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

[Gurglesons]

And see I think this is totally fair but then you also have Rust, like what do you do there?

Just a mess all around.

Waive Acciari, Hayes or Beau and call up Gruden or Bemstrom.

If performance matters, don't just say it.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

And see I think this is totally fair but then you also have Rust, like what do you do there?

Just a mess all around.

Things should have been done years ago to reimagine the top six but obviously that does us no good, now. As someone who has been rubbing his temples for years about how badly they were setting things up in the top six as the core aged I can't say I'm surprised only disappointed.

The best wing on the team by a long shot is Raks. And in the end he's just kind of a run-of-the-mill second line winger.

 

[SEALBound]

Personally, I would waive a forward.

And it should be Nieto. There is zero reason to have him on the roster. That goes triple and quadruple for when Glass and Lizotte get back from injury.

If Sullivan was a smart and just man (and that's a HUGE IF), he would be running 3/4 sets of "rotations"

Top 6: Sid, Malkin, Rust, Rakell, Bunting, and Beauvillier should be one set. You rotate them around until you find something that's bearable.

3rd line: DOC, Poulin, Puljujarvi, Puustinen, and eventually Glass. Rotate those guys in and out of the lineup under different combinations until you find something that's bearable.

4th line: Hayes, Acciari, Lizotte, and (Poulin, Puusty, Poolparty). Rotate those guys in and out of the lineup under different combinations until you find something that's bearable.

It's so weird at this point how many line combinations you watch Sullivan put together that make you go "WTF? Huh?"

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Glad we are holding Poulin and Pickering responsible for this.

This is the reward that youngsters get for playing well in the AHL. Sitting out.

I mean, cool. They get an NHL salary versus an AHL one. But in terms of their actual development and hockey career, where's the reward for busting your ass in the minors and playing well for your promotion? Sullivan just sits you in favor of useless veteran scrubs that remind him of himself.

 

[Ryder71]

And it should be Nieto. There is zero reason to have him on the roster. That goes triple and quadruple for when Glass and Lizotte get back from injury.

If Sullivan was a smart and just man (and that's a HUGE IF), he would be running 3/4 sets of "rotations"

Top 6: Sid, Malkin, Rust, Rakell, Bunting, and Beauvillier should be one set. You rotate them around until you find something that's bearable.

3rd line: DOC, Poulin, Puljujarvi, Puustinen, and eventually Glass. Rotate those guys in and out of the lineup under different combinations until you find something that's bearable.

4th line: Hayes, Acciari, Lizotte, and (Poulin, Puusty, Poolparty). Rotate those guys in and out of the lineup under different combinations until you find something that's bearable.

It's so weird at this point how many line combinations you watch Sullivan put together that make you go "WTF? Huh?"

This team isn't good, nor is it gonna be good. All you're doing is switching out chairs on the titanic. These issues have been created through ineptitude from several different management groups and a core that refused to leave. You could add McDavid to this team and we'd still suck! Just let it happen!

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Over half of those guys just don't even matter.

It's Jarry, Graves and Karlsson that are the issues. And Karlsson likely gets traded with retention for value sometime in the next year and a half anyway.

On a rebuilding team, it doesn't matter they have all 3 either. What's the gripe? Not enough cap space to use for more picks?

You can also dump - Acciari, Grzelcyk, Nedeljkovic, Nieto, Glass, Rakell, Rust, Bunting, etc.

Focusing on 3 names just to bitch and moan about them some more is f***ing annoying. They want to rebuild more and weaponize cap space, they have a way. If they don't want to do it, who gives a f*** about Graves, Jarry, and Karlsson.

 

[Ryder71]

This is the reward that youngsters get for playing well in the AHL. Sitting out.

I mean, cool. They get an NHL salary versus an AHL one. But in terms of their actual development and hockey career, where's the reward for busting your ass in the minors and playing well for your promotion? Sullivan just sits you in favor of useless veteran scrubs that remind him of himself.

Did it ever occur to you they're trying to lose?

 

[SEALBound]

This team isn't good, nor is it gonna be good. All you're doing is switching out chairs on the titanic. These issues have been created through ineptitude from several different management groups and a core that refused to leave. You could add McDavid to this team and we'd still suck! Just let it happen!

Yes but this is focused a little bit more on maintaining all competing goals.

With the top 6 rotating, you get Sid and Geno their posts and help them "try" to win games.

With the 3rd line, you're getting the young guys playing time to develop while still in a relatively lower-stress environment.

4th line, you have who you have, so rotate them until you find something.

Or heaven forbid you waive someone. But I'm all in on the "suck this year, get the pick. Really suck next year and get McKenna" approach.

 

[Ryder71]

Or heaven forbid you waive someone. But I'm all in on the "suck this year, get the pick. Really suck next year and get McKenna" approach.

