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!"

[Tom Hanks]

These minor bump moves this year before teams even know who's available at the spot they're moving up to are so weird.

The word is after picks 6 or 7 it’s a bit of a crapshoot. It’s like picking which hottie is going to date Pete Davidson next.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Ffffffffff*** Jake Guentzel.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

I also don't think Charlotte, NC is particularly "nice weather" either, at least to a notable level above Pittsburgh.

Charlotte gets ass-hot way more often than PGH. Though I guess it's mostly moot if he's not spending his offseasons there.

 

[SEALBound]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806444791946740000

We have him...his name is Bemstrom.

 

[Tasty Biscuits]

The word is after picks 6 or 7 it’s a bit of a crapshoot. It’s like picking which hottie is going to date Pete Davidson next.

Oh yeah I totally get it from the teams-moving-down perspective. Just not the other way around.

 

[Tom Hanks]

We have him...his name is Bemstrom.

Wasn’t he a teacher in Springfield?

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Stamkos-Crosby-Rakell
Bunting-Malkin-Rust
O'Connor-Ponomarev/Yager-N. Robertson
Puljujarvi-Poulin/Ponomarev-Puustinen
Acciari

I don't want Arvidsson. The Hornqvist comparables include injuries. No thanks.
I love Patrick Kane but it is not happening.
Duhaime will have a stupid market on July 1.

Trade Jarry to Toronto for N. Robertson and Ty Voit (smallish Pittsburgh native, great OHL career, long-term project).

Trade R. Smith to LA for a pick.

Trade Eller to Buffalo for a pick.

Lmao I was just having fun. Wasn’t actually trying to build a squad.

 

[Empoleon8771]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806748271437926405

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806756585533809048

Pagnotta is terrible lol

 

[Tom Hanks]

Lmao I was just having fun. Wasn’t actually trying to build a squad.

 

[Turin]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806756585533809048

Pagnotta is terrible lol

So a Dreger.

 

[Ugene Magic]

....that he wasn't going to default going back to the Penguins after they traded him?

Bizarre argument to make here.

I mean, why would you uproot if you have reservations about possibly staying so quickly?

That's not a bizarre take or even an argument. Unless you feel with their new found wealth they were gonna upgrade anyways. Why go through all the hassle?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Yeah I'm seeing Canes fans saying "he's going to be overpaid in the last few years of the deal". Like yeah, no shit. That's how UFA contracts work.

I have no clue how the Canes didn't just immediately meet Guentzel's ask if that's all he was asking for. He's giving them a solid $1+ million a year discount from his actual value by only asking for that, them trying to get him to sign for an AAV in the $7 millions is just them being ridiculous.

Not that I have any room to talk these days but they're kind of a rinky-dink franchise. I totally understand and respect getting the best deal and not caving to make people feel all warm and fuzzy like JR used to but at some point you have to open up the coffers if your name comes up every year as "contenders." Or you'll be looking backwards at that window soon enough.

Also don't really get the "wah 8 years" thing. That's just how it goes in FA. I don't want Jake back because he gets pigeon-holed here and we have already lost plenty WITH him and things needed to change somewhere... besides... Jake isn't going to sell tickets four years down the line. What's the point? But it has nothing to do with those extra years. This is the NHL... it's not always easy but you can make stuff like that go away. Carolina certainly won't care much if it pays off in the next three or four seasons. 8M for a ~90 point player the next 3ish years is great.

 

[Empoleon8771]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806759350524109208

 

[Tom Hanks]

The Vancouver Penguins

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806759350524109208

 

[Empoleon8771]

I mean, why would you uproot if you have reservations about possibly staying so quickly?

That's not a bizarre take or even an argument. Unless you feel with their new found wealth they were gonna upgrade anyways. Why go through all the hassle?

Probably because Guentzel being traded makes him realize that he's most likely not staying with the Penguins.

It isn't that deep.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

There's really nothing to support this claim in terms of comparable players to Guentzel.

Hockey Reference similar players through nine years:
Glenn Anderson, Ryan Getzlaf, Gilbert Perrault, Dave Taylor, Taylor Hall, Simon Gagne, Rick Nash, Anze Kopitar, Rick Martin, and Alex Tanguay.

Every single player on that list was out of the league by 35 or 36, except for Kopitar, who is 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, and Hall, who played 10 games last year. In their final years in the league, every single one sustained a significant drop in production.

Guentzel is an amazingly adept scorer and point producer. But his frame will not hold up - and if he tries to protect himself by being more of a perimeter player, his production will go down.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

"John Marino is the best defenseman in the NHL"

lol that was a fun year.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

The Vancouver Penguins

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806759350524109208

God I hope Dubas snags him just so pixies can shit his pants. Legit would make the off-season for me. Hilarity that'd play out all year long.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Hockey Reference similar players through nine years:
Glenn Anderson, Ryan Getzlaf, Gilbert Perrault, Dave Taylor, Taylor Hall, Simon Gagne, Rick Nash, Anze Kopitar, Rick Martin, and Alex Tanguay.

Every single player on that list was out of the league by 35 or 36, except for Kopitar, who is 6-foot-3, 225 pounds, and Hall, who played 10 games last year. In their final years in the league, every single one sustained a significant drop in production.

Guentzel is an amazingly adept scorer and point producer. But his frame will not hold up - and if he tries to protect himself by being more of a perimeter player, his production will go down.

Most of those players don't seem even remotely comparable to Guentzel. Alex Tanguay seems to be the most similar there and he put up 248 points in 359 games from age 30-35. That seems pretty well in line with what Guentzel can do over that window. Steve Sullivan seems like a decent comparison for Guentzel as well. He put up 281 points in 372 games from 2005-2006 (31) to 2011-1012 (37), which is a pace of 62 points per 82 games.

Do I expect Guentzel to maintain his PPG+ nature during the entirety of that deal? Hell no, but I don't see any reason to think he's going to "fall off considerably" at age 33 or 34. I'd expect that he should be a 60+ point guy for at least the first 6 years of that deal, just like Tanguay and Sullivan were over that window.

 

[Deport Ogie]

"John Marino is the best defenseman in the NHL"

lol that was a fun year.

2nd best Marino in Pittsburgh sports history. First is obviously former Pittsburgh Bulls star Butch Marino.

 

[Gurglesons]

"John Marino is the best defenseman in the NHL"

lol that was a fun year.

Everyone makes fun of me, but I've got the best record on this board in terms of being right.

I'm a super genius.

God I hope Dubas snags him just so pixies can shit his pants. Legit would make the off-season for me. Hilarity that'd play out all year long.

He didn't play for Toronto / Soo. Why would Dubas be interested?

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Everyone makes fun of me, but I've got the best record on this board in terms of being right.

I'm a super genius.

lol it's getting a little thick in here.

Not to take a dump in your punchbowl but "John Marino is the best defenseman in the NHL" isn't a terribly difficult take to sniff out and call horseshit.

Hey if you think about it... we have that stretch of Devils hockey to thank for Graves. Huzzah!

 

[Tom Hanks]

I thought I heard loud cheers around Vancouver

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806762473552216306

 

[The Old Master]

I mean, why would you uproot if you have reservations about possibly staying so quickly?

he knew he was in for a big payday, and he wanted to spend some on a bigger house.

 

[SEALBound]

I imagine Kadri would generate a ton of interest for teams wanting to bolster their 2nd line. I would say Boston but they may have their sites set on Lindholm quite honestly. But something like a 1:1 for Coyle may help both sides.