Salary Cap: Pens '23-'24 Salary Cap Thread: "But if you don't get the President of the Pittsburgh Penguins on that phone, you know what's gonna happen to you?"

[Maninthebox87]

I was a little excited this offseason bringing in some depth guys like Pysyk and Butcher shame they both got hurt and didn’t get to show anything. Ruhwedel is a great break glass incase of emergency guy where he can just jump into the line up without playing for several weeks. I really thought his days were numbered though when they kept signing depth D guys.

 

[Ryder71]

Ludvig being NHL regular good would be a godsend. Lets you flip POJ for a comparable forward.

Truthfully I hope that's what transpires.

 

[Peat]

If they decide to rebuild, they will need to move them to acquire assets and also I doubt most of those core veteran players would want to stick around assuming they go that route

Calgary have resisted rebuilding every step of the way and won't have a shortage of assets coming in. They can easily trade Mangiapane later if he doesn't want to stay. I don't see any reason to think they'll want to let go of him for a fair price.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Mangiapane is a UFA after next season, I doubt he will want to sigb there. So yes they pretty much need to decide this season or next regarding him. Kadri and Huberdeau I honestly dont think they're will be many takers with those contracts. Weegar as well. Should be interesting what they so, perhaps a type of rebuild on the fly like they did with the Toffoli trade

 

[Headshot77]

I was a little excited this offseason bringing in some depth guys like Pysyk and Butcher shame they both got hurt and didn’t get to show anything. Ruhwedel is a great break glass incase of emergency guy where he can just jump into the line up without playing for several weeks. I really thought his days were numbered though when they kept signing depth D guys.

Dubas threw a whole bunch of **** at the wall and so far all that stuck is... Hinostroza and Zohorna? As far as depth goes Dubas went like 2/10 on the off-season so far lmao. But at least he tried unlike Hextall.

 

[Peat]

Mangiapane is a UFA after next season, I doubt he will want to sigb there. So yes they pretty much need to decide this season or next regarding him. Kadri and Huberdeau I honestly dont think they're will be many takers with those contracts. Weegar as well. Should be interesting what they so, perhaps a type of rebuild on the fly like they did with the Toffoli trade

a) As you point out, they can decide in the off-season or next season - and will only know whether he is willing to sign or not come the off-season - so there is no time crunch. Teams without time crunches rarely sell cheap

b) I am referring to Lindholm, Zadorov, Tanev and Hanifin. Even only moving two of them would get Calgary a good return and increase the desire to hold onto their other guys

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Something to monitor in the near future - when they activate Ned and send Hellberg back down, they will be up against the cap.

Which means when Ludvig is ready, someone else is going to have to go - or he's going to have to go down. I believe Sullivan said Ludvig will go on a conditioning assignment, so that will kick the can down the road a little bit, but at some point probably in early December they're going to have make a decision on whether to send one of Ludvig/Shea through waivers to send them down to the AHL or send back Hinostroza and keep 8 defensemen.

Or hope there is an injury. Or trade POJ or Ruhwedel.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Something to monitor in the near future - when they activate Ned and send Hellberg back down, they will be up against the cap.

Which means when Ludvig is ready, someone else is going to have to go - or he's going to have to go down. I believe Sullivan said Ludvig will go on a conditioning assignment, so that will kick the can down the road a little bit, but at some point probably in early December they're going to have make a decision on whether to send one of Ludvig/Shea through waivers to send them down to the AHL or send back Hinostroza and keep 8 defensemen.

Or hope there is an injury. Or trade POJ or Ruhwedel.

I can't see any way that they send back Hinostroza with how he has played. I think trading POJ is the most likely outcome. They're going to need to add a bottom pair D at the trade deadline regardless and POJ isn't playing right now anyway. Might as well sell him off now and then reevaluate the defense in February.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Dubas threw a whole bunch of **** at the wall and so far all that stuck is... Hinostroza and Zohorna? As far as depth goes Dubas went like 2/10 on the off-season so far lmao. But at least he tried unlike Hextall.

2/10? That's super harsh. Are you only looking at offensive contributions? The team is 7th in goals against.

Eller's been terrific at both ends. Hellberg came up clutch so far. Shea's given us some good games.
Acciari and Nieto, while admittedly scoring like crap, barely ever give up goals against at ES. Their PKing helped win it yesterday for example.
DOC is playing fine defense as well.

 

[66-30-33]

2/10? That's super harsh. Are you only looking at offensive contributions? The team is 7th in goals against.

