Salary Cap: 24 25 Salary Thread Crosbicles Volume Mmxxvii Retool over Time to Go for A Cup in 2026

[Gurglesons]

Well you have to give a consideration to the fact that the player may not want to play in their respective cities/organizations…supposedly the case that Peterka doesn’t want to resign in BUF. So he might sign an offer sheet and BUF might accept the draft picks, if they can’t trade him for another player

I think the other consideration here is just because a team has "cap" doesn't mean they want to overpay a player.

Edmonton had the cap to sign both Broberg and Holloway or just one of them.

They decided they weren't worth those amounts for some reason.

 

[Gurglesons]

Exactly. He's garbage.

But then look at the free agent defensemen which Dubas has brought in the past 2 offseasons.

Dubas probably thinks K'Andre Miller is fantastic even though he's garbage, but one big expensive underachieving defenseman on our team is enough (I'm referring to Graves here, so calm down EK-lovers).

I dunno, I'd love if we got K'Andre Miller for 4 mil x 2 for a 2nd.

He's exactly the type of risk Dubas should be taking.

 

[wej20]

Exactly. He's garbage.

But then look at the free agent defensemen which Dubas has brought in the past 2 offseasons.

Dubas probably thinks K'Andre Miller is fantastic even though he's garbage, but one big expensive underachieving defenseman on our team is enough (I'm referring to Graves here, so calm down EK-lovers).

When he first came on the scene I thought he'd develop into a huge two-way minute muching top pairing guy.

 

[Coastal Kev]

Dubas really needs to focus on getting the Pens roster to being an outlier in one skillset. Think back to 16/17, the Pens caught the league flatfooted with speed mixed with talent. Looking at the next several years upcoming, it would be foolhardy by Dubas focusing all on talent acquisition. You're not going to out talent the currently talented rosters.

I would target youthful speed and aggression (including size), especially for their bottom 6 and defenders. I don't follow the rest of the league these days to offer up names as suggestions, but Dubas should have plenty too choose from.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Chris Johnston and Michael Russo are about as good as it gets as national reporters who don't sensationalize. Russo was great for years covering the Wild. CJ is very tapped in and speculates less than someone like Friedman, who is probably the leading news breaker among national reporters.

CJ and Russo just published a joint story on The Athletic about the likelihood of offer sheets to RFAs this summer.

The key couple of paragraphs:

At the recent GM meetings, The Athletic canvassed GMs on whether they think offer sheets will be more common. There wasn’t a lot of certainty because while, yes, the rising cap will mean more money in the system for teams to sign players to offer sheets, it could also mean teams are in a better position to match.

“I think the majority, if not all, of the teams have an average of $15 million to play with for unrestricted free agents and whatever they’re going to do this summer,” Fitzgerald said. “So I don’t know how teams will get caught with their pants down. If they want to match, they should be able to match.”

“I don’t think the cap affects it,” Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill said. “It might even make it harder. Since the cap’s going up, are you gonna overpay so much to get a guy when you know that it’s probably gonna get matched and you’re just affecting the lay of the land?

“So I don’t know. They’re all situational-based. But it’s a tool that we can all use.”

‘The summer of offer sheets’: NHL execs and agents on why a boom could be coming this offseason

With a rising cap, so-so UFA class and the Blues' recent success poaching RFAs, the conditions for offer-sheet mania are in place.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Gurglesons]

Chris Johnston and Michael Russo are about as good as it gets as national reporters who don't sensationalize. Russo was great for years covering the Wild. CJ is very tapped in and speculates less than someone like Friedman, who is probably the leading news breaker among national reporters.

CJ and Russo just published a joint story on The Athletic about the likelihood of offer sheets to RFAs this summer.

The key couple of paragraphs:

‘The summer of offer sheets’: NHL execs and agents on why a boom could be coming this offseason

With a rising cap, so-so UFA class and the Blues' recent success poaching RFAs, the conditions for offer-sheet mania are in place.

www.nytimes.com

You work in marketing analytics DP?

This story titled "‘The summer of offer sheets’: NHL execs and agents on why a boom could be coming this offseason" is actually about how offer sheets aren't happening because of this one quote I sniped.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

You work in marketing analytics DP?

This story titled "‘The summer of offer sheets’: NHL execs and agents on why a boom could be coming this offseason" is actually about how offer sheets aren't happening because of this one quote I sniped.

The headline doesn't match the more balanced and nuanced tone of the article.

The consensus is there is no consensus. While the environment is the best it's been for offer sheets to happen, the strongest voice in the article arguing that there will be a spike is Allan Walsh, who has a vested interest in players getting lucrative contract offers. Meanwhile, GMs like Tom Fitzgerald, Jim Nill, and Doug Armstrong are more measured, saying that it's definitely a tool that's increased in viability, but there's no guarantee that there will be a huge boom.

 

[Nakawick]

Take this with a grain of salt, but I get the impression that the rangers would let the pick convey this year unless they’re picking in the top-10, maybe even slightly higher than 10th

If that is the case, say the Pens get picks 6 and 13. Would you use both to draft or would you consider moving one for a young player who can play now?

