Salary Cap: Pens 2024 Summer Thread: "Thus, knocking us out of these superior numbers when we emerge! Mr. President, we must not allow a non-playoff bound gap!"

[Gurglesons]

Five free agents Penguins should consider signing

A look at a group of 20-somethings on the market who would make the Penguins better and younger.

www.nytimes.com

Debrusk
Domi
Joshua
Bertuzzi
Guentzel.

Confirmed. @SEALBound is Yohe.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

IIRC Barrasso missed most of Lalime's first season due to an early season injury. Then Lalime was 3rd on depth chart then traded?

His agent played a big role in the issues. Barrasso was hurt, so it was Wregget and Lalime during Lalime's rookie season. Lalime's contract was up at the end of the year and he was hoping for a one-way deal, so that he'd paid the same even if he had to go back to the minors.

His agent screwed him.

When the Penguins wouldn’t budge, his agent advised him to hold out again.

The 1997-98 season arrived, and Lalime was still not under contract. Eventually, he signed with Grand Rapids of the IHL, so he could keep his game sharp. Just before the NHL trade deadline, the phone in his hotel room started ringing. It was his wife. Her aunt heard on the radio that he was dealt to the Ducks.

Nearly 30 years later, Lalime still wonders how his career would have unfolded had he just called general manager Craig Patrick and found middle ground.

“Regret, it’s a big word,” he said. “I was 22, 23 at the time. And you’re following your agency. But in a perfect world, I would have loved to come back here.”

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2024/02/04/patrick-lalime-record-nhl-undefeated-streak-pittsburgh/stories/202402030004

 

[SEALBound]

Five free agents Penguins should consider signing

A look at a group of 20-somethings on the market who would make the Penguins better and younger.

www.nytimes.com

Debrusk
Domi
Joshua
Bertuzzi
Guentzel.

Confirmed. @SEALBound is Yohe.

 

[Gurglesons]

I think we can at least cross five names off the list of who we will be targeting.

 

[Empoleon8771]

"Pittsburgh isn't going to be going after Guentzel"

"Okay, I had to mention Guentzel"

Stunning journalism as always from Yohe.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Likely not.

Less strange things have happened. Acting like Crosby is forever a Penguin no questions asked after how badly the last two years have been fumbled is unrealistic.

Crosby will likely sign on July 1st. If he does not, the media will be questioning it as they should.

1. You're injecting your perception of the last two years onto Crosby, who has called the past couple of years disappointing, but may not agree that they were "fumbled."

2. The media is going to be so focused on everything else on July 1 that there won't be a peep about Crosby. Dubas will speak at some point on that first date, he'll be asked for an update, he'll say something bland, and that'll be it for a stretch.

 

[Sike Mullivan]

IIRC Barrasso missed most of Lalime's first season due to an early season injury. Then Lalime was 3rd on depth chart then traded?

According to Wikipedia, they couldnt agree to a contact in 98 so he was in the IHL until they traded him for Chris Pronger......s brother.

 

[Gurglesons]

1. You're injecting your perception of the last two years onto Crosby, who has called the past couple of years disappointing, but may not agree that they were "fumbled."

2. The media is going to be so focused on everything else on July 1 that there won't be a peep about Crosby. Dubas will speak at some point on that first date, he'll be asked for an update, he'll say something bland, and that'll be it for a stretch.

I'm not doing anything. I'm just talking about how this idea that Crosby is going to spend the next however many years on a team that is focused on rebuilding is not written in stone until he signs the contract.

The only people we have heard confirmed reports of Sid's intentions from are Rossi and Yohe. Sorry if I don't trust them.

Friedman has loosely gone around the subject.

 

[SEALBound]

I think we can at least cross five names off the list of who we will be targeting.

Not until they pop up on HockeyBuzz.

But it doesn't take much leap in logic to see why he put those guys in there:

• Debrusk - I only suggest him because I do think he possess a little more raw shooting skill that we lack than others that might be available. I thought he looked great in the playoffs. Inconsistent for sure he's also one that may open up a bit with a new team.
• Domi - Looked great in the playoffs, plays center and wing. He started to play a little more gritty than early in his career.
• Joshua - Kunitz-lite. Makes sense. Not advocating at all but I get it. My contention has long been - guys like Joshua are valuable when you have them on a cheap contract that they are outperforming. A "market-value" Joshua is going to be significantly less appealing than he was this past season. Is there breakout potential there? Maaaaaaaaaaaaybe but probably not. You swallow the cost for the RS and you hope he brings value for the playoffs.
• Bertuzzi - Pretty standard target really. If you can get a $5mil x 2-3 years, I'd take. He's been a target of many here for awhile.
• Guentzel - I mean, duh.