Eller's been terrific at both ends. Hellberg came up clutch so far. Shea's given us some good games.
Acciari and Nieto, while admittedly scoring like crap, barely ever give up goals against at ES. Their PKing helped win it yesterday for example.
DOC is playing fine defense as well.

Dubas I thought had a good offseason. Imagine the Pens if we kept Hextall and didn't make the Smith or Karlsson trade? probably have Myers at the full 6M and then some.

 

[Empoleon8771]

On trading POJ, I wouldn't mind if Dubas just tries to get a draft pick or prospect back for him just to clear up a roster spot. Like I mentioned in the PGT yesterday, I like the bottom-6 forwards they have right now and don't really see a need to add anyone to displace any of those guys. Things can obviously change with injuries or poor play, but I don't really see a need to make another bottom-6 addition right now.

With who they have right now, they have the flexibility to run with quite a few different options. You know that:

-Zohorna can play C or LW definitely, possibly RW as well
-O'Connor can play all 3 forward positions definitely
-Acciari can play C or RW definitely
-Nieto can play LW or RW definitely

I also fiure that Hinostroza has position flexibility as well, we just haven't seen it yet. The point is that you can get creative with the bottom-6 guys they have if things start to stagnate. My concern with their depth guys is that they don't really have anyone beyond those 6 guys that I'm all that excited about. Poulin's the best guy after that, but he's not exactly lighting the world on fire.

Dubas threw a whole bunch of **** at the wall and so far all that stuck is... Hinostroza and Zohorna? As far as depth goes Dubas went like 2/10 on the off-season so far lmao. But at least he tried unlike Hextall.

What? The depth additions Dubas has made have been terrific. Hinostroza, Zohorna and Shea have all had positive impacts on the NHL team as regulars, and Hellberg has been very good as a 3rd goalie. The crown jewel of all of it is Eller, who has been the best 3C for the Penguins since Bonino. Nedjelkovic also probably counts as a "depth addition" as well, and he's been a good backup. Ludvig also looks promising.

Absolutely bizarre criticism of him. The Penguins bottom-6 this year has been shockingly good, considering how little money is being spent on it.

The only guys he really "struck out" on were Johnsson and Harkins, but Johnsson isn't in the organization anymore and Harkins is at least good for the AHL team.

Dubas I thought had a good offseason. Imagine the Pens if we kept Hextall and didn't make the Smith or Karlsson trade? probably have Miller at the full 6M and then some.

It wasn't just good, it was the best off-season a Penguins GM has had since JR's 2015 off-season.

 

[66-30-33]

It wasn't just good, it was the best off-season a Penguins GM has had since JR's 2015 off-season.

Pretty much. I am glad we got Dubas as our GM for the long haul, let's see how he builds the next Penguins team after the core are gone now that he doesn't have to answer to Shanny and the board, he answers to himself. Whatever bad that happened with Dubas and the Leafs people forget that he has to answer to Shanny and the board.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Semi related, but do you remember how people were screaming at Dubas and Sullivan for how much they mistreated Friedman and how he was this amazing 2nd pair defenseman for the Canucks? He was healthy scratched for them in their last game:



He's back in now because Soucy is out 6-8 weeks, but it's hilarious some of the nonsense posted about him on here about a week or two ago only for him to again get healthy scratched by his new team.

 

[Fordy]

Ludvig being NHL regular good would be a godsend. Lets you flip POJ for a comparable forward.

been hoping for a positive update on him. wasn’t sure if we’d even see him practice for a couple more weeks. maybe there were updates and i never noticed

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I can't see any way that they send back Hinostroza with how he has played. I think trading POJ is the most likely outcome. They're going to need to add a bottom pair D at the trade deadline regardless and POJ isn't playing right now anyway. Might as well sell him off now and then reevaluate the defense in February.

Agreed about Hinostroza.

But the defense situation is interesting to me. Trades, in general, are harder to execute. Whoever acquired POJ will want to have space for him in the NHL, because he's waivers eligible.

Shea seems to be fairly capable as a 6/7. But how much do we know about Ludvig at this level? He's 23 and has 71 career pro games, all but 5 minutes at the AHL level.

And do the Pens give POJ one last look here, perhaps while Ludvig is on his conditioning assignment, or does he stay in the press box?

 

[Fordy]

If Calgary continues to be crap and is out of it at the TDL. I could see the Pens going after Mangiapane. Sullivan loves him.

so do i

 

[Empoleon8771]

been hoping for a positive update on him. wasn’t sure if we’d even see him practice for a couple more weeks. maybe there were updates and i never noticed

He was in a normal practice jersey today.

