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

[Empoleon8771]

You know it's weird because I generally HATE maple syrup but a little on tendies or (particularly link) sausage and it's kinda awesome.

I think I mostly don't like syrup because I associate it with turning your pancakes into a giant sloppy pile of tree-flavored mush. Yum.

People drench pancakes in syrup because it's easy to mask a shitty, bland pancake with syrup.

I generally don't like sweet breakfasts too much, but if you're going that route, get a good Belgian waffle with powered sugar and cinnamon. Get a sweet pastry you can add syrup to, not a bland slice of bread that you'll drown in syrup.

That’s why my controversial opinion is this: French toast sticks that you can dip into a cup of syrup is better than both pancakes and waffles.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

People drench pancakes in syrup because it's easy to mask a shitty, bland pancake with syrup.

I generally don't like sweet breakfasts too much, but if you're going that route, get a good Belgian waffle with powered sugar and cinnamon. Get a sweet pastry you can add syrup to, not a bland slice of bread that you'll drown in syrup.

I'm fine with pancakes but I agree that eating a plate full of liquid sugar for breakfast isn't at all my thing. Pancakes are OK with some butter and maybe a light drizzling of a simple berry syrup. I'm generally too lazy/tired to mess with waffles but they are largely in the same boat to me. If I even do breakfast I'll just eat a whole pound of bacon and wash it down with a vat of ridiculously strong coffee like nature intended.

The chocolate chip pancakes confuse me, too. Just eat a goddamned cookie.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

I was in Sacramento a couple months ago and had breakfast at a place called The Morning Fork. I ordered the Pistachio Waffle, which was listed as a Belgian waffle, pistachios, almonds, and marzipan butter. Generally speaking, that description was correct, but not thorough enough. They gave me most of the pistachios and almonds in northern California that day. It was heaping and incredible.

 

[BusinessGoose]

I was in Sacramento a couple months ago and had breakfast at a place called The Morning Fork. I ordered the Pistachio Waffle, which was listed as a Belgian waffle, pistachios, almonds, and marzipan butter. Generally speaking, that description was correct, but not thorough enough. They gave me most of the pistachios and almonds in northern California that day. It was heaping and incredible.

Yikes. I'll have to avoid that lol

 

[SEALBound]

I feel like some of you think Denny's is "fine dining".

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I feel like some of you think Denny's is "fine dining".

Relevant to discussion

 

[Pancakes]

I feel like some of you think Denny's is "fine dining".

Spoken like a man who has never had some Denny's when you're drunk out of your mind.

Would I eat it sober? Most of the time, no. But when I'm drunk Dennys slaps.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I've been on many, many drunken degenerate Dennys and Eat n Park adventures. Going back to when there used to be smoking sections.

Dennys is pretty gnarly but it's at least better than Shoney's and IHOP.

 

[SEALBound]

Spoken like a man who has never had some Denny's when you're drunk out of your mind.

Would I eat it sober? Most of the time, no. But when I'm drunk Dennys slaps.

You don't think I've had a "Moons Over My Hammy" at 3am? Think again son.

If I need breakfast, I go to my local market and get a breakfast burrito with fresh ingredients. They put a chipotle sauce on it to get things running, perfect for that early morning evacuation assistance. The wife unit demands good coffee on Saturday mornings, so I tend to treat myself.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You know it's weird because I generally HATE maple syrup but a little on tendies or (particularly link) sausage and it's kinda awesome.

I think I mostly don't like syrup because I associate it with turning your pancakes into a giant sloppy pile of tree-flavored mush. Yum.

Waffles have always been better.

I have my own waffle iron. Easy to make some fun ones with different ingredients.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I've been on many, many drunken degenerate Dennys and Eat n Park adventures. Going back to when there used to be smoking sections.

Dennys is pretty gnarly but it's at least better than Shoney's and IHOP.

We have few Denny's here in Canada. But when I went on Vancouver island, that Grand Slam Breakfast was heaven.
That being said, it felt like if I had that several days in a row, I'd shuffle off this mortal coil.
Possibly worth? At least I wouldn't have to watch this organization shame itself like this.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Penguins are the lead element to Friedman's 32 Thoughts tonight.

