Salary Cap: Pens '24-'25 Salary Thread: The Crosbicles Volume XIX

[Tacitus Kilgore]

No one glazes Sullivan harder than Yohe but this one was f***ing hilarious...

https://x.com/i/web/status/1749700821410091408

Man, that part about a new coach not making Sid, Geno and Tanger younger. Yohe must have some ghost accounts on here.

 

[Gurglesons]

Who do we have that should be playing? People complain about Puustinen all the time but he's just not that good. And he's 25, barely even a prospect.

Most of our other prospects didn't show anything in camp although Poulin has since had a good start in WBS and I wouldn't mind rewarding him with a call up.

I dunno I just think that people are so desperate for youth in the lineup around here that they forget that what youth we have in our system is largely either unready or just flat out bad.

Sullivan makes terrible lineup decisions all the time but I'm just not seeing who he's blocking youth-wise that deserves to be up.

I'd love it if Dubas did get an infusion of youth into the lineup because our lineup desperately needs that but it's going to take some more drafting and probably another year or two of development from what we already have in the system before we start to see that youth infusion. Until then it's going to be suffering.

Gruden, Poulin, Pono are all NHL ready.

Why did Brunicke not get 9 games? We that desperate to hang onto JSI and Shea?

Why did McG get 3?

 

[Tacitus Kilgore]

Sullivan is anti any youth that he did not coach in WBS. I will die on that hill

(And possibly an anti Euro bias, Hagelin and Horny withstanding)

 

[Gurglesons]

1. If you're hinging your credibility and wishes for top 6 talent on Mikheyev over Beauvillier, I have some bad news for you. Very bad. Dubas made the Mikheyev move when took Hayes. But again, you're mad about one and want the other. The player in this case was irrelevant.

2. I have no idea what you're trying to say here and I don't think you do either to be quite honest.

3. He took Hayes because he got a 2nd (a project low 2nd) to take him. Isn't that what you were wanting when saying you wanted Mikheyev? Hextall PAID for Carter and signed him a ridiculous extension with a NMC. Not to mention Hayes is scoring at a rate 4x higher than Carter. Pick a different battle.
The point of Heinen, Kap, Granlund was to say - you don't think Hextall would have signed guys in the exact same way Dubas did this year? You think Hextall would have gone in with Poulin, Puustinen, Puljujarvi, and McGroarty being starting roster players with the only depth players being the likes of Gruden, Johnstone, and Koppanen? Get real. You only hate the team, the roster, the trades, etc because it was Dubas and you're mad at Dubas because they fired Hextall.

"I don't understand what they are doing with the roster!" Yes you do. Again, it's weaponized-willful-ignorance.

1. I'm not hinging my credibility on anything. The point of the discussion is that Beauvillier was outproduced by Puustinen. Why are we dedicating any time to him? He was moved for a 5th. Nothing he does will bring value at the deadline. He's a terrible add from day one.

2. That's because you just read posts and try to find ways to be right.

3. Once again, I wanted Hextall fired. I just think it's ridiculous how everyone acts like Hextall killed this team. Nothing Hextall did had any long term effect on this team. Dubas kept a 14th overall and traded it within a calendar year for a "NHL ready prospect" who is now in the AHL. Dubas traded a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and then proceeded to sit on his ass. Dubas signed big contracts with Graves and Jarry that go way past the Sid / Malkin window and lock us into bad players that were bad when they were signed.

Dubas has completely decimated this team and frozen our status. Hextall did not do that.

 

[SEALBound]

1. I'm not hinging my credibility on anything. The point of the discussion is that Beauvillier was outproduced by Puustinen. Why are we dedicating any time to him? He was moved for a 5th. Nothing he does will bring value at the deadline. He's a terrible add from day one.

2. That's because you just read posts and try to find ways to be right.

3. Once again, I wanted Hextall fired. I just think it's ridiculous how everyone acts like Hextall killed this team. Nothing Hextall did had any long term effect on this team. Dubas kept a 14th overall and traded it within a calendar year for a "NHL ready prospect" who is now in the AHL. Dubas traded a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd and then proceeded to sit on his ass. Dubas signed big contracts with Graves and Jarry that go way past the Sid / Malkin window and lock us into bad players that were bad when they were signed.

