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

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't even remember what I said that pissed you off though I assume it was about TJ. Tbh Pixies and I disagree on a lot of things and hating TJ might be one of the few points where we agree.

It wasn't and I truly don't care if you like or dislike TJ.

I defended Malkin last season when it went beyond the play and into personal bullshit, I've done the same for TJ when I've seen it as well as any other player, but if you need to make it about that to feel better about something, go for it mate.

 

[Pancakes]

It wasn't and I truly don't care if you like or dislike TJ.

I defended Malkin last season when it went beyond the play and into personal bullshit, I've done the same for TJ when I've seen it as well as any other player, but if you need to make it about that to feel better about something, go for it mate.

I don't need to make it about anything. I try to get along with everyone here. Sometimes emotions run high in gdts and people (myself included) post stupid shit. It is what it is. I get over it.

 

[Shady Machine]

Damn you guys got lame after I stopped posting regularly. Too much whining

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Supposedly Boston misses Grzelcyk a lot as McAvoy's partner. I wonder if Dubas can send his ass there for a pick or two.

Or something like...

Wotherspoon + 3rd for Grzelcyk + 4th.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don't need to make it about anything. I try to get along with everyone here. Sometimes emotions run high in gdts and people (myself included) post stupid shit. It is what it is. I get over it.

Gurgles' shtick that week and you essentially doing the same was starting to drag me into it and down. I could either react with a post that gets me in shit or I ignore both of you for my own sanity and to not ruin this place for myself.

I took both off a few days later as I felt even if I didn't really care for the posts I should still see the other point of view. Yours mostly. Gurgles not so much.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

With the Ducks Line up.

Malkin-Crosby-Rakell
O’Connor-Eller-Puustinen
Bunting-Glass-Acciari
Hayes-Lizotte-Beauvillier

L1 and L2 were fine and even L3 with Glass and Bunting but I'd definitely drop Acciari down to the 4th line, healthy scratch Hayes and put Puljujarvi with Glass and Bunts.

Malkin, Crosby, Rakell
O'Connor, Eller, Puustinen
Bunting, Glass, Puljujarvi
Beauvillier, Lizotte, Acciari

Watch Sullivan healthy scratch Puustinen instead and dress JP for that spot and not healthy scratch Hayes who has deserved it for his last couple.

I barely noticed Lizotte in this game.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Sid is putting up points again, but I felt like that was going to happen the moment he put Rakell with him in the Canucks game, that always needed to be the move, it just took Sullivan forever to get there unfortunately. But it kind of makes Geno a giant decoy on that line, he was screwed with Bunting on his wing for the last 2 (Edm & Cgy) and then had JP and Raks vs the Jets, neither of those pairings helped him at all, but Beau & Rust did and Doc & Puusty are also fine with Geno when they've been tried.

Rakell with Sid was always the right call, but I don't think that LW needs Geno to be there, he needs to be back on his own line. I feel Sid with Rakell gets most of Sid's game back on track as we've seen in the last 2, Rakell just naturally has with his strong 2-way game and his shot now that his shoulder isn't out of whack. They gotta stop trying Doc with Sid this season, it hasn't worked well and oddly enough the best LW for Sid & Rakell has been Beauvillier, the speed of Beauvillier helps the two and they've controlled a lot of the play as a trio, creating a good amount of high danger chances and limited them as well, I think the trio deserved a longer look.

Beauvillier, Crosby, Rakell
O'Connor, Malkin, Puustinen
Bunting, Eller, Glass
Puljujarvi, Lizotte, Acciari

L2 - Doc, Eller, and Puustinen all had 1 shot each, they weren't bad, but I think Geno would get more out of the two young wingers. They both did a lot of good things, but couldn't get on the scoresheet, they had an amazing first shift that put the pressure on the Ducks early that allowed the Pens to change up on the fly and keep the pressure going where it felt like the first 5+ mins was all in the Duck end because of how well Doc-Eller-Puusty cycled and kept the puck deep.
L3 - 2 defensive wingers that can wreak some havoc with forechecking might get Bunting going, he had a better game vs Ducks
L4 - I'd give this a whirl, it's been great with Hayes there and maybe you roll with that as an option, but Hayes has had 2 terrible games, he should sit. JP is fine on his off wing, Lizotte is the better faceoff man between him and Acciari.

Bunting does play well with Glass, so that is encouraging enough to try.

Beau/Bunting-Glass-Bunting/Beau did have a pretty damn good game as a trio though.

I argued this all summer. Going into the season with DOC penciled in on the top line was crazy, but some folks on here kept going on about it's fine and how good the line looked down the stretch.

Sorry, but you can't replace a point per game player with a 30 point player and say, "everything's fine". DOC, no matter how good he is, isn't a top line player and isn't the answer to replacing a 35+ goal, 75+ point winger on Sid's wing. Especially when the other winger on the line is an often injured, incredibly streaky Rust.