32 Thoughts: Where do the Penguins go from here?

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a trade on Tuesday, but that won't be the last move for the struggling team. In this week's thoughts, Elliotte Friedman writes about the possibilities for the Penguins, Auston Matthews' injury, upcoming CBA negotiations, and more.

www.sportsnet.ca

Crosby and Malkin aren't available; they would have to make the call to move on, not the Penguins.

Letang's no-move clause, contract length, and injury history makes him difficult to move, even if he wanted out.

Karlsson could be moved, but he has a control. His contract structure could make it less of a burden to move if he does agree to a move.

Friedman thinks Pettersson and DOC will be next to move.

And on the elephant in the room:

As for Mike Sullivan: This is a coach who would be coveted elsewhere, is a huge favourite of ownership and maintains a strong relationship with Crosby. Dubas is against giving coaches the dreaded "vote of confidence.” He thinks it is counter-productive.

It’s fair to wonder if the time has come for Sullivan in Pittsburgh — that happens to all coaches — but, in the meantime, he’s taking no shortcuts. He’s just as committed as ever to solving the Penguins’ problems. If they fire him, they’re not doing it because he’s a bad coach. They’re doing it because they believe the Penguins need a new voice and someone else can do a better job with Pittsburgh as presently constructed.

 

[Turin]

O'Connor is a guy I would have liked to see under a different coach. Oh well.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'd be really surprised if Karlsson is even movable, but the fact that Friedman says it's possible does make me somewhat confident. With Brunicke showing he's nearly NHL ready, I'd rather ship Karlsson out and have Letang mentor Brunicke.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I'd be really surprised if Karlsson is even movable, but the fact that Friedman says it's possible does make me somewhat confident. With Brunicke showing he's nearly NHL ready, I'd rather ship Karlsson out and have Letang mentor Brunicke.

I have to figure that a Karlsson move would have to happen in the offseason just because of the contract machinations, the likelihood of having to retain, potentially using a third team to retain more, etc.

Everything else should be able to be done by the deadline if it makes sense.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I have to figure that a Karlsson move would have to happen in the offseason just because of the contract machinations, the likelihood of having to retain, potentially using a third team to retain more, etc.

Everything else should be able to be done by the deadline if it makes sense.

Yeah I think the Penguins would be completely responsible for his $5 million signing bonus in July 2025, but beyond that he's really not owed much money beyond that. He's owed a $4 million in salary in 2025-2026, a $6 million signing bonus in July 2026 and a $1.5 million salary in 2026-2027. Any team trading for him after next July would likely only be paying him about $9 million total for 2 years. While the AAV would be super high it's actually not much of a money commitment.

I think San Jose would owe about $700k and the Penguins would likely be owing about $2.5 million of his remaining pay (retaining 40%). That just leaves $2.3 million in base salary and the $6 million signing bonus in July 2026 as what any acquiring team would pay for Karlsson.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Edit: my math is all wrong because it was confirmed that signing bonuses are included in salary retention. Either way, Karlsson is only owed $11.5 million after July 2025 and the Sharks are already eating $1.5 million of that. The Penguins could eat half of his remaining deal and have a $5 million AAV with only $5 million in total money owed for whatever team is acquiring Karlsson.

In the end, San Jose ended up eating about $5 million total over 4 years with their retention and the Penguins can eat an additional $5 million over 2 years to make Karlsson a very attractive trade piece.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Ffs just waive Puustinen and end the misery, if they want to use him as a 4th line winger, then call up Bemstrom and waste him there and waive the lad so hopefully some team picks him up or he goes to WBS and plays regularly in better usage.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

32 Thoughts: Where do the Penguins go from here?

The Pittsburgh Penguins made a trade on Tuesday, but that won't be the last move for the struggling team. In this week's thoughts, Elliotte Friedman writes about the possibilities for the Penguins, Auston Matthews' injury, upcoming CBA negotiations, and more.

www.sportsnet.ca

Pittsburgh’s got good pieces with one more year — Noel Acciari, Michael Bunting and Alex Nedeljkovic

Glad to see the consensus is most if not all of Petts, DOC, Ned, Acciari, and EK are on their way out in the next 8 months or so. Would love if Rust was also listed as a guy likely to move.