This isn't exactly hard hitting journalism here and I venture the guess that every single Penguins beat writer comes here and reads. We seen a couple times things discussed here and they pop up in their articles a day later.

I've had a lot of guys on my list that aren't here either - Kaliyev and Holtz among them. Then I've been on board with more recent suggestions in Laine and Mangiapane. So he missed those if he's truly following me here.

 

[Ulf5]

I'm not doing anything. I'm just talking about how this idea that Crosby is going to spend the next however many years on a team that is focused on rebuilding is not written in stone until he signs the contract.

The only people we have heard confirmed reports of Sid's intentions from are Rossi and Yohe. Sorry if I don't trust them.

Friedman has loosely gone around the subject.

Only thing I have to add is Crosby himself. He has been quoted himself multiple times that he has zero interest in playing anywhere else.
Sure people change their minds all the time. Some on here change their viewpoints multiple times. Sometimes in the span of a day.
But as we've seen, few athletes let alone people in general have as obsessive, one-track minds as Sid.

 

[SEALBound]

Switching gears to Jarry, I think in the two threads there have been two decent options put forth by Emp:

Joseph+Forsberg for Jarry
Husso+Berggren+2nd for Jarry

I think those are honestly pretty decent value swaps for us. I would prefer the Detroit trade because I think Berggren will be better for us long-term, and his age and contract (RFA) is a better fit for us. That said, Husso f***ing reeks so that's a bit of a burden to take on.

Yager, Pono, Koivunen, Poulin, Puustinen, and then Berggren would be a respectable prospect group moving forward.

 

[Pancakes]

I think Crosby will re-sign but I wonder what he will think if the team continues to miss the playoffs. Is he content to ride it out or will it eventually wear on him enough that he asks for a trade?

 

[Jacob]

There appear to be a lot of players that on paper look good/productive, don't have any serious flaws like skating or size and are pegged for anywhere from late-1st to mid-2nd.

Reading about and watched a few clips of Vanacker and Gridin and they seem quite intriguing as well.

 

[Tom Hanks]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805293686118350915

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I actually like DeBrusk’s fit if the price isn’t asinine. Brings size, speed, energy and ability through the NZ. Problem is the scoring is inconsistent and the scoring talent isn’t much better than a Rakell, Smith, Bunting. More of the same in that category.

But I do think the Pens could benefit from an athlete like him up front. Type of player that could take a little pressure off of your Cs.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Switching gears to Jarry, I think in the two threads there have been two decent options put forth by Emp:

Joseph+Forsberg for Jarry
Husso+Berggren+2nd for Jarry

I think those are honestly pretty decent value swaps for us. I would prefer the Detroit trade because I think Berggren will be better for us long-term, and his age and contract (RFA) is a better fit for us. That said, Husso f***ing reeks so that's a bit of a burden to take on.

Yager, Pono, Koivunen, Poulin, Puustinen, and then Berggren would be a respectable prospect group moving forward.

I like the Ottawa deal more than the Detroit deal here. I think Berggren would be filling the same bottom-6 role that Puustinen would fill, having both would be redundant. Adding Joseph would be a really good bottom-6 addition that brings another Tanev type of player that the bottom-6 desperately needs.

If you can get 2 good years out of Joseph (big if), I think you can get some serious value for him as a rental next year just because of the kind of player he is. With Berggren, I feel like he's another one of those Heinen types that doesn't tend to stick anywhere.

 

[Empoleon8771]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805293686118350915

Seems like New Jersey wants to move on from Marino before his NTC kicks in. I believe I read that Marino had a dud of a season last year, so maybe New Jersey wants to get out of the deal now before the NTC kicks in. They don't want to risk his 23-24 being his new normal while he has a NTC.

 

[Gurglesons]

Seems like New Jersey wants to move on from Marino before his NTC kicks in. I believe I read that Marino had a dud of a season last year, so maybe New Jersey wants to get out of the deal now before the NTC kicks in. They don't want to risk his 23-24 being his new normal while he has a NTC.