I don't think anyone thought a player or two were going to replace Jake's production. At best, you hoped the usage would be better so you got some extra scoring out of other lines - Like Doc putting up 40+, Puustinen getting better usage to get 40+ (points, not goals), Bunting not falling off the face of the earth and producing his career average of 50+ and a healthy Rakell being back to 60+ would have mitigated that loss by committee, but we forgot the biggest X factor - Mike Sullivan. Sullivan still keeps doing the most bizarre things with his line-up, it takes him far too long to get to the right usage and then he will mess up more things to make one of the things work.

I didn't want to answer that on the NHL thread to derail it.

 

[Gurglesons]

I’m a Waffles guy.

 

[Pancakes]

Gurgles' shtick that week and you essentially doing the same was starting to drag me into it and down. I could either react with a post that gets me in shit or I ignore both of you for my own sanity and to not ruin this place for myself.

I took both off a few days later as I felt even if I didn't really care for the posts I should still see the other point of view. Yours mostly. Gurgles not so much.

Fair enough.

I’m a Waffles guy.

That's troll bait

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Fair enough.

That's troll bait

You can never trust blokes that work in HR, haha. Especially those that will quite literally argue against their own stance just to spite you.

But I see posts and it's so out of context lol with the way the ignore feature works here, so I have to log out or go in private to see if it was a reply to me without a quote or something else. There has to be a better way to show that sort of thing I think. Like I shouldn't be able to reply to him, but I should be able to see the quote. Just of the sake of coherency.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Didn't know DOC could sing like this.

 

[Malkinstheman]

You can never trust blokes that work in HR, haha. Especially those that will quite literally argue against their own stance just to spite you.

But I see posts and it's so out of context lol with the way the ignore feature works here, so I have to log out or go in private to see if it was a reply to me without a quote or something else. There has to be a better way to show that sort of thing I think. Like I shouldn't be able to reply to him, but I should be able to see the quote. Just of the sake of coherency.

Man, still being able to see replies to ignored users is awful. It's even more awful when they are the ones driving the convo with their incessant complaining

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Man, still being able to see replies to ignored users is awful. It's even more awful when they are the ones driving the convo with their incessant complaining

Ok in that sense, it's best I don't see it at all. But I guess then the solve would be replies to the ignore user should be marked as "replied to ignored user" so it helps with context.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

It's funny to say Habs are ass when they've scored almost the same amount of goals and allowed almost the same, similar records too lol.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I have always given respect to those who give it to me.


Anyways, It sounds like we're in agreement. If we both want the same thing, it should work out.

Yea and again I didn't tell you to f*** off yet you decided to say it to me.
I don't think that is the definition of "mutual respect"

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Checks thread and..

 

[eXile3]

It's funny to say Habs are ass when they've scored almost the same amount of goals and allowed almost the same, similar records too lol.

Because we are ass as well. Correct.

 

[Andy99]

This is from Sportsnet’s Power Rankings article published before the Anaheim game last night…lol

31. Pittsburgh Penguins (3-7-1) The darkness is just setting in and the tunnel that shows the light out doesn’t have a single brick laid yet.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Yea and again I didn't tell you to f*** off yet you decided to say it to me.
I don't think that is the definition of "mutual respect"

You fed me that "I'll give you 2 guesses to figure out" post, and gave me A and B. Like you're my instructor or something.
Am I supposed to roll over and smile when someone insults my intelligence?

Unlock your dms if you wanna finish this convo. I'm done talking personal stuff here.

 

[Andy99]

Yeah, expecting to be worse than last season…

“Q: Is this turning into last season?

In 2023-24, the Penguins started out 3-6-0 before rattling off a five-game winning streak (which for context came at the hands of not exactly premium opponents in SJ, ANA, LA, BUF and CBJ).

Still, the winning streak buoyed the season in the early going, Pittsburgh was 29th in points% on November 3rd last year, and just 11 days later after that winning streak was up to a respectable 16th. The good news about wild swings early in the year is that a lot of ground can be made up in a small amount of time.

Fast forward a year, and though many of the variables are different to make up the season (the power play is way better, the team defense is way, way worse) the outcomes between where the Pens were last year and where they are now are strikingly similar.

As of yesterday morning, Pittsburgh was 31st in points%, off to a 3-7-1 start. They took the first step by grinding out a win over Anaheim last night, and have what could be two more winnable games ahead against bottom-end teams currently on losing streaks against Montreal and the Islanders. Two more wins for Pittsburgh won’t totally dig them out of their early hole, but it would be welcome just the same for an effort to get things as back on track as they can be. (This isn’t to assume sure victories are ahead, but to continue what could be another parallel from 2023-24 if the Pens can start stacking a few wins in early November).

Unfortunately, that is when the scheduling similarities stop, being as the Pens play on the road against Carolina and Washington next week and may face a reality check. Those teams have matching 7-2-0 records this year and won’t be confused for the dreck that padded last season’s early November winning streak. It would be a lot more impressive (or unlikely, depending on what word you want to use) this year to rattle off an extended early November winning streak, but at some point the team is going to have to not be road kill for the better clubs across the league if they want to escape the bottom of the standings.”