Still hoping this team craters and there's a mutual parting of ways between the team and Sullivan as soon as the regular season's over.

 

[pistolpete11]

Oh how I miss the spicy takes on food, music, etc.

Reminds me of better times. Like the offseason.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

This is quite literally the funniest shit I have ever read about the Penguins...

This team isn’t going to reach the postseason. It isn’t a threat. It can’t sustain good play for more than 20 minutes at a time. Why is it necessary for this team to spend to the salary cap? Why are veterans like Kevin Hayes, Noel Acciari and Ryan Graves playing in front of young players? Salaries be damned, it’s time for that to stop. A youth movement is only reasonable at this point.

The coach chooses the line-up, no one is telling Sullivan to keep dressing Acciari and by this point, Hayes has missed 4 games, so what the f*** is he on about Hayes for? Graves has been fine on the 3rd pairing at this stage as well. Acciari is the egregious one for Sullivan, he's been used in some of the most bizarre usage out of anyone on this team not named Beauvillier. Acciari has been on the 2nd line, 3rd line, gets played a ton and still is the worst forward on this team. That's on the coach. The Coach also healthy scratched Jesse Puljujarvi for some bizarre and idiotic reasons I am sure, then played him and Puusty in some of the most garbage usage, that's the coach's fault.

So, yeah, some conversations need to be had.

• Is Mike Sullivan the right man to coach this team? It’s a valid question. Something isn’t working regarding the message from Sullivan’s staff and the team. I hold Sullivan in the highest regard as a man and coach. He’s great. His place in franchise lore is safe. But is this a well-coached team? It sure doesn’t look like one.

It’s time Dubas talked with Sullivan. I’m not saying Sullivan should be fired. I’m saying the coaching staff needs to be held accountable because what we are watching isn’t acceptable.

Sullivan was vulnerable and direct after the game.

“I’m not going to sit here and say I’m frustrated,” Sullivan said. “I’m not. I’m determined to move this team forward. I know we’re a way better hockey team than what we displayed today. And I know we have a group of guys who care. None of us feel good about this. We’re trying to get better every day. We’re trying to understand what winning needs to look like with the team we have right now. It means cutting out risk. It means competing hard. It means making sure we’re playing defense when it’s required.”

It was classic Sullivan. I know the man well enough to know he was being sincere. He’s the eternal optimist and absolutely believes in this group, especially the core. It’s admirable, really.

But it’s a group that clearly doesn’t listen to him. Maybe that’s the group’s fault. But this needs to be addressed and figured out quickly.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5916390/2024/11/11/penguins-stars-kyle-dubas-difficult-decisions-yohe/?source=emp_shared_article

He verbally jerked off Mike Sullivan in this part, woe is Mike. Seemingly not being good and needs Dubas to talk to him, but also such a fantastic human being that the players don't listen to, lol.


We need to be realistic, I think FSG, Werner especially, might actually take shit Yohe says as legit facts. That's a scary thought, also makes a lot of sense.

 

[MeinerEiner]

This is quite literally the funniest shit I have ever read about the Penguins...


The coach chooses the line-up, no one is telling Sullivan to keep dressing Acciari and by this point, Hayes has missed 4 games, so what the f*** is he on about Hayes for? Graves has been fine on the 3rd pairing at this stage as well. Acciari is the egregious one for Sullivan, he's been used in some of the most bizarre usage out of anyone on this team not named Beauvillier. Acciari has been on the 2nd line, 3rd line, gets played a ton and still is the worst forward on this team. That's on the coach. The Coach also healthy scratched Jesse Puljujarvi for some bizarre and idiotic reasons I am sure, then played him and Puusty in some of the most garbage usage, that's the coach's fault.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5916390/2024/11/11/penguins-stars-kyle-dubas-difficult-decisions-yohe/?source=emp_shared_article

He verbally jerked off Mike Sullivan in this part, woe is Mike. Seemingly not being good and needs Dubas to talk to him, but also such a fantastic human being that the players don't listen to, lol.


We need to be realistic, I think FSG, Werner especially, might actually take shit Yohe says as legit facts. That's a scary thought, also makes a lot of sense.

The question is why should the players listen to him? His system is being figured out and he refuses to adjust accordingly to the strength of his players. His usage of players is a disaster and he is also not good in developing young players.