Dubas has completely decimated this team and frozen our status. Hextall did not do that.

1. You bounced from talking about Mikheyev to Puustinen. Really odd.

2. It's easy to be right when you are wrong so often.

3. Your fixation on Hextall and your willingness to die on that hill defending him is weird. Really weird.

 

[Gurglesons]

1. You bounced from talking about Mikheyev to Puustinen. Really odd.

2. It's easy to be right when you are wrong so often.

3. Your fixation on Hextall and your willingness to die on that hill defending him is weird. Really weird.

You don't even read posts and forrmulate your opinions by just pulling out the words you want to read.

Good luck to your family and future with that process.

 

[Ryder71]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848458424163749987

Never thought I’d see the day in the last 10 years where the Pens are way more dysfunctional than the Steelers lol…

Listen, The core did it to themselves! They are 100% to blame. They REFUSED to leave! And they unabashedly supported Sullivan! NOW, HOPEFULLY they'll pay the price! And to be clear, I don't think they'll learn from this. But when you make egregious mistakes to the degree that these guys have, the only solace we might take in this, is that they suffer mightily and ask out as a result. OR, they go down with the ship and collectively soil their legacies.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Maybe folks are just built differently, but I just can't ever be such a kiss ass like him no matter what. Like sacrificing my integrity, not to mention having my knowledge of the game put into question, all to defend a coach? I'd never do that just to keep my press pass.

Either that or Yohe's not actually a kiss ass and just is an absolute moron when it comes to hockey and truly doesn't know better.

I think he's both.

An absolute kiss and a moron. Because he was all he's a Tomlin fan and he has a lot of history saying Tomlin sucked and other shit. So yeah he's a zero integrity glazer that constantly flips both sides. I feel like Gurgles is his alt account.

 

[SEALBound]

You don't even read posts and forrmulate your opinions by just pulling out the words you want to read.

Good luck to your family and future with that process.

I'm just sharing my opinions that differ from yours. Get over it.

 

[SEALBound]

Listen, The core did it to themselves! They are 100% to blame. They REFUSED to leave! And they unabashedly supported Sullivan! NOW, HOPEFULLY they'll pay the price! And to be clear, I don't think they'll learn from this. But when you make egregious mistakes to the degree that these guys have, the only solace we might take in this, is that they suffer mightily and ask out as a result. OR, they go down with the ship and collectively soil their legacies.

I would suggest any pro-Sullivan sentiment from those three is too blame. I don't think they get enough negative attention on that and this may be where Crosby's instance on routine/superstition/tradition/loyalty/etc may come to bite him and the rest of the team square in the ass. You want to make the playoffs? You ain't getting much more, if ANY help, player-wise. Dump Sullivan and gasp for one last breath. Seems to work.

I don't know how much of the "we will only play for Sullivan" thing was true or how much Sullivan coaching did or did not weight into decisions, but if there was pretty from any combination of the three, then they absolutely deserve what they get.

Bad part is...who is legitimately out there to take over? This past off-season there were several coaches available that I would have considered but they've all been gobbled up. Maybe Kirk MacDonald from WBS? I most certainly would not turn the reigns over to Velluci nor Quinn. What you ideally need is a Martin St. Louis type. Someone of respect that can come in, and the players will say, "Yeah, I'll play for this guy!"

 

[Gurglesons]

I'm just sharing my opinions that differ from yours. Get over it.

You aren't. You are targetting me saying "it's easy to be right when you are wrong so often", "that I have a fixation with Hextall" when you are the one bringnig it up, etc.

You aren't here to have an actual conversation. You are here to read the opinions that you want to believe are accurate and be on that side.

Feel free to continue to post that way, it makes no difference to me. I'm hear to actually just talk about hockey.

 

[SEALBound]

You aren't. You are targetting me saying "it's easy to be right when you are wrong so often", "that I have a fixation with Hextall" when you are the one bringnig it up, etc.

