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

[SEALBound]

Bedard's issue is that he's 5'10, 180lbs soaking wet. He's not a physically imposing player and the Hawks roster in general kinda sucks. But he's putting up okay numbers. If you compare him to McDavid, McDavid is 6'1, 195lbs with lightning speed.

McKenna is right in the middle at 6'0ft. Only 165lbs but that will change in the coming years.

I wouldn't expect McDavid, but I would expect as much or more than Bedard, considering he is outscoring both at similar ages.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

You guys are OK with letting Kyle clean up his own messes?

Do you have a better option? If we fire Dubas, Mike Sullivan gets to hand-pick his next GM...or promote himself.

So it really does not matter what the prospect pool looks like, or how many draft picks we have, or whether or not we win a lottery in the next 2-3 years as long as Mike Sullivan runs the show.

So I hope our prospects like Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Because surely there is a Vinnie Hinostroza or 5 out there that will be coming on board to "help" them this summer. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

 

[IcedCapp]

You guys are OK with letting Kyle clean up his own messes?

The only mess I can’t forgive him for is leaving maple leafs fans alive (figuratively, of course. Definitely glad you guys continue to steal oxygen) before he left, now you cockroaches are infesting our house, too.

 

[Nakawick]

Bedard's issue is that he's 5'10, 180lbs soaking wet. He's not a physically imposing player and the Hawks roster in general kinda sucks. But he's putting up okay numbers. If you compare him to McDavid, McDavid is 6'1, 195lbs with lightning speed.

McKenna is right in the middle at 6'0ft. Only 165lbs but that will change in the coming years.

I wouldn't expect McDavid, but I would expect as much or more than Bedard, considering he is outscoring both at similar ages.

Mckenna also just turned 17, so he may have another inch or two in height.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

I would only take that course if there was a realistic shot at winning the Cup while Sid was still here. In my view there isn't, so I'm against sacrificing futures, hoping for a Cinderella run. I believe in making high percentage management decisions, especially when the future of the team is at stake.
I don't consider him elite anymore either. Don't like handing out that term easily.
He's likely to finish with 90 points or less. Mac is gonna get over 120. He's currently 28th in P/PG, and he's not gonna get 40 goals. Plus Sid's defensive game is declining.

He's had pretty excellent conditions to produce as well. Rust and Rakell have been super, and he's been with them the majority of the year. He plays with EK a lot, gets 68% O-zone starts, and is part of a 9th ranked PP. Plus he gets put out there in all ENG situations.

Sid's obviously doing brilliantly for his age and all that, but with expected regression next year and so little around him set up right now, this project would just take longer than he has left imo.
There's all these terrible contracts weighing the team down too.

There are no guarantees, but few athletes take better care of themselves than Sid, and Ovy's performing as well as he has in the last decade despite being 2 years older than Sid. I wouldn't bet against him maintaining something like his current level of play for a few years.

Crosby didn't just hold his own, he stood out playing with and against the best the league had to offer at the Four Nations. Guys like Panarin, Matthews, and Rantanen are putting up more points in the NHL, but would you say they're elite and Sid isn't? I wouldn't. I have no doubt that if we put a solid team around him over the next couple years, he'd pull his weight.

The surrounding contracts are the biggest thing, but we'll see how Dubas works here. Over the summer many thought he'd have to add to move Rakell, and now we're talking about a 1st and a good young player coming back.

McKenna or one of the other top picks can give the team a decade+ of excellence. They can incentivize quality free agents to come here, and prevent players from putting us down on their no-trade lists.
It just makes a lot more sense to me to try and get one of them and to start building a new, prolonged window.
I just don't see this team taking out multiple top teams in best of sevens in the next 2-3 years, and I'm against wasting more of this organization's assets and time. There's already been so much of that since 2019.

I dunno. Who was the last highly drafted winger to do that? Pittsburgh also had prime Crosby and still weren't anywhere close to a top UFA destination.