If I were a player I wouldn’t listen to him either. Sullivan is a bad bad coach who gets exposed on a regular base.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

The question is why should the players listen to him? His system is being figured out and he refuses to adjust accordingly to the strength of his players. His usage of players is a disaster and he is also not good in developing young players.

If I were a player I wouldn’t listen to him either. Sullivan is a bad bad coach who gets exposed on a regular base.

That's the issue, the narrative though is that Sullivan is a fantastic coach and the players are the reason it's failing. But if you remember what Bryan Rust said, how could the message goal stale when there's so much turnover? So really, if Rust says the message can't be stale because of so many changes, then the message was shit to begin with.


Edit:

“If you really think about it, there’s only four guys — five guys maybe — who have continuously been here (since 2015),” Rust said. “There a whole lot of new players and turnover where it is a fresh message. And I think since he delivers his message with such passion and conviction, it’s hard to not continually listen to it. The way he delivers it and the details and the information that he has to back his way of thinking and his messages is something that you can’t really argue against.”

Won't change tactics? Won't play the kids? Penguins coach Mike Sullivan pushes back at critics' 'narratives'

During his time as a defenseman with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mike Matheson had a way with words. Especially when it came to those who had a way with words. Like his coach at that time, Mike Sullivan. “The first thing I noticed about him is just the way he speaks,”

triblive.com

 

[MeinerEiner]

That's the issue, the narrative though is that Sullivan is a fantastic coach and the players are the reason it's failing. But if you remember what Bryan Rust said, how could the message goal stale when there's so much turnover? So really, if Rust says the message can't be stale because of so many changes, then the message was shit to begin with.

I think this narrative will change, when Sullivan is coaching the US team at the Olympics. With this possible roster the team should be a lock for the final.

Anyways, I have a feeling there won’t be any changes to the Pens unless Sullivan is gone. I don’t understand what FSG sees in him but that’s also none of my business. I stopped watching the games and watch the highlights sometimes. This team is boring to watch.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Also that same article...

“We’ve made so many adjustments to our overall game and how we play in all three zones in the nine years that I’ve been here,” Sullivan said. “When people suggest that or people bang that drum, no one understands the specifics or the details of that narrative. And I’m not naive to sit here and say that I’m not aware of that. It’s just half-truths. I really don’t have a lot of interest in that. My job is to put a game plan on the ice, a game plan that we think gives the players that we have the best opportunity to have success. We go through a due diligence process constantly with respect to that. We’ve made all kinds of adjustments to our game.

“Now, you guys (in the media) don’t always see it, and I’m not going to share the details of what those look like. But to say we’re playing the same exact way … we didn’t even play the same way in 2017 that we did in 2016. There were adjustments made in our defensive-zone coverage in 2017 in the Stanley Cup Final series against Nashville that was different than any other element of what we did. … We felt that it was an adjustment that we needed to make in order to try to try to win the series. We adopted that after we had success. We constantly look at that in how we’re going to play.”

Seth stated he asked Mike to explain what those adjustments are and he refused to go into any details at all. So he claimed he made adjustments which would obviously prompt a sports journalist to ask "what were those adjustments" and Sullivan and his arrogance goes on about how the media doesn't always see it, he won't go into it, just a "trust me, I made adjustments, you won't see it though..."

https://x.com/i/web/status/1843852000594948474

Lol, how the f*** does anyone think this bloke is this genius coach? I don't get it, is it this insane ability to speak in complete sentences that puts a spell on Werner and Henry at FSG as well as Dubas?

I think this narrative will change, when Sullivan is coaching the US team at the Olympics. With this possible roster the team should be a lock for the final.

Anyways, I have a feeling there won’t be any changes to the Pens unless Sullivan is gone. I don’t understand what FSG sees in him but that’s also none of my business. I stopped watching the games and watch the highlights sometimes. This team is boring to watch.

The hope is that when he coaches the US team, his system is the biggest issue as the roster will be so stacked he'd have a hard time being an idiot about it, it would then have to be how he manages the minutes and his shitty system that gets exploited to shit by the other 3 teams.

With our luck - Hynes might do something positive on that staff and help Sullivan, which will again mask his shit.