Salary Cap: Dr Dubas Cap Thread: He wants the Nurse

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Idk about you, but I want my fish fry to have fish just absolutely melted by AI datacenters.

PRE-MELTED FISH CONTAINING HEALTHY AMOUNTS OF HEAVY METALLOIDS IS THE NEXT BIG THING PEOPLE

 

[thevelvetfog]

But maybe I’m wrong and he comes for cheap in a trade and will sign for 9.5 x 7. In that case sure.

Is he even that great? I'm not seeing it. And he's on the left side, so less valuable there.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Is he even that great? I'm not seeing it. And he's on the left side, so less valuable there.

He had a very notable improvement last year, both offensively and defensively. To the point where it was serviceable top-4 play in both aspects.
But it's up to GM's to decide if it's a sign of things to come or if he'll regress back to what we saw in years prior.
At 25 it's really hard to tell with defensemen.

But yes, his inflated minutes make his statline look better than he really was imo. Easy to get deceived.

One of his valuable aspects is durability. 82 games in both the last 2 seasons. 73 games the year before that. He can eat big minutes all year and stay available.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

A trade that makes sense for both sides could be:


To Pittsburgh

• Darnell Nurse

To Edmonton

• Ryan Graves
• 2027 2nd-round pick
• Mid-level prospect (someone from Pittsburgh's B-tier prospect group)

You're so old you can't even do ChatGPT right?!?!

This is horrendous.

The Penguins should not be giving up anything for Darnell Nurse. Period. Full stop.

 

[SEALBound]

You guys need to train your GPTs a little better:

To Pittsburgh
Darnell Nurse
Edmonton retains 25% of Nurse's salary ($2.31M)

To Edmonton
Ryan Graves
2027 4th-round pick

Nurse's cap hit drops to about $6.9M.
Pittsburgh gets a legitimate top-4 defenseman at a far more palatable number.
Edmonton achieves its goal of moving on from the player but receives very little in return because the retention creates most of the value.

Kyle Dubas has historically been willing to take on imperfect contracts when he sees upside, but paying full price for Nurse at $9.25M is difficult to justify. If Edmonton refuses retention, Pittsburgh will likely insist on Graves plus assets. If Edmonton retains salary, the return can be much lighter.

If I were Dubas, my opening offer would actually be:

Nurse (no retention) for Graves + 2027 3rd-round pick.

 

[Empoleon8771]

You guys are all trying to push all marine ecosystems into extinction by asking chatGPT these questions

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I JUST NEED TO FEED MY PHONE SIX OR SEVEN MORE RACOON PENISES AND I SWEAR IMMA CURE CANCER

 

[Empoleon8771]

I JUST NEED TO FEED MY PHONE SIX OR SEVEN MORE RACOON PENISES AND I SWEAR IMMA CURE CANCER

I heard Anthrocon is in a couple of weeks so you'll probably find that there.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Graves has a No Trade Clause.

Though I suspect he'd waive it so he's not playing in the AHL.

Are we sure the "T" doesn't stand for No Talent Clause?

 

[TojoP]

Adding Nurse and EP40 is really an attempt to tank the team without outright admitting you're trying to tank the team right? These aren't really players people say they think will help the team?

 

[TojoP]

Would you do like Nurse and a 2nd for Girard and Brazeau? Enough moving pieces in that both sides can claim they won.

No. I feel you could get a 2nd if you retained on Girard and a 3rd for Brazeau and not have to get Nurse.

 

[SEALBound]

Not sure if it was mentioned here yet, but Nurse has a $6mil signing bonus this year. Be interesting to see how that affects the negotiations, if it does at all.

 

[SEALBound]

Adding Nurse and EP40 is really an attempt to tank the team without outright admitting you're trying to tank the team right? These aren't really players people say they think will help the team?

I mean, these aren't "bad" players. They are just overpaid and likely playing too elevated of a role. Nurse would be a fine #4 and EP40 would be a fine 2C.

 

[DessertPenguin]

Not sure if it was mentioned here yet, but Nurse has a $6mil signing bonus this year. Be interesting to see how that affects the negotiations, if it does at all.

Based on how it is structured, I don't see it making any difference. Unlike most players that get it in a lump sum.

Nurse signs with Oilers, and actually does them a solid

Complain all you want about Darnell Nurse's eight-year, $74 million contract extension with Edmonton, but given the market, he probably could have demanded even more

kencampbell.substack.com

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

I also think Dubas would absolutely prefer to also clear Graves out of the organization because of the ice time he's taking away by being in WBS from younger guys who could play in his spot. They have Pickering and Livanavage on LD along with Brunicke, Harding and Pietila on RD who are ideally playing every day, whether it be in the NHL or AHL. They also have Jones and Kemp already as AHL vets in the AHL, along with potentially St. Ivany if they decide to go with 7 D rather than 8 D. Even with Pieniniemi gone, they need to trim out further fat from the AHL defense.

Between both the financial aspect and the roster aspect, it makes a lot more sense to me to do Graves and a 2nd for Nurse than it does to do nothing for Nurse and a 2nd. If it's such a big issue to lose that 2nd rounder in that swap, just do St. Ivany to Dallas for Lyubushkin and a 2nd. They'd probably be very willing to pay to get out of his deal.

ugh, you could not be more wrong if you tried.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

No, I'm arguing what makes sense for the team to do. What I'd rather do? Not trade for Nurse period. It doesn't particularly matter what fans want, because if fans had a choice, the Penguins wouldn't be trading for Nurse either. He doesn't fit with any of their defensemen and the Penguins likely won't be getting compensated much for taking him on.