You aren't here to have an actual conversation. You are here to read the opinions that you want to believe are accurate and be on that side.

Feel free to continue to post that way, it makes no difference to me. I'm hear to actually just talk about hockey.

And the lie detector test determined THAT was a lie. I put you on ignore for months and it's blissful. I take you off and what's the first thing I see from you? Yet another post eight months later, STILL bitching about the Guentzel trade.

You aren't here to talk about hockey. You're here to bitch. That's it.

 

[Gurglesons]

And the lie detector test determined THAT was a lie. I put you on ignore for months and it's blissful. I take you off and what's the first thing I see from you? Yet another post eight months later, STILL bitching about the Guentzel trade.

You aren't here to talk about hockey. You're here to bitch. That's it.

The Guentzel trade is horrible.

Just because you feel it isn't doesn't make either of us right.

We both have our own feelings about a team we both root for. If you need to pretend that what I'm doing is bitching that's fine.

Dubas has completely trashed this team with short sighted moves that have no clear motives.

It's honestly impressive how quickly he's taken one hole on the boat and capsized it.

If he was focused on youth look at what Calgary has done. They aren't filling out there roster with useless vets.

There roster is a balance. Zary, Coronato, Bahl, etc.

Our roster is a bunch of burn outs that likely don't see another NHL team after their time runs out here.

 

[Pancakes]

Gruden, Poulin, Pono are all NHL ready.

Why did Brunicke not get 9 games? We that desperate to hang onto JSI and Shea?

Why did McG get 3?

Gruden's played 4 games with 0 points so far in WBS. Poulin is producing though and should probably get called up based on how bad the big league team is.

Brunicke should have gotten the 9 games, I agree on that.

McG didn't look ready. Zero issues with sending him back down. I don't think it's to his benefit to keep him up playing 9 minutes a night.

 

[3074326]

collectively soil their legacies.

Feels like a fantasy more than reality

Their legacies aren't going to be soiled because they stuck with Pittsburgh until the end. Silliness.

 

[Gurglesons]

Gruden's played 4 games with 0 points so far in WBS. Poulin is producing though and should probably get called up based on how bad the big league team is.

Brunicke should have gotten the 9 games, I agree on that.

McG didn't look ready. Zero issues with sending him back down. I don't think it's to his benefit to keep him up playing 9 minutes a night.

The point is more so that we've specifically created a team that has no spots open to competition.

Once again, look at Calgary's roster. They are giving young players minutes. They are in the same purgatory we are, but they are making intelligent moves based on their future when they trade assets and focusing on creating an environment of development on their NHL squad.

What exactly is our NHL squad?

Who on the roster is contributing to long term success?

Where is the hope?

 

[BusinessGoose]

Hot take:

The pens have been mismanaged since at least 1998 and only got lucky enough to get Sid, Geno, and I guess MAF and Letang, to not have been looking at nearly thirty years of losing.

 

[Turin]

Man, that part about a new coach not making Sid, Geno and Tanger younger. Yohe must have some ghost accounts on here.

Psychologically, a new coach could absolutely make them younger for a spell.

Jeff Carter didn't get younger for the first year of being a Penguin, but he also kind of did.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

This is objectively hilarious. "Do you think a new coach will *insert task coaches are literally paid millions to do*?"

He is such a clown. So his only pinned tweet is his own article about Hextall, that idiotic one.

But when you look at his history of comments about Hextall, that entire article is a contradiction to a lot of what he said earlier about Hex that he did a good job in year one, that some of the other stuff after wasn't his fault, then that article it's painted as it's all his fault lol. Also the Malkin negotiations where Hextall's camp always rumoured 4yrs and Yohe acted like it was 3 and then he goes before the signing they should give Geno the lowest possible then a week later the lowest offer is insulting to Geno and Hextall is disrespectful yet he had no figures. In the end he signed for the same as Letang cap wise and everything that dipshit said was wrong.

What bothers me is a f***ton of morons take his shit and Rossi's as Gospel and the worst is a lot here also parroted their narrative and some still do. It's shitty to see while you have other opinions from blokes like Shirey, Jesse, and Benz that are more open, I know Shirey goes back and forth too but he's mostly on the side of not being afraid to criticize everything. Jesse plays it in the middle which is whatever, etc.

