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

[Sidney the Kidney]

I’ll happily admit when I’m wrong.

I am right a lot though. Good point.

If you had to admit it every time you were wrong, you'd be banned from posting in threads because it would be considered spamming.

 

[Turin]

So Hronek is out long-term and the Canucks are running this D:

Hughes-Myers
Brannstrom-Juulsen
Soucy-Desharnais

They need a Rd first but come on JR, make your patented 1st + prospect deal for Pettersson

Hey maybe he wants Letang

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Who were DOC's teammates on USA? I think Tage was. Maybe BUF has interest as I think those two had chemistry.

 

[Speaker City]

It would likely be McGroarty and a minor plus, probably one of their 3rds.

Would suck to give up McGroarty but Jiricek simply has a higher upside. No brainer to do McGroarty and a 3rd for Jiricek IMO. Especially with how good WBS's forward group is right now, I think you can afford to

Their long-term top-4 would be sitting well with Jiricek, Pickering and Brunicke as 3 of the 4 and they're obviously well set in net with Murashov and Blomqvist. They can really focus heavily on forwards at that point, both with draft picks and acquired prospects in trades.

I like this strategy. The more I think about it, McG for Jiricek and then drafting Schaefer to set our top 4 up long term doesnt sound bad.

 

[Empoleon8771]

It's Pagnotta so good for passing time only most likely.

Clubs keeping tabs on Rust in Pittsburgh — The Fourth Period

As teams call Pittsburgh about their players, forward Bryan Rust could draw interest later in the season.

www.thefourthperiod.com

I think trading Rust next offseason makes a ton of sense, his trade protection goes away entirely and it will make him very easy to trade.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

So Hronek is out long-term and the Canucks are running this D:

Hughes-Myers
Brannstrom-Juulsen
Soucy-Desharnais

They need a Rd first but come on JR, make your patented 1st + prospect deal for Pettersson

They must have all the Petterssons

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I think trading Rust next offseason makes a ton of sense, his trade protection goes away entirely and it will make him very easy to trade.

I doubt it matters. We trade players to where they want to play anyway. We are too nicey-nice.

For the record, I think trading McGroarty is dumb. It is just like the Yager deal. We need to find a way to make trades to add future assets, not rearrange them.

Besides, Jiricek may struggle just as much under this coach and under these circumstances. These prospects who "think" they are ready for the NHL should NOT be acquired by a Mike Sullivan-led Penguins franchise. It is a reciple for disaster.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Besides, Jiricek may struggle just as much under this coach and under these circumstances. These prospects who "think" they are ready for the NHL should NOT be acquired by a Mike Sullivan-led Penguins franchise. It is a reciple for disaster.

This is where I am on Jiricek. Guy's having trouble sticking in the NHL and has just 1 goal through 53 games. Have to think there are at least some confidence issues already. For him to come here where he'll get shelled routinely and play in front of a starter who only remembers how to play his position occasionally - that's a recipe for disaster.

 

[Jacob]

I feel like if we can't develop McGroarty then we have no business trading him for a d-man with even bigger issues.

Columbus isn't exactly good *or* deep on defense and if even they see Jiricek's issues as too big to fix then he's not going to get anywhere here.

McGroarty was appealing, I think, because he was also quite safe. Good size, somewhat mature game in all zones. The offense may or may not come but all signs prior to the trade suggested his offense was as likely to translate as any other prospect that might've been available, and more than Yager probably.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I like Jiricek, I'd throw an offer at the Jackets to see what happens, but I'm not really trying to get into a bidding war or anything. I'd try to deal Petts somewhere for a late 1st, then flip that 1st and Larsson for Jiricek. If that doesn't get it done, walk away imo.

Columbus is the team under pressure to get something done. I think that package gets outbid, but that's fine. Jiricek is intriguing but I'm not entirely sold that he's gonna be a gem.

Besides, I think it's quite clear that this isn't the destination for guys who "need a change of scenery" or want more opportunity than they're getting from their current organization.

 

[Turin]

I like Jiricek, I'd throw an offer at the Jackets to see what happens, but I'm not really trying to get into a bidding war or anything. I'd try to deal Petts somewhere for a late 1st, then flip that 1st and Larsson for Jiricek. If that doesn't get it done, walk away imo.