Shocking.

 

[Pancakes]

Devils are gonna be good if they stay healthy.

 

[Gurglesons]

Only thing I have to add is Crosby himself. He has been quoted himself multiple times that he has zero interest in playing anywhere else.
Sure people change their minds all the time. Some on here change their viewpoints multiple times. Sometimes in the span of a day.
But as we've seen, few athletes let alone people in general have as obsessive, one-track minds as Sid.

Sidney Crosby addresses future with Penguins, plans to discuss contract extension

Crosby is currently only signed through the 2024-25 season

www.cbssports.com

"Obviously, I'm going to talk to [general manager Kyle Dubas] and have a conversation with him," Crosby said. "We'll see. I think it's just something that I'll have conversations with him about."

"It's disappointing, especially with the way we finished the year. We were playing good hockey," Crosby said. "You look, when you miss by a margin that we've had the last couple years, there's so many games that you look at plays and things you want to redo. It's a fine line. Unfortunately, we've been on the wrong side of that the last couple years."

I'm not saying Sid is saying he won't sign, but I think people are taking Rossi's words and twisting them.

Devils are gonna be good if they stay healthy.

I think if the sign Pesce that's a really bad move tbh.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

I can't hear or see the name Brett Pesce without thinking of Joe Pesci.

 

[Pancakes]

Sidney Crosby addresses future with Penguins, plans to discuss contract extension

Crosby is currently only signed through the 2024-25 season

www.cbssports.com

I think if the sign Pesce that's a really bad move tbh.

It does seem weird in the sense that Dougie is a righty and Nemec is a righty, so adding Pesce to that mix on (presumably) a long term contract keeps Nemec blocked for quite a while. I guess the thinking would be that Nemec can play limited minutes for now and then as he matures and breaks out he can take on more of a role and maybe at that point Pesce and/or Dougie takes more of a back seat. Probably Dougie I guess because he's the oldest.

But Dougie isn't *that* old. He's only 31. He probably has another 3-4 years of being a legit top pairing guy - maybe even longer. Pesce is 29.

As a "win now" move it obviously makes the Devils a lot better as Pesce is great, but yeah long term I dunno what the plan is there.

 

[Gurglesons]

It does seem weird in the sense that Dougie is a righty and Nemec is a righty, so adding Pesce to that mix on (presumably) a long term contract keeps Nemec blocked for quite a while. I guess the thinking would be that Nemec can play limited minutes for now and then as he matures and breaks out he can take on more of a role and maybe at that point Pesce and/or Dougie takes more of a back seat. Probably Dougie I guess because he's the oldest.

But Dougie isn't *that* old. He's only 31. He probably has another 3-4 years of being a legit top pairing guy - maybe even longer. Pesce is 29.

As a "win now" move it obviously makes the Devils a lot better as Pesce is great, but yeah long term I dunno what the plan is there.

I don't think Pesce has been that "great" for the last few years and he's also a huge injury risk.

Replacing Marino with Pesce would be a downgrade IMO. And I hate Marino.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

No he didn’t.

24 points in the last 15 games - 131 point pace - after losing the best winger he ever had. But okay.

 

[SEALBound]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805293686118350915

New Jersey is building such a likeable team.

Seigs-Hamilton
Hughes-Pesce
XXXX-Nemec

Backed up by Markstrom in net...jesus.

I like the Ottawa deal more than the Detroit deal here. I think Berggren would be filling the same bottom-6 role that Puustinen would fill, having both would be redundant. Adding Joseph would be a really good bottom-6 addition that brings another Tanev type of player that the bottom-6 desperately needs.

If you can get 2 good years out of Joseph (big if), I think you can get some serious value for him as a rental next year just because of the kind of player he is. With Berggren, I feel like he's another one of those Heinen types that doesn't tend to stick anywhere.

That's fair. Ottawa fans like Joseph last year because he broke out a bit more as the season moved on. He was considered a cap dump to start the year but then became a valuable player for them. But you're right, that style is well suited for the top 6. My only thought is that Bergs put up 28pts in 67gp last year and 6 in 12 this year so a 40pt which outpaces Joseph's career average.

I worry that if you add Joseph, are we adding roster players without adding legit offensive production? Joseph seems like a slightly older DOC. So if Bergs is Puustinen, which might be fair, which one does the team need more of at the moment?