Remember the buzz in 07 around CPZ leading the WHL and falling us in the 3rd round? Good times.

Between CPZ, Caputi, Jeffrey, and Veilleux, we were primed to take over the league.

Then CPZ's girlfriend Yoko'd the band and everything fell apart.

 

[eXile3]

Bedard's issue is that he's 5'10, 180lbs soaking wet. He's not a physically imposing player and the Hawks roster in general kinda sucks. But he's putting up okay numbers. If you compare him to McDavid, McDavid is 6'1, 195lbs with lightning speed.

McKenna is right in the middle at 6'0ft. Only 165lbs but that will change in the coming years.

I wouldn't expect McDavid, but I would expect as much or more than Bedard, considering he is outscoring both at similar ages.

180 lbs at 5’10’’ isn’t bad at all. I was around 185 at 6’ when I graduated high school and had a good amount of muscle on my frame.

I think it has more to do with the Hawks being garbage and people having unrealistic expectations for him.

Crosby with 120 points and an Art Ross his second year in the league. Ridiculous.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Bedard's issue is that he's 5'10, 180lbs soaking wet. He's not a physically imposing player and the Hawks roster in general kinda sucks. But he's putting up okay numbers. If you compare him to McDavid, McDavid is 6'1, 195lbs with lightning speed.

McKenna is right in the middle at 6'0ft. Only 165lbs but that will change in the coming years.

I wouldn't expect McDavid, but I would expect as much or more than Bedard, considering he is outscoring both at similar ages.

I'm looking at his linemate combos and their time together.
He's had one of the worst arrangements for a 1C in the league, if not the worst.
Hall is legit washed. Bertuzzi is a 2nd line level player on a bad team, usually.
Nazar is probably something like that at this point in his young career too, if not a productive 3rd liner.
He had Foligno a lot. Maybe a 35 point player at this point, with big ice time.
Also a lot of Kurashev, who has 126 points in 309 games, averaging 15 mins a night. That's 33 points per 82 games.

Nah, this is a really tough situation. Sometimes when people say stars have bad teams, they still have good linemates and can thrive in their own bubble. But he has very little.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

There are no guarantees, but few athletes take better care of themselves than Sid, and Ovy's performing as well as he has in the last decade despite being 2 years older than Sid. I wouldn't bet against him maintaining something like his current level of play for a few years.

The math just looks bad for a few years being enough. No high level prospects are ready to come and help.
I don't doubt his conditioning, I just doubt the timeline of all this. There's too much work to do in too little time. Too many net negative contracts they need to ship out or allow to expire.
Malkin's regressing. Letang is falling super hard. EK doesn't defend. And they're all staying most likely.

Crosby didn't just hold his own, he stood out playing with and against the best the league had to offer at the Four Nations. Guys like Panarin, Matthews, and Rantanen are putting up more points in the NHL, but would you say they're elite and Sid isn't? I wouldn't. I have no doubt that if we put a solid team around him over the next couple years, he'd pull his weight.

In the 1st game that was certainly true. Not the other 3. Pretty quiet for the rest.
But I don't really like using small samples anyway. We know where Sid's at. We watch him 82 games a year.
It's a very high level still, but if you need him to be the best player on your team when he's 40+, you're not gonna win a Cup imo.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Pretty boring.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

The math just looks bad for a few years being enough. No high level prospects are ready to come and help.
I don't doubt his conditioning, I just doubt the timeline of all this. There's too much work to do in too little time. Too many net negative contracts they need to ship out or allow to expire.
Malkin's regressing. Letang is falling super hard. EK doesn't defend. And they're all staying most likely.

They're going to have to thread a needle time-wise. We're targeting the season after next so Geno's not really an issue because he's either retiring or re-signing for cheap.

We may well have moved one of those other contracts by this summer, let alone the summer after. But again, we'll see.

Also...we may add a high level prospect this draft.

