Salary Cap: Penguins Salary Cap Thread: We suck again summer edition

[AuroraBorealis]

I was pretty happy with Smith at even-strength. 3 goals against in 133 minutes.
He got sheltered minutes like crazy (27% D-zone starts), but he did his job.

This pairing was excellent, and I was sad to see it broken up.

I even liked a lot of his process on the PP. He got smart shots through at good elevations. He change shooting angles and showed good patience. The net-front guys failed him.
He did suck with the zone entries and holding the line at times though. In time he'd improve that imo.

I am more than willing to see him get another chance QB'ing the unit. He'll feel more comfortable with our stars next time.

I don't wanna see him buried in the AHL again. He's better than Chad.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Yeah, I think people kinda get a little crazy when it comes to younger players because this team's been so stale and old for so long. Not every young player is gonna come up through the system and make an impact at this level like Jake, Rust, Murray or even Kuhnhackl did. At the same time, it'd be cool for the FO to leave some spots for guys to fight for in camp/pre-season. Puustinen has an NHL-caliber shot, and might be a nice triggerman in the middle-6. Svejkovsky seems under the radar as well. They'll probably both end up being nothing, but the team's gotta see one way or another at some point.

It's the same situation as Shero keeping the roster packed with shitty vets and Bylsma not playing youth when given the chance. Why? Because that's what pretty much every single GM/coach does in the NHL unless the younger player has the potential to be an exceptional talent and forces the team's hand.

 

[Pens x]

All the media is defending Sully and it is nauseating. Look for years I was more pro Sully than just about anyone here. I get it. I liked him. I still think he's a good coach.

But it feels clear he's reached his expiration date here and unless he actually learns from his mistakes this year and comes out of it better then we're making a mistake keeping him.


I think any gm we get will give him another chance though. So the best we can hope for is he reflects on where things went wrong and does better next year. I'm not optimistic on that front based on what I saw this year.

Do you think Sully honestly feels he wasn’t a good coach this year? Don’t hold you breath that Sully will do any reflecting, and make any significant changes. The narrative will be Hextall held him back, which is partially true, but Sully was equally as idiotic as sleepy last year.

A lot of fans are making some strange rakes today.

 

[Pancakes]

Example of this in 2023?

I'd have to go back a year tbh. Not much I liked this year. I really liked the adjustments he made vs Nyr last year though. They tortured us on the rush during the regular season last year and then in the playoffs Sullivan had our d aggressively gapping in the neutral zone to shut that down. It worked and we controlled play for much if that series. I know we still ended up losing but for once i didn't feel like it fell on coaching.

I don't think most of his issues now are tactical though aside from some things like the pp. My biggest issue with his body of work this year was player deployments and lineup choices. He killed us with that and he didn't need to.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I think it can be both true that Hextall didn't give Sullivan enough youthful options due to cap issues and that Sullivan in general chose vets over youth for far too long. Sullivan eventually grew to trust Doc and Poj a lot more, but it took too long and especially so given how bad Carter etc were for most of the year.

The cap issues were really puzzling because everyone here was screaming about it being a problem from the second training camp started. Add to the fact that we didn’t really try to save any cap at all when we could with players who were not waiver eligible seems to suggest nobody was paying proper attention to it.

 

[Pancakes]

Do you think Sully honestly feels he wasn’t a good coach this year? Don’t hold you breath that Sully will do any reflecting, and make any significant changes. The narrative will be Hextall held him back, which is partially true, but Sully was equally as idiotic as sleepy last year.

I said in my post I'm not optimistic he will change. But it's all I can hope for because he's not getting fired just yet.

 

[Flying Dego]

I'm curious what Zucker will do. I think we resign him for better or worse but he's one of the best wing FA sans Meier who is not available by all accounts.

So Zuck daddy could chase that 6M bag I'd assume but I could see him doing a 5x5 deal here to coincide with the others.

If that upsets some of you then you'll really be cross when Dumo re-ups for 4M for multiple years.

I assume Jarry is the only sacrificial lamb out of the notable FAs

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

Too good and too likely to play well. We need a player that's unlikely to do something and bonus points if they typically miss over half the year.

*Bryan Rust has entered the chat*

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I don't think Zucker's the type to chase money. Especially after seeing E-Rod try and do the same just to end up with egg on his face last summer.

I think Zucker probably comes in at somewhere between $4-5 million. Seems to love it here, is beloved by his teammates and adored by the coach. I don't hate the guy, but I hope like hell he and all the UFAs are allowed to walk. Just let go, man.

 

[McGroarty2]

I know man. I’m just joking on the DOC fan club. It’s a boring day.

I did like what I saw from him, some glimpses of power moves to the net. I think he could be a good 3rd wheel on a third line, but not with Poehling, Carter or Granland.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I'm curious what Zucker will do. I think we resign him for better or worse but he's one of the best wing FA sans Meier who is not available by all accounts.

So Zuck daddy could chase that 6M bag I'd assume but I could see him doing a 5x5 deal here to coincide with the others.

If that upsets some of you then you'll really be cross when Dumo re-ups for 4M for multiple years.

I assume Jarry is the only sacrificial lamb out of the notable FAs

I like that the new GM will have never worked with these guys and won't be ruled by sentiment. For that reason I think Dumo's gone.
Zuck on the other hand had an excellent year and in his last interview sounds like a guy who will bend a little and lower the AAV.