 

[OtherThingsILike]

Something that could be worth exploring is trading Graves for a bad forward contract,

I've been hoping for a Graves-for-Engvall swap, but I don't know if the Islanders would do that. Engvall's buyout isn't that bad.

 

[HandshakeLine]

maybe we could simply just not sign wretched UFA’s in the first place?

 

[HandshakeLine]

I know we were forced into it and all but

 

[HandshakeLine]

Oh wait. We weren’t forced into making bad decisions by dastardly agents of the shogun?

 

[AuroraBorealis]

maybe we could simply just not sign wretched UFA’s in the first place?

No one here considered Graves a wretched UFA at the time of the signing, coming off a very strong season.
He was mostly seen as someone who can be a stabilizing force for one of our offensive D-men, that is overpaid by like 500k at most.
And people took issue with the term too. Rightly so, given the window was already closed before we signed him.

But not one person here said he'd become a 3rd pairing D-man / healthy scratch. At least not that I can recall.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Well good to know none of us dumbasses clocked it for being stupid, that makes it alright then:

 

[HandshakeLine]

After all, that’s why we pay Dubas and Sullivan the big bucks, to be dumber than the average HF poster.

 

[IcedCapp]

If that is the case, say the Pens get picks 6 and 13. Would you use both to draft or would you consider moving one for a young player who can play now?

That’s a great question. A couple of weeks ago I said I’d either use both for picks or use both for trade. I don’t know now. Could we use 6 and 13 to get up into the top-4?

Dubas is going to have a lot of options.

 

[eXile3]

After the success the Blues had I have to imagine there will be a good amount of offer sheets. If Dubas is planning on using it to get more young players he’s going to be disappointed.

 

[chethejet]

Three things from here, Draft, trades and restocking the farm. Dubas is doing all three to give the franchise a very good future. Now what happens is up to the selections, Rangers finish and Dubas ability to get outstanding value for his trades. Karlsson, Rust, Rakell are all up for discussions. Graves has been suspect but I do see him playing better here. I am all for moving off from Sullivan for reasons of he is no longer the coach to usher in this new era. He is better served with a roster that is experienced and needs a steady presence.

 

[Andy99]

No one here considered Graves a wretched UFA at the time of the signing, coming off a very strong season.
He was mostly seen as someone who can be a stabilizing force for one of our offensive D-men, that is overpaid by like 500k at most.
And people took issue with the term too. Rightly so, given the window was already closed before we signed him.

But not one person here said he'd become a 3rd pairing D-man / healthy scratch. At least not that I can recall.

Anyone who watches Graves could tell you that he’s a more offensively inclined player who thrived more playing with defensive D men, and that we didn’t have any strong defensive RD to play with him lol

 

[Jared Grayden]

Anyone who watches Graves could tell you that he’s a more offensively inclined player who thrived more playing with defensive D men, and that we didn’t have any strong defensive RD to play with him lol

He is a way worse skater and passer than I thought he was. And he's not good defensively. He doesn't do anything well other than be tall.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Graves was never as bad before signing here as what he has been here, but you see that happening all of the time when you sign late 20s UFAs to huge deals. If Dubas was given the directive of "try again next year and then rebuild if things go poorly", I'm not exactly sure how giving Graves a 6 year deal makes any sense with that.

Honestly they should have just kept Dumoulin, even with his bad last season with the Penguins. Especially in the context of them being interested in trading for Karlsson, Dumoulin would have been a substantially better fit that would have required a significantly smaller contract. I would actually really welcome back re-signing Dumoulin this off-season if he'd be interested in coming back.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I wouldn’t want to resign Dumolin under any circumstances but it is the GMs job to find the best fits and to think about these things, not give out a disastrous 6 year contract that needs a buy out every few years.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I wouldn’t want to resign Dumolin under any circumstances but it is the GMs job to find the best fits and to think about these things, not give out a disastrous 6 year contract that needs a buy out every few years.

Dumoulin has actually been good again since being demoted to a more suitable role:



The Penguins just played him like a top pair guy when he was a fringe #4/5, and his results predictably tanked. Bring him in to be a partner with Timmins on the 3rd pair and that should be a very good 3rd pair.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Great show about offer sheets. Basically you have to wait till the other team sign their other guys and can't afford an overpayment for their RFAs.

For example, if TOR signs Marner and JT before Knies he might be able to be poached. If you offer before both those other guys are signed, they'd have room to match.

 

[HandshakeLine]

The Penguins just played him like a top pair guy when he was a fringe #4/5, and his results predictably tanked. Bring him in to be a partner with Timmins on the 3rd pair and that should be a very good 3rd pair.

I mean, this exactly is why I don't think you can discuss the future of the team or the rebuild/pivot without discussing the coaching. It's the elephant in the room.

If we keep making these kinds of signings every few off seasons and nothing changes, then we're never really going to dig ourselves out of this hole.