In the 1st game that was certainly true. Not the other 3. Pretty quiet for the rest.
But I don't really like using small samples anyway. We know where Sid's at. We watch him 82 games a year.
It's a very high level still, but if you need him to be the best player on your team when he's 40+, you're not gonna win a Cup imo.

He was far and away the best player in the first game, but still doing good things after that - no less consistent than anyone else on that roster, and more consistent than a lot of other players who would be considered "elite" based on their NHL production.

If he's still playing at this level in '26-'27, I don't see why he couldn't be a huge contributor to a Cup team. But he'll need some help - maybe Dubas will be able to leverage assets and cap space for another gamebreaker.

 

[PamBallam]

Considering 37 year old Sid is currently 16th in scoring and keeping a decent pace with everyone except a prime Mackinnon, Draisaitl, Kuch and Mcdavid... calling him anything other than elite is an insult. Put some respect on Crosby's name. That said, he's not as elite as he once was, and certainly needs way more help than he used to lol

 

[SEALBound]

Considering 37 year old Sid is currently 16th in scoring and keeping a decent pace with everyone except a prime Mackinnon, Draisaitl, Kuch and Mcdavid... calling him anything other than elite is an insult. Put some respect on Crosby's name. That said, he's not as elite as he once was, and certainly needs way more help than he used to lol

Being PPG for 7 straight years after 30 is pretty elite. 20 straight years of PPG is 100% elite.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Considering 37 year old Sid is currently 16th in scoring and keeping a decent pace with everyone except a prime Mackinnon, Draisaitl, Kuch and Mcdavid... calling him anything other than elite is an insult. Put some respect on Crosby's name. That said, he's not as elite as he once was, and certainly needs way more help than he used to lol

He's 24th in P/PG, won't score 40 goals and has declining defense.
If he's still elite this season then so is Bratt, Scheifele, Hagel, Necas, Keller...

That's the problem with using that word too easily. It loses its power.

 

[PamBallam]

He's 24th in P/PG, won't score 40 goals and has declining defense.
If he's still elite this season then so is Bratt, Scheifele, Hagel, Necas, Keller...

That's the problem with using that word too easily. It loses its power.

Context is important. Four of the five players you listed are 26. If Sid were 26 and putting up 70 points in 65 games with scoring as high as it is, then no, it wouldn't be elite. But he's not 26, he's 37. For those guys you listed, this will probably be the best season of their careers. For Sid, it'll just be another 80+ point season in a legendary career. I agree that "elite" and "generational" are thrown around way too freely. But Sid is not the example I'd pick to prove your point.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

If there is a silver lining to this current two-game winning streak (which might easily become a three-gamer, the Blues are beatable), it is the play of Jarry. If he keeps this up, I think there COULD be a deal this summer with a desperate team like maybe Edmonton. I could see Utah potentially wanting a tandem mate for Vejmelka too, if they deem Ingram not reliable enough anymore. And who knows, maybe more candidates emerge. In any case, whether you like him or loathe him, Jarry playing good hockey down the stretch helps the franchise.

Oh, and NYR losing games is always a silver lining as well.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Dubas had his occasional GM show on the Penguins radio network today.