Glad to have you aboard!

 

[SEALBound]

And see I think this is totally fair but then you also have Rust, like what do you do there?

Just a mess all around.

It's actually fairly reminiscent of the late-Johnston era in 2015. Where, on paper, as individuals, you had a collection of decent players but there was a synergistic effect of "suck" that went up and down the lineup.

 

[pistolpete11]

Waiving Nieto or whoever isn't going to change anything. Go ahead, do it. You're just replacing 1 nothing player with another, though.

Nothing matters until you get rid of Sullivan. Whole team playing like shit isn't a coincidence.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Zub, Greig and a 2nd for Karlsson at $5 million would be an instant yes for me, which makes me skeptical that the Senators would do it.

Taking out the 2nd does make it seem feasible, and that's much easier to make work with the cap.

Staios is a moron. I think he'd be a good target to fleece the f*** out of. But then you have to assume Kindergarten Kyle can finish his Capri sun fast enough to figure that out.

 

[Gurglesons]

Waiving Nieto or whoever isn't going to change anything. Go ahead, do it. You're just replacing 1 nothing player with another, though.

Nothing matters until you get rid of Sullivan. Whole team playing like shit isn't a coincidence.

Making sure performance is actually rewarded is essential to a "rebuild / retool".

 

[Honour Over Glory]

The player I want to see traded the most is Bryan Rust. The biggest Sullivan bootlicker.

I hope Dubas moves his ass asap.

And it should be Nieto. There is zero reason to have him on the roster. That goes triple and quadruple for when Glass and Lizotte get back from injury.

If Sullivan was a smart and just man (and that's a HUGE IF), he would be running 3/4 sets of "rotations"

Top 6: Sid, Malkin, Rust, Rakell, Bunting, and Beauvillier should be one set. You rotate them around until you find something that's bearable.

3rd line: DOC, Poulin, Puljujarvi, Puustinen, and eventually Glass. Rotate those guys in and out of the lineup under different combinations until you find something that's bearable.

4th line: Hayes, Acciari, Lizotte, and (Poulin, Puusty, Poolparty). Rotate those guys in and out of the lineup under different combinations until you find something that's bearable.

It's so weird at this point how many line combinations you watch Sullivan put together that make you go "WTF? Huh?"

You lost me at a roster with Beauvillier.

I don't get what Sullivan has against trying Bunting with Crosby.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

What's worse for Sullivan? Being fired mid-season or whatever the f*** this is?

Dubas protecting his own ass by not firing him makes some sense, but not firing him to protect his 'legacy' with the team or hurt his feelings or whatever is worse than watching them sink to the bottom of the league.

...I suppose it depends on how the team responds if he were to get fired. If they go on a Theriren-to-Bylsma or Johnston-to-Sullivan type of run, it would look real bad, but if they continue to suck, then it would be a "See!?! It's not my fault" type of situation.

I'm not sure there is a "worse for Sullivan" tbh. Dude's had nothing but obscene positive reinforcement heaped at his feet despite years of failures, and he's gonna get hired immediately after he leaves if he wants to keep coaching. /shrug

I don't think Dubas is keeping Sullivan around to act as a lightning rod of criticism. I think Dubas is just kind of a doofus and thinks extremely highly of Sullivan despite all of the evidence showing the dude's a fraud coach.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Waiving Nieto or whoever isn't going to change anything. Go ahead, do it. You're just replacing 1 nothing player with another, though.

Nothing matters until you get rid of Sullivan. Whole team playing like shit isn't a coincidence.

What's REAL fun about all this is that everyone's little plan to sell off everything is getting derailed by the moron coach running the whole team's value into the ground. There truly is no real way to move on and rebuild like ya'll want to so badly with that turdbag still kickin' around.

 

[pistolpete11]

Making sure performance is actually rewarded is essential to a "rebuild / retool".

Can't waive the whole team.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

What's REAL fun about all this is that everyone's little plan to sell off everything is getting derailed by the moron coach running the whole team's value into the ground. There truly is no real way to move on and rebuild like ya'll want to so badly with that turdbag still kickin' around.

If you got rid of 2 players, all Sullivan would do is barely play the youth 8mins a game on the 4th line and that'd be the extent of his playing youth bs.

It's frustrating that Werner and Henry talk about how they told Sid they'd be a contender and Dubas is like we aren't one and will be selling off, so what the f*** is the plan anymore?

Can't waive the whole team.

I wanted to see what a better coach could do with this roster. Just to see how poorly Sullivan is really using it in a shitty system. Just that.

Instead another year of moving parts while the main dipshit causing the issues remains.

 

[Ryder71]

Waiving Nieto or whoever isn't going to change anything. Go ahead, do it. You're just replacing 1 nothing player with another, though.