Dump n’ Chase: For Pens, time is a flat circle

This season is developing a lot like the start of last season

www.pensburgh.com

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Yeah, expecting to be worse than last season…

“Q: Is this turning into last season?

In 2023-24, the Penguins started out 3-6-0 before rattling off a five-game winning streak (which for context came at the hands of not exactly premium opponents in SJ, ANA, LA, BUF and CBJ).

Still, the winning streak buoyed the season in the early going, Pittsburgh was 29th in points% on November 3rd last year, and just 11 days later after that winning streak was up to a respectable 16th. The good news about wild swings early in the year is that a lot of ground can be made up in a small amount of time.

Fast forward a year, and though many of the variables are different to make up the season (the power play is way better, the team defense is way, way worse) the outcomes between where the Pens were last year and where they are now are strikingly similar.

As of yesterday morning, Pittsburgh was 31st in points%, off to a 3-7-1 start. They took the first step by grinding out a win over Anaheim last night, and have what could be two more winnable games ahead against bottom-end teams currently on losing streaks against Montreal and the Islanders. Two more wins for Pittsburgh won’t totally dig them out of their early hole, but it would be welcome just the same for an effort to get things as back on track as they can be. (This isn’t to assume sure victories are ahead, but to continue what could be another parallel from 2023-24 if the Pens can start stacking a few wins in early November).

Unfortunately, that is when the scheduling similarities stop, being as the Pens play on the road against Carolina and Washington next week and may face a reality check. Those teams have matching 7-2-0 records this year and won’t be confused for the dreck that padded last season’s early November winning streak. It would be a lot more impressive (or unlikely, depending on what word you want to use) this year to rattle off an extended early November winning streak, but at some point the team is going to have to not be road kill for the better clubs across the league if they want to escape the bottom of the standings.”

Dump n’ Chase: For Pens, time is a flat circle

This season is developing a lot like the start of last season

www.pensburgh.com

November is pretty tough workload-wise and middling in terms of difficulty of opponents.
4 B2B's. Three 3-in-4's.
7 likely playoff teams. 6 non-ones. Well, I suppose it depends whether you see Washington as frauds or not.

The trend couldn't be more clear right now. They're 0-7-0 vs clear playoff calibre teams and get points from the rest.
The fact that the logical outcomes are happening breaks NHL parity tradition.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yeah, expecting to be worse than last season…

“Q: Is this turning into last season?

In 2023-24, the Penguins started out 3-6-0 before rattling off a five-game winning streak (which for context came at the hands of not exactly premium opponents in SJ, ANA, LA, BUF and CBJ).

Still, the winning streak buoyed the season in the early going, Pittsburgh was 29th in points% on November 3rd last year, and just 11 days later after that winning streak was up to a respectable 16th. The good news about wild swings early in the year is that a lot of ground can be made up in a small amount of time.

Fast forward a year, and though many of the variables are different to make up the season (the power play is way better, the team defense is way, way worse) the outcomes between where the Pens were last year and where they are now are strikingly similar.

As of yesterday morning, Pittsburgh was 31st in points%, off to a 3-7-1 start. They took the first step by grinding out a win over Anaheim last night, and have what could be two more winnable games ahead against bottom-end teams currently on losing streaks against Montreal and the Islanders. Two more wins for Pittsburgh won’t totally dig them out of their early hole, but it would be welcome just the same for an effort to get things as back on track as they can be. (This isn’t to assume sure victories are ahead, but to continue what could be another parallel from 2023-24 if the Pens can start stacking a few wins in early November).

Unfortunately, that is when the scheduling similarities stop, being as the Pens play on the road against Carolina and Washington next week and may face a reality check. Those teams have matching 7-2-0 records this year and won’t be confused for the dreck that padded last season’s early November winning streak. It would be a lot more impressive (or unlikely, depending on what word you want to use) this year to rattle off an extended early November winning streak, but at some point the team is going to have to not be road kill for the better clubs across the league if they want to escape the bottom of the standings.”

Dump n’ Chase: For Pens, time is a flat circle

This season is developing a lot like the start of last season

www.pensburgh.com

At this time, I don't see any reason to want to escape the bottom of the standings.

This team would need to go on a like 10 game point streak to get into a relative playoff position.

 

[Andy99]

November is pretty tough workload-wise and middling in terms of difficulty of opponents.
4 B2B's. Three 3-in-4's.
7 likely playoff teams. 6 non-ones. Well, I suppose it depends whether you see Washington as frauds or not.

The trend couldn't be more clear right now. They're 0-7-0 vs clear playoff calibre teams and get points from the rest.
The fact that the logical outcomes are happening breaks NHL parity tradition.

That would lead us to a below .500% by Thanksgiving…dont see the Caps as frauds though they might not make the playoffs by end of the season…they were a playoff team last season, in a playoff position now and they have a clear upgrade at GM, coach and talent to the Pens lol

 

[Gurglesons]

The annoying part about this draft is outside of Hagens there are no absolute game changers.

It's 2012 all over again. We get a high draft pick in a relatively weak class.

Sure would be nice to have McGroarty and Dickinson versus EK65.