Columbus is the team under pressure to get something done. I think that package gets outbid, but that's fine. Jiricek is intriguing but I'm not entirely sold that he's gonna be a gem.

Besides, I think it's quite clear that this isn't the destination for guys who "need a change of scenery" or want more opportunity than they're getting from their current organization.

Yea, if McGroarty ends up being a top six winger next to Fantilli in Columbus for a decade while Jiricek becomes big Ty Smith that would be extremely damning. Just build the pool, don’t try to get the best one prospect you can

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I honestly don't even give a shit this team traded for Tomasino, the problem for me is that Dubas can't commit for shit. He talks about a retool, rebuild, etc and that the team is going to use cap space to get picks and prospects and get younger, but then he keeps so many vets on the roster that it makes it easy for a moron like Sullivan to keep using them.

For me, I would have up - Poulin, Ponomarev, McGroarty, Gruden, Puustinen, Bemstrom, etc and play them, who gives a f***? They're a lottery pick team, start f***ing dumping cap.

Rust playing well, well producing anyway, should make it a little easier to shop his ass and he should be gone imo before the end of December, move out Bunting, Rakell, etc. Bunting might be harder to move, but they can move Nieto and Acciari to teams that are struggling on the PK. Maybe you keep Hayes as the 3c or 4c and let Glass be one of the C's and grow or keep Hayes as a LW and keep Lizotte as the 3C, or better yet move him before a puck hits his soft ass head again and he's out for a hattrick. But this team is so f***ing chicken shit to do the proper rebuild. Grow a f***ing set, K12 Kyle. Shit or get off the pot, his bitch ass doesn't even have a foot in for a rebuild, he has a toe hair in at this point.

I would go scorched earth and move as much as I could and rock a roster like this - let your imagination conjure up picks and prospects for the twats that are traded or not in this line-up.

Broz, Crosby, Puljujarvi
McGroarty, Malkin, Tomasino
Poulin, Ponomarev, Puustinen
Gruden, Hayes, Glass
Bemstrom

Pickering, Letang
Graves, Shea
Aho, St Ivany
Hollowell

Blomqvist
Larsson

Oh boo hoo, Sullitwat needs f***ing penalty killers? Guess what Beantown dipshit - Gruden, Hayes, Glass, Doc, Pono, Poulin, use everyone on the PK, who cares. And if one of the youth gets interest, hell flip his ass for something too if you can improve on that, show case players like Glass, Puustinen etc in better usage to move them the f*** on and get more picks. What the f*** is that moron even waiting on?

LIke for f***s sake, this is a 3rd year in a row of missing the playoffs, this isn't a team that just fluked out of the playoffs, they've been a non playoff team for over 2 seasons, they're not leasing that title, they've got a mortgage.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yea, if McGroarty ends up being a top six winger next to Fantilli in Columbus for a decade while Jiricek becomes big Ty Smith that would be extremely damning. Just build the pool, don’t try to get the best one prospect you can

If it’s McG for Jiricek one for one I’m fine with it.

This idea of adding to it, is silly.

 

[Turin]

If it’s McG for Jiricek one for one I’m fine with it.

This idea of adding to it, is silly.

Value wise it’s close enough that you can’t really complain. A year ago Yager for Jiricek would have been unthinkable. But I still would much rather accomplish it another way if possible.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Yea, if McGroarty ends up being a top six winger next to Fantilli in Columbus for a decade while Jiricek becomes big Ty Smith that would be extremely damning. Just build the pool, don’t try to get the best one prospect you can

If you can make a 1 for 1 type trade where you're getting the better player, you do that every time imo. To me its the equivalent of being able able to trade up in the draft for free. You might end up picking the wrong player but its always worth doing.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yea, if McGroarty ends up being a top six winger next to Fantilli in Columbus for a decade while Jiricek becomes big Ty Smith that would be extremely damning. Just build the pool, don’t try to get the best one prospect you can

If McGroarty becomes Tangradi 2.0 while Jiricek becomes a top pair RD, it will be extremely damning that they didn’t make the move.

