click through each team is tedious.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

That's hilarious. Per Brind'Amour, Rantanen apparently told the Canes "There's four teams I'll play for (I guess meaning sign with?), but you're not one of them." Jeez. Then he goes on to say Jake would've stayed but wasn't offered a deal until it was too late and Jake had made up his mind to go to FA, I guess? Bit muddled there from Muscles McDeviated Septum.

He might already feel that at the next contract. But - they are about to do the same thing that happened last time - with JT...wait around til the trade protections kick in THEN float around trade ideas. Miller was on the trade block before the NMC (I used to push that we get him). Feel the same might happen with E.Pettersson based on all the recent stuff.

EP40's been an unmitigated shitshow on the ice and the circus off the ice hasn't helped, I'm sure. I think he's hurt tbh, he was a total ghost for Sweden in the 4 Nations as well where you'd think he would be able to just play some hockey, but he's absolutely rattled mentally with all the stuff that's been going on this season with Miller, and with the team airing all the grievances publicly, etc.

Wouldn't be surprised if he made it known to the team in the off season that he'd like to be dealt sooner than later. Dunno if Vancouver deals him immediately, but I gotta imagine the writing's on the wall there. He seems unhappy in that org, and that org/fanbase seems unhappy with him. Still has three years left after this one, but we'll see how that goes. Like you said, $11.5M AAV for a 1C/2C looks a lot more palatable moving forward with the cap jumping like $25M over the next three summers. But I think he's gotta settle himself down and start playing like he's capable of again so the team can find a landing spot for him.

We're already tracking to finish like 5th or 6th overall. How much worse do you think we could have gotten? We were never going to pass San Jose or Chicago this year.

The thing is though both of those teams are poised to improve next year as they have way better prospect pools than we do.

The Pens should only get worse as Crosby and Malkin get older. There's a real case to be made that we might be the worst team next year. We're among the oldest. We have a shitty system. We have a coach way past his expiration date. We have horrific goaltending. Dubas isn't going to address a single one of those points either. Not in one off season.

I think this team could pretty easily slide into 3rd worst if they'd have dealt Rakell on top of their other deadline moves. Yeah, they're not catching SJ or Chicago, but honestly I don't really give a shit about 1st overall this season. It's next year and the year after that're the important drafts. And unless Rakell's dealt this summer, he's gonna be back next season and likely adding a handful of points to the standings, even if he regresses a bit production-wise.

But this team's tied for the second fewest regulation wins in the league. Loser points are killing their chance at a guy like Hagens or Misa or Martone.

And I hope you're right. I hope Sid declines dramatically, I hope we get the 40pt Rakell again, I hope EK is dealt this summer, and I hope this team plummets to the bottom of the league. McKenna's a winger, but he's dynamic enough and has the potential to be a genuine superstar player in this league for decades.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

lol good for Rantanen. Can't blame him for not wanting to play for the Carolina Narcolepsies.