• Complimented Jarry for the way he's responded since coming back from the AHL. Said the big challenge for Jarry is building upon it and finding consistency.
• Reiterated his first summer was the one, final shot of trying to inject the Pens life to be contenders. Since then it's been a pivot to building things back up. Said he expected to have to do that, but it's been an adjustment for people who have been in the organization a while to no longer be buyers.
• Praised Beauvillier for his approach as a Penguin and said there was a lot of interest in him leading up to the Washington trade.
• Glass had milder interest as an RFA, but the demand for centers had interest in him pick up for Jersey on deadline day. Dubas said it was a chance to continue to accumulate assets.
• Said once again that he had targeted for Novak for a while, even back to his Toronto days. Spoke with Trotz about him last year. Likes Novak's versatility and that he's "younger than what we have" on a decent contract
• Schenn was an addition to offset the loss of Bunting's competitiveness, but the demand for him was high so it was in the Pens' best interest to flip him. Dubas had him in Toronto, had an open conversation for him, and Schenn expressed a desire to be with a contender if possible
• Long history with Timmins. Sees a lot of opportunity on the right side. Letang and Karlsson are in their mid-30s, but then it's wide open with St. Ivany, Brunicke, Pietala, and others. Thinks Timmins could hit his stride with the ice time available
• Dewar brings competitiveness and high work ethic, so he'll get a run of play and chance to prove himself.
• A lot of players are essentially in a "show us what you've got mode" through the rest of the season.
• Of the players who weren't moved, Rakell had most interest. Said the combination of his production and affordable contract makes him attractive to keep unless a team really wows you with an offer. Seemed to suggest that he'll continue to listen in the summer, and expects more interest in the summer, but they really value him.
• Shea is a known quantity and is so even-keeled that it's easy to plug and play him. Knows he'll accept any role they need, which will is important as they try to bring in young players and give them a shot. So they rewarded him with a short extension.
• Will use draft picks to add talented players in any way possible. They'll draft with a good chunk of them, but they'll use a bunch for trades, even if they're similar trades to the Tommasino trade. The number of picks allows them to be in a lot of various conversations to build the team. Not just this summer but over the next couple of years.
• They're not going to go after guys in their 30s who want long-term deals, but if there are players who come to free agency younger, they'll be interested in a conversation. So guys under 30 would be the ones to watch.
• Dubas brought up the concept of offer sheets and said that's another benefit to the draft capital. If there are players they feel can be a fit as a part of the next contending Penguins team, they'll be in the mix.
• FSG gives them resources to spend to the cap and let's the management team be aggressive.
• Wants players in WBS to form a bond, and that they ideally come up in a wave together rather than cameo appearances. May look at some players who are coming to the end of their entry level deals or are going to be free agents to get a better idea of them. Not worried so much about upsetting the apple cart down there, but more about the best development path.
• "We don't want to just bring players up to give them a test run. We want to do what's right for their development and we'll take a look at that in the coming weeks."

 

[KrisLetAngry]

There's something to that, but I don't think that value exceeds what we get back in trade.
On the flipside, he drags players' defensive analytics/numbers down.
And I think he's also a negative influence for D prospects with his apathy in his own end. Actually it's not healthy for the team mindset in general.

It's likely that they would get a 1st if they tried, at 50%. Only 2 years left on the deal and there's a rising cap. Plus he's healthy, still fast, and playing all the games.
But I agree that it's unlikely that they do the smart thing here.

They're gonna prioritize their weird hyper-rushed re-tool experiment. Dubas is gonna trade picks this summer.

Spencer Knight and a late 1st for Jones 5 more years at 7 million.

Karlsson 2 more years and he is better. He can get similar if not more.

Another reminder on offer sheets, the player would actually want to be in Pittsburgh.

Pay em enough they may not care.

Not a bad idea.. but for Knies to keep the compensation at 1st rd pick + 3rd rd pick it'll need to be between

$4,580,917 - $6,871,374

So let's say Pens sign Knies to a deal that's at a 6.8M AAV are you willing to likely fork over a possible top 10 pick in 2026 for Matthew Knies? Maybe, maybe not.

I think a better choice may be a cap strapped team like Vegas, with Nic Hague. (Vegas has space but has Eichel coming up and has to re-sign Adin Hil as well.

I have no problem giving Hague 6.8M AAV and forking over a 1st for him. He would be the perfect top pairing LHD for PIT. He is 26 and entering his prime

Mavrik Bourque in DAL is another one.

A 4.5m cap hit for him would be one second round pick and I think that's worth it. I don't think Dallas will match that.

2 X 4.5M AAV is something I would do.

I can't risk our 2026 1st. A lower end guy with the 2nd like Bourque does make sense.
Definitely a good target.

Even 1 year at that number.