 

[Flying Dego]

*Bryan Rust has entered the chat*

He's high up on my naughty list for unlikable players...what's would his wager entail? Will Rust play like he gives a s***

I like that the new GM will have never worked with these guys and won't be ruled by sentiment. For that reason I think Dumo's gone.
Zuck on the other hand had an excellent year and in his last interview sounds like a guy who will bend a little and lower the AAV.

Here's my thing. If the new GM comes in "decides" with ownership to keep Sully. Dumo is getting resigned.

You think Sully is gonna sign off on letting him walk and being forced to play a tandem of POJ/Smith? All that youth?

I'm just in a sour mood. I want to be wrong.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I think if I had to put it to percentages, I got Jarry at like 90% chance to return, Zucker at like 75%, and Dumo at 50%, which is a good 50% higher than I want.

I don't want any of the three back, tbh. I'd be least aggravated with Zucker, knowing full well as soon as he puts pen to paper with his new deal, he's gonna develop some chronic back injury or something. I think Dumo is gonna be the worst signing of the summer wherever he goes. Jarry's trash, but he's this team's trash, so they'll just default to keeping him. My only real hope for Jarry is that his new deal is like 2-3 years as opposed to 5-6.

 

[wej20]

I know Rust has a NMC but maybe he'd waive for Detroit? Something around him and Kubalik maybe.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I don't think Zucker's the type to chase money. Especially after seeing E-Rod try and do the same just to end up with egg on his face last summer.

I think Zucker probably comes in at somewhere between $4-5 million. Seems to love it here, is beloved by his teammates and adored by the coach. I don't hate the guy, but I hope like hell he and all the UFAs are allowed to walk. Just let go, man.

I think Zucker being re-signed isn't an issue in isolation, but points to the larger issue with this organization where they just keep everyone who is even tangentially part of the core instead of seeing that the "core" (outside of the legacy guys like Sid, Geno and I guess Letang) isn't good enough to get it done.

Re-signing Jarry falls into this category. He's injury prone, inconsistent and unclutch. But they'll probably try to re-sign him because he's part of the core and that's what this team does.

 

[Pens x]

I know Rust has a NMC but maybe he'd waive for Detroit? Something around him and Kubalik maybe.

But why would Detroit want him?

I don’t think you can assume a new GM will sign all of these turds. But it won’t help having has-been sully whispering in the new GM’s ear how badly they need these guys back.

 

[wej20]

But why would Detroit want him?

He had a bad season but over the previous 3 season he was about 70 point pace.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

He's high up on my naughty list for unlikable players...what's would his wager entail? Will Rust play like he gives a s***


Here's my thing. If the new GM comes in "decides" with ownership to keep Sully. Dumo is getting resigned.

You think Sully is gonna sign off on letting him walk and being forced to play a tandem of POJ/Smith? All that youth?

I'm just in a sour mood. I want to be wrong.

You might be right but Sully was here while we dealt many players he liked.
I don't think Dumo leaving is a guarantee that Smith plays either. They may find a top 4 D in free agency or trade. In fact I expect them to.

We know that Sully pushed to get Chychrun, despite the fact that that move would have sealed Dumo's fate next year.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

You might be right but Sully was here while we dealt many players he liked.
I don't think Dumo leaving is a guarantee that Smith plays either. They may find a top 4 D in free agency or trade. In fact I expect them to.

We know that Sully pushed to get Chychrun, despite the fact that that move would have sealed Dumo's fate next year.

I think it would've sealed Smith and POJ's fate, tbh.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You might be right but Sully was here while we dealt many players he liked.
I don't think Dumo leaving is a guarantee that Smith plays either. They may find a top 4 D in free agency or trade. In fact I expect them to.

We know that Sully pushed to get Chychrun, despite the fact that that move would have sealed Dumo's fate next year.

Was that ever confirmed by a legitimate source? Because the only people I saw pushing that narrative were the local Pittsburgh media guys who had an agenda against Hextall and protected Sullivan.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I think it would've sealed Smith and POJ's fate, tbh.

Maybe. Not sure they can afford to ditch those cheap AAV's.

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

He's high up on my naughty list for unlikable players...what's would his wager entail? Will Rust play like he gives a s***

Hmmm perhaps whether or not Rust Breaks 50pts and 25 goals idk. His stat line makes 50pts and 20+ goals his average. Though he's only getting older and he clearly played like shit this year

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Maybe. Not sure they can afford to ditch those cheap AAV's.

I'd like to see what Smith has with a bigger role and more confidence from the coaching staff. I think we know what we have in POJ, and it's a bottom pairing guy who has steep ups and downs. Not really interested in keeping him around at all costs. If there's a deal there to get a similar caliber younger guy at forward, I'd easily pull the trigger.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Was that ever confirmed by a legitimate source? Because the only people I saw pushing that narrative were the local Pittsburgh media guys who had an agenda against Hextall and protected Sullivan.

There isn't one Pens-centric source that people here would consider legit. And those are the only ones that would be able to say anything on the matter.
We have what we have. I've seen Yohe and Rossi be quite critical of Sullivan in podcasts the last few months anyway.

We know that we were in contact with Arizona several times and it came down to the wire. This was confirmed by legit sources. So if Hextall was targeting a core position like that at the deadline, those kinds of things are usually done after consultation with the coach leading up to it. They have meetings after every practice to discuss the team. That's the natural order.

 

[Pengu]

Don't want any UFAs back as the contracts are going to be UGLY...