No one can tell the future, so Dubas should be focused on getting the best prospect possible if he has the option to. If he thinks Jiricek is a better prospect than McGroarty, he simply should make the trade. There is no reason to hold onto a lesser prospect if you can get a better prospect for him.

Dubas may be wrong because no one can tell the future, but I’d be upset with him if he refuses to trade a lesser prospect for what he views as a better prospect based on “what if this goes wrong?”. If you want a safe job that doesn’t have risks, don’t be a GM.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I don't think Jiricek is that much more of a can't miss prospect than McG tbh. He has his own warts, and the reason he's available (lack of opportunity, stagnated development, unhappiness with the organization's handling) would be issues here as well.

I'd rather not swap McG, but if McG gets it done 1 for 1, then I guess it's whatever. He projects to be a better prospect in a lot of people's eyes. /shrug

Kinda over the whole Jiricek thing already tbh.

 

[3074326]

Columbus isn't exactly good *or* deep on defense and if even they see Jiricek's issues as too big to fix then he's not going to get anywhere here.

This is definitely not the vibe I've gotten from them. Feels more like the player wants a change of scenery. I'm fairly positive that the Jackets would prefer to hold on to him. His development has been moving along nicely - he has been producing consistently in the AHL. If he hadn't felt the need to force his way to the NHL, nobody would be wondering about his development.

(I live in Columbus and follow them closely)

 

[Ulf5]

This is definitely not the vibe I've gotten from them. Feels more like the player wants a change of scenery. I'm fairly positive that the Jackets would prefer to hold on to him. His development has been moving along nicely - he has been producing consistently in the AHL. If he hadn't felt the need to force his way to the NHL, nobody would be wondering about his development.

(I live in Columbus and follow them closely)

Only 1 highlight video watched and it's mostly power play footage. He has one hell of a howitzer from the point. Can you shed any light on his skating?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Folks in the know seem to think Minny is the front-runner anyway. Pens are still hangin' around though fwiw.

 

[Malkinstheman]

I saw this posted on the Jackets forum. Its from Portzline who is a very reliable Jackets reporter:

• blue jackets arent close to giving up on him but the blue jackets think jiricek isn't close to where he needs to be but jiricek does think he's close to where he needs to be
• More forwards being pushed as the pieces rather than defensemen.
• "We aren't just going to take the best offer. We are going to wait for the right offer"
• if a prospect is not available theyd take a first round pick and a depth defenseman
• Doesn’t think the pens move a 1st round because they could be just as bad next season and don’t want to end up losing either pick in a good range

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I saw this posted on the Jackets forum. Its from Portzline who is a very reliable Jackets reporter:

• blue jackets arent close to giving up on him but the blue jackets think jiricek isn't close to where he needs to be but jiricek does think he's close to where he needs to be
• More forwards being pushed as the pieces rather than defensemen.
• "We aren't just going to take the best offer. We are going to wait for the right offer"
• if a prospect is not available theyd take a first round pick and a depth defenseman
• Doesn’t think the pens move a 1st round because they could be just as bad next season and don’t want to end up losing either pick in a good range

It'd be f***ing psychotic to trade the Pens' 1st in any of the like, next 5 drafts.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Yeah I’m honestly growing less and less interested in Jiricek the longer this goes on. I’d do McGroarty and one of their 3rds or the 1st they’d get back for Pettersson and Murashov, but otherwise I’m pretty meh on it.

Trading Pettersson for a 1st and adding to that 1st to get Jiricek is definitely the preferred option, though. Even if you’d have to add another pick, being able to keep McGroarty while also adding Jiricek would be pretty great.

 

[Jacob]

If they wanna take someone else's 2nd and like, Koivunen for Jiricek I'd do that.

 

[Gurglesons]

I saw this posted on the Jackets forum. Its from Portzline who is a very reliable Jackets reporter:

• blue jackets arent close to giving up on him but the blue jackets think jiricek isn't close to where he needs to be but jiricek does think he's close to where he needs to be
• More forwards being pushed as the pieces rather than defensemen.
• "We aren't just going to take the best offer. We are going to wait for the right offer"
• if a prospect is not available theyd take a first round pick and a depth defenseman
• Doesn’t think the pens move a 1st round because they could be just as bad next season and don’t want to end up losing either pick in a good range

How did they reach this point? It’s pretty simple.