And do the Pens give POJ one last look here, perhaps while Ludvig is on his conditioning assignment, or does he stay in the press box?

I don't know what they expect to see from POJ that he hasn't already shown. He has been in the Penguins organization since June 2019, they've seen a full NHL season out of him last year and a couple of AHL/NHL full seasons from 2019-2022.

He is only 24, but he very likely is what he is at this point. There probably isn't going to be a notable player progression or major new development in his game at his age.

 

[Ryder71]

Something to monitor in the near future - when they activate Ned and send Hellberg back down, they will be up against the cap.

Which means when Ludvig is ready, someone else is going to have to go - or he's going to have to go down. I believe Sullivan said Ludvig will go on a conditioning assignment, so that will kick the can down the road a little bit, but at some point probably in early December they're going to have make a decision on whether to send one of Ludvig/Shea through waivers to send them down to the AHL or send back Hinostroza and keep 8 defensemen.

Or hope there is an injury. Or trade POJ or Ruhwedel.

I don't think RUH will get moved. He has more internal value to the team, decent on the PK with a low salary and consistently steady though unremarkable. POJ should go if Shea or Ludvig prove capable. Thus far Shea has had one bad game.

 

[Karl Prime]

Dubas threw a whole bunch of **** at the wall and so far all that stuck is... Hinostroza and Zohorna? As far as depth goes Dubas went like 2/10 on the off-season so far lmao. But at least he tried unlike Hextall.

Eller and Zohorna have been great. Hinostroza has added speed. Hellberg has had some big games, Nedeljkovic has a shutout. Shea has been fine, certainly better than Joseph. Acciari and Nieto don't score but have been valuable on the PK. And not that it really matters much, but Nieto is friends with EK which has helped a smooth transition into Pittsburgh.

Even if Dubas did miss on half or most of the depth acquisitions, that is the case with many GMs. If you are a 4th liner or 3rd pair D, it's because you are limited in talent or are very inconsistent. If all the depth guys in the league were better, they would be more expensive and therefore not depth. (Unless you are the NBA and bench players get 15-20 million.)

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I don't know what they expect to see from POJ that he hasn't already shown. He has been in the Penguins organization since June 2019, they've seen a full NHL season out of him last year and a couple of AHL/NHL full seasons from 2019-2022.

He is only 24, but he very likely is what he is at this point. There probably isn't going to be a notable player progression or major new development in his game at his age.

The coaching staff is familiar with POJ, but Dubas and his staff haven't seen him up close a whole lot. They're ultimately the decision makers. That's why I was thinking he might get another run.

 

[Ryder71]

so do i

With what assets and cap space? Looks like a tall task.

 

[Peat]

I'd like to wait a bit longer before declaring he did good but right now it looks like Dubas brought in 2/3rds of a good 3rd line, a whole decent 4th line, and good goaltending depth. That's pretty good when spending, what, no more than 2.5m on any one piece?

 

[Ryder71]

I'd like to wait a bit longer before declaring he did good but right now it looks like Dubas brought in 2/3rds of a good 3rd line, a whole decent 4th line, and good goaltending depth. That's pretty good when spending, what, no more than 2.5m on any one piece?

Acciari has done next to nothing, he's trash! adds nothing, is largely an empty jersey. DOC hasn't done much better, but at least he can cycle and maintain possession a bit. Both are big disappointments and as constructed we really can't afford that. HINO looks good, Nieto, meh. Eller and Zoho are doing good things out there. So three of those six are playing well Both with and without the puck, the other three... not so much. We need better from them or they can GTFO!

 

[PensandCaps]

Dubas threw a whole bunch of **** at the wall and so far all that stuck is... Hinostroza and Zohorna? As far as depth goes Dubas went like 2/10 on the off-season so far lmao. But at least he tried unlike Hextall.

Eller has been a good add.

Not sure what Nieto is doing on this roster though. Much rather have some WBS guy over him, Acciari as well, but at least he's physical.

The thing with Acciari is that he is a very streaky scorer, so he may be very helpful in future, in the playoffs especially.

 

[OtherThingsILike]

I don't really get the whole 'POJ is what is he is at this point; he's done growing as a player'.
Marcus Pettersson is 27 years old and playing his seventh NHL season now. Prior to last season, several people here suggested paying (as much as a 1st) to get out of his contract. He had a fantastic season last year (his sixth NHL season), and really grew as a player.
It's fine to say that you think POJ probably won't become the next Marcus Pettersson or that you don't feel that he's shown enough and should be traded to shore up weaknesses on the team, but I fail to see why it's completely out of the question that he could still grow as a player.