But Rossi and Yohe, they'll say shit and then act petty when you call them out. Like the search feature is a foreign concept to those twats.

Hot take:

The pens have been mismanaged since at least 1998 and only got lucky enough to get Sid, Geno, and I guess MAF and Letang, to not have been looking at nearly thirty years of losing.

I mean, not entirely wrong.

Fleury was hugely mismanaged. They dicked him around to avoid paying his bonus for games played as a rookie and then realized they had no choice. Didn't do much to support him in his development and a load of other shit. The fact Fleury is a top 3 in wins all time is a bloody miracle more a testament to just how good Fleury could who've been if they understood development and structure around that time.

 

[Gurglesons]

Hot take:

The pens have been mismanaged since at least 1998 and only got lucky enough to get Sid, Geno, and I guess MAF and Letang, to not have been looking at nearly thirty years of losing.

I think Patrick, Shero, Rutherford, and even Hextall largely did fine.

Patrick didn't have the financial weight of the Crosby era Pens but did a good job drafting to rebuild them.

Shero won us a cup and largely had us competitive for the majority of his tenure here. His drafting after the cup years won us another two, but ultimately his loyalty to Bylsma and lack of focus on the forward group sucked.

Rutherford is Rutheford no need to explain.

Hextall seemed like he wanted to do a rebuild, but was locked into continuing to be competitive. Realistically the team won the divison under him, made the playoffs and took a much better Rangers squad to 7 with no goaltending, and then missed the playoffs by a point. His slow, patient process just made no sense for a team that wanted to compete though.

All of them deserved to go when it was time.

Dubas on the other hand bungeled the Leafs nearly at every move. I don't have a problem with the "core 4" contracts, but they were largely overpaid due to Dubas thinking he was the smartest person in the room. Following that he made multiple trades that made literally no sense like the one for Cody Ceci, the 1st for Folingo, etc. The depth in Toronto was largely the reason they had an inability to win in the playoffs.

He's continued that clueless approach here. Every move he makes seems reactionary with little foresight.

He's not an intelligent manager.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Psychologically, a new coach could absolutely make them younger for a spell.

Jeff Carter didn't get younger for the first year of being a Penguin, but he also kind of did.

Carter was played far too much for his age and the wear and tear. For his age his production was pretty good and I don't really hate that he was a Penguin. His usage was the major issue. It's not something anyone here should be surprised about or shocked. It's literally what Sully does. He has no idea how to spread minutes and who to manage more with minutes and makes you want to hate a player for being on the team but it's entirely just the usage, ice time, and deployment.

In his pea brain he keeps trying to use the late in their career vets like they're all Matt Cullen.

Also the irony of Shero's downfall being Bylsma while it could be argued Rutherford and Hextall's downfall was also not firing a coach - Sullivan but Sullivan always remained unscathed and now Dubas is in the same boat.

None of them will learn because Mike Sullivan speaks in magical complete sentences that mesmerizes them.

 

[SEALBound]

The point is more so that we've specifically created a team that has no spots open to competition.

Once again, look at Calgary's roster. They are giving young players minutes. They are in the same purgatory we are, but they are making intelligent moves based on their future when they trade assets and focusing on creating an environment of development on their NHL squad.

What exactly is our NHL squad?

Who on the roster is contributing to long term success?

Where is the hope?

There is none.

Stop being a Penguins fan and become a Flames fan.

Here's a parting gift from all of us here at HFPens: A link to HFFlames: Calgary Flames

I think you'll be much happier there.

 

[Gurglesons]

There is none.

Stop being a Penguins fan and become a Flames fan.

Here's a parting gift from all of us here at HFPens: A link to HFFlames: Calgary Flames

I think you'll be much happier there.

It's sad this board has been reduced to people like you who can't even deal with people being critical of the team or their own takes.

 

[WickedWrister]

 

[Sideline]

Unsurprising, but good to know they've looked at moving him.