Jiricek, the No. 6 pick in 2022, believes he’s NHL-ready and deserves a prominent role, not just significant ice time but a spot on the power play. This is not a new level of confidence for Jiricek. He bristled last season when the Blue Jackets, then managed by Jarmo Kekäläinen, sent him to the AHL for the final months of the season.

The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, don’t think Jiricek is polished enough defensively — yet — to be an NHL regular. Coach Dean Evason is the third different Blue Jackets coach to reach this conclusion, as seen by Jiricek’s frequent healthy scratches (12) and his limited ice time (11:12 per game) in the six games he dressed.

For now, both sides are making it work. And, to be clear, Jiricek has not requested a trade. But it’s hard to imagine him accepting a long stay in Cleveland.

The Blue Jackets host the Montreal Canadiens at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Nationwide Arena, while Jiricek and AHL Cleveland play in Rochester, N.Y. It will be Jiricek’s third game since being sent down by Columbus. He debuted last weekend.

Evason said he heard positive reports from AHL coach Trent Vogelhuber and the Cleveland staff. Evason and the coaching staff actually streamed the first two periods from the coaches’ offices in Nationwide Arena because Cleveland’s game on Saturday started two hours before the Jackets hosted Carolina.

“Good. Really good,” Evason said. “He did a lot of really good things on both sides of the puck, which we want him to do on a consistent basis down there. He scored an overtime goal (on Sunday), which is fantastic. We know his offensive side.

“As we’ve talked about before, we need him to dial in when he doesn’t have the puck. It looked as if he’s committed to doing that. We’ve talked to Trent and the staff, and they’re committed to teaching the same way we’re teaching here. Everything is really positive.”

Jiricek’s overtime winner for Cleveland — set up by an Owen Sillinger pass off the rush — is the type of aggressive, up-the-ice play Jiricek seemed reluctant to make in the NHL. Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas was in Cleveland to watch the game, ostensibly to scout Jiricek.

Waddell did not respond to messages from The Athletic seeking comment on Tuesday, but he has made it clear that Jiricek — still considered by many to be a top NHL prospect — was not considered untouchable. Keep in mind, Waddell didn’t draft the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Czech.

“As a GM, I have to listen to every trade offer,” Waddell said. “It doesn’t matter what the player’s name is, if we could make our team better, we always have to look at those options.

“I’ve gotten calls. We’ll continue to talk to whoever is interested in whichever player, and if something makes sense for the organization — I’ve never made a personal decision in my career, it’s always what works best for the organization — we’ll look at it.”

According to a team source, the Blue Jackets told clubs last week that they wanted to make a top prospect-for-top prospect trade involving Jiricek. Those trades aren’t always easy to swing, but they can be done, as seen by two deals within the last year.

On Jan. 8, 2024, the Philadelphia Flyers traded disgruntled prospect forward Cutter Gauthier (No. 5 in 2022) to the Anaheim Ducks for defenseman Jamie Drysdale (No. 6 overall in 2020) and a second-round pick in 2025.

Then, this summer (Aug. 22), forward Rutger McGroarty (No. 14 in 2022), who refused to sign with the Winnipeg Jets, was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Brayden Yager (No. 14 in 2023).

If Waddell can’t land a top prospect in return, he may be willing to expand his demands. A team source told The Athletic on Tuesday that he was willing to consider a trade package that would start with a first-round draft pick but may also include a depth defenseman.

The Blue Jackets never wanted to be in this spot. It was hoped that a new GM (Waddell) and new coach (Evason) would not only be a fresh start for Jiricek but would allow both parties to repair a relationship that frayed early last season.

When training camp opened, Jiricek was aligned on the second pair with veteran Ivan Provorov, and he remained there well into the preseason. But as his struggles continued and the coaching staff lost confidence in his play, he was bumped down the lineup, settling into an on-again, off-again role on the third pair.

In six games, he had no goals, one assist, four penalty minutes, and a minus-2 rating. His ice time dwindled over his last three games, landing at 8:14 on Nov. 18 in Boston.

That 5-1 win over the Bruins may have been Jiricek’s last game in a Columbus sweater.