It what makes the most sense from an organizational and ownership POV. The organization isn't going to add a $37 million commitment with a pretty sketchy contract when they already have an $11 million commitment with a horrid contract. There's just no way they trade for Nurse without including Graves in the deal. Because they wouldn't add Nurse without including Graves, they're adding a bit because Nurse is more valuable than Graves.

Do you know what the cap floor is? I'm honestly asking because the way you're posting makes me think you're completely unaware that the Pens have to spend a minimum amount of cap space every year.

Nurse's cap hit is a huge advantage for the Pens, especially if Dubi can trade Rust/Rak at the draft.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Based on how it is structured, I don't see it making any difference. Unlike most players that get it in a lump sum.

Nurse signs with Oilers, and actually does them a solid

Complain all you want about Darnell Nurse's eight-year, $74 million contract extension with Edmonton, but given the market, he probably could have demanded even more

kencampbell.substack.com

"In the seasons he receives a signing bonus, Nurse will receive $2 million on Nov. 15, $2 million on Dec. 15 and $2 million on Feb. 15."

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

You guys need to train your GPTs a little better:

You do know that it's learning from their HF posts, right? Those deals make total sense when you realize what their ChatGPTs have been consuming.

 

[Peat]

Adding Nurse and EP40 is really an attempt to tank the team without outright admitting you're trying to tank the team right? These aren't really players people say they think will help the team?

I can't say I'm an expert on either guy but it's not beyond the bounds of imagination that both guys could help.

Pettersson's been a ppg plus, all situations 1C within the last three years. Nurse has been a 20 minutes a night, all situations, okay hold the line okay production guy. Both of those guys would really help.

They've not been those guys last season (or last two in Pettersson's case) but there's plenty of examples of guys who really cratered for a season or two, lost the passion, and came roaring back in the right place with the right support.

Why can't these two be the next bounceback guys? What says these guys are so awful, so beyond redemption, they'd not only not be bounceback guys, but also tank the team?

 

[Pancakes]

I dunno what people are smoking when they say Nurse sucks. He's overpaid, yes. He's a capable NHL defenseman though. Hardly terrible.

People acting like the Pens would be taking on Jack Johnson are super off base.

 

[Koivunsons]

I can't say I'm an expert on either guy but it's not beyond the bounds of imagination that both guys could help.

Pettersson's been a ppg plus, all situations 1C within the last three years. Nurse has been a 20 minutes a night, all situations, okay hold the line okay production guy. Both of those guys would really help.

They've not been those guys last season (or last two in Pettersson's case) but there's plenty of examples of guys who really cratered for a season or two, lost the passion, and came roaring back in the right place with the right support.

Why can't these two be the next bounceback guys? What says these guys are so awful, so beyond redemption, they'd not only not be bounceback guys, but also tank the team?

The big thing with both is Nurse is being asked to be a # 4 who basically just does what he did last year here and EP40 is likely asked to be our 5th - 7th most used forward.

 

[PGHPSU99]

I dunno what people are smoking when they say Nurse sucks. He's overpaid, yes. He's a capable NHL defenseman though. Hardly terrible.

People acting like the Pens would be taking on Jack Johnson are super off base.

Yeah what are they smoking?

Nurse is a solid 2nd pairing guy who they are betting on playing better in our system. He’s here for 2 years retain half then dump him.

EP40 is already an upgrade on Novak. With a chance to also rehab him into a player he once was.

Why are people suggesting just letting the team spend 15 million on nothing? Thats literally an insane take.

Like worst case scenario is we have 4 years of 15 million for the worst players ever. Theres a cliff coming soon why not take a chance on these lottery tickets. We have nothing to lose.

 

[SEALBound]

Based on how it is structured, I don't see it making any difference. Unlike most players that get it in a lump sum.

Nurse signs with Oilers, and actually does them a solid

Complain all you want about Darnell Nurse's eight-year, $74 million contract extension with Edmonton, but given the market, he probably could have demanded even more

kencampbell.substack.com

Good catch!

 

[Andy99]

I dunno what people are smoking when they say Nurse sucks. He's overpaid, yes. He's a capable NHL defenseman though. Hardly terrible.

People acting like the Pens would be taking on Jack Johnson are super off base.

Seriously though, his analytics do show the offense drying up and he is getting caved in defensively…he’s a NHL D man but honestly, Wotherspoon was better last season…we should not be going after 31 year olds on the downside of their careers anyway…we should be after Mintyukov and Spence lol

We will be at the cap floor signing Silovs and China…we don’t need him to reach the cap floor this season…why are we trading for him?

 

[Koivunsons]

Seriously though, his analytics do show the offense drying up and he is getting caved in defensively…he’s a NHL D man but honestly, Wotherspoon was better last season…we should not be going after 31 year olds on the downside of their careers anyway…we should be after Mintyukov and Spence lol

We will be at the cap floor signing Silovs and China…we don’t need him to reach the cap floor this season…why are we trading for him?

Now you’re resorting to some random Reddit post?