Nothing matters until you get rid of Sullivan. Whole team playing like shit isn't a coincidence.

Getting rid of Sullivan doesn't turn the clock back either. Sid and Geno aren't magically 10 years younger. The team is bad, let em plummet!

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Maybe another blown 2-goal lead will push Sullivan to his own "dey soff" rant and finally put the last nail in the coffin.

Man, how many nails does this coffin have? When does it cease to be wood and just full of metal? lol

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I always found the wording of this to be curious, you say resources to Kyle to help build a winner but they specifically chose to say Sully first and then Kyle. Lol.

“We’re here to win Stanley Cups, so let’s start with that,” Werner told reporters during the first intermission of Wednesday’s season opener against the Rangers.

“We got involved with this because this is an incredible team with a great legacy, and our responsibility is to bring another Stanley Cup. We know that we’re in a period of some transition. We are so confident in Kyle’s vision. ... Our responsibility as FSG is to give Sully and Kyle the resources that they need to win.”

https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2024/10/09/tom-werner-fenway-sports-group-mike-sullivan-sidney-crosby-season-opener/stories/202410090126

"We're going to be better next year," Werner promised Crosby.

"We're going to go on a run," was Crosby's response, refusing to give up on the current season.

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Pittsburgh Steelers, Penguins, Pirates News, Live Coverage | DK Pittsburgh Sports

www.dkpittsburghsports.com

Well Werner, they are actually as bad as the 2005-06 Penguins. That ain't better. Lol. Also the team isn't younger and the 5 players Dubas brought in, Sullivan still chose to go veteran heavy.

Everything they say is contradictory af.

Man, how many nails does this coffin have? When does it cease to be wood and just full of metal? lol

They can be a lottery pick team until the end of the season and they'd just blame Dubas anyway.

Like poor Sullivan, he has players that didn't listen to him, they ignored his adjustments that he made that he won't discuss, they showed no passion under his guidance, Dubas kept adding players that didn't work, poor Sullivan, what else could he do?

Some shit like that.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Not firing Sully is a good thing at this point IMO

I think there’s a good chance this team would play itself out of the early lottery if he got fired. Into the mid lottery lmao.

Best thing for this squad is to be complete shit. Just trade everyone you can before their value tanks completely. Get a new coach in the offseason that way you can do the “mutual parting of ways” announcement.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Yeah I don't think anybody on this roster really has a ton of value in a vacuum. Sully's coaching has pretty much made sure of it if there was any question.

Between the consensus of tradeable assets with decent value--Petts, Rakell, Rust (off-season move)--you miiiiiight have a 1st rounder in there from some team if they fall head over heels for the player. Probably just a bunch of 2nd rounders and/or B-tier prospects, at best.

Then you've got guys who probably don't return much at all, if anything notable; EK (off-season move), DOC, Puljujarvi. Miiiight be able to get a late 1st in the EK deal, but you're without a doubt required to retain 50% to even get teams listening imo.

Next you've got a bunch of nothing with the Bunting, Beau, Acciari, Nieto, Hayes, Glass, Grz, Lizotte, Shea, St. Ivany, etc.

Then you've got the "probably have to pay to remove" guys like Graves and Jarry.

Interested to see what happens with Letang. I doubt he leaves, but that could be interesting.

Not firing Sully is a good thing at this point IMO

I think there’s a good chance this team would play itself out of the early lottery if he got fired. Into the mid lottery lmao.

Best thing for this squad is to be complete shit. Just trade everyone you can before their value tanks completely.

For sure. It sucks but it is what it is. You gotta try and secure that Martone, Misa, Schaefer pick as best you can, and that means suffering through the Sullivan Slog and riding guys like Jarry, Ned, and Grz from here on out.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yeah I don't think anybody on this roster really has a ton of value in a vacuum. Sully's coaching has pretty much made sure of it if there was any question.

Between the consensus of tradeable assets with decent value--Petts, Rakell, Rust (off-season move)--you miiiiiight have a 1st rounder in there from some team if they fall head over heels for the player. Probably just a bunch of 2nd rounders and/or B-tier prospects, at best.

Then you've got guys who probably don't return much at all, if anything notable; EK (off-season move), DOC, Puljujarvi. Miiiight be able to get a late 1st in the EK deal, but you're without a doubt required to retain 50% to even get teams listening imo.

Next you've got a bunch of nothing with the Bunting, Beau, Acciari, Nieto, Hayes, Glass, Grz, Lizotte, Shea, St. Ivany, etc.

Then you've got the "probably have to pay to remove" guys like Graves and Jarry.

Interested to see what happens with Letang. I doubt he leaves, but that could be interesting.

If DOC was performing better (15g 15a pace) we could easily get a 2nd for him given his cap hit.

 

[DesertedPenguin]