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

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Andy99

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Jun 26, 2017
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This is one of those "well you're not wrong but you're also not 100% right" posts.

Hindsight is 20/20. I would be willing to be that if 2 years ago you showed Dubas a crystal ball showing the team on 1/3/25, he might forego certain moves. Which ones, who knows but I imagine there are some. That said, the money spent on the 4th line at the moment has a bit of irrelevancy given the current state of the team and the future direction. I imagine you're including Hayes in there even though he's been a HS for seemingly forever but we also got a 2nd and a 3rd to take him. Something a transitioning team should be doing. It demonstrates that there are different ways to use cap space. You can spend it on players designed to win games or you can weaponize it to accrue draft capital or other mid-level players to help in the future. I think Dubas demonstrated this well in both the Hayes and Glass trades. Frasca for Glass, Hayes, 2nd, 3rd, 3rd, and a 6th is very good use of cap space. Glass is a player that can help in transition (meaning from the Sid era to the future) and Hayes can be a bottom 6 journeyman, though I argue his use is irrelevant at the end of the day. He can be a center or wing for us in several capacities. It wouldn't be sexy, but if Geno went down for a game, you could probably slot Hayes in at 2C to make due for one game.

Now, I believe your counterargument to what I just said is - well if they waste $3mil on Hayes, $2mil on Acciari, $800k on Nieto, that is $6mil they could have spent on a better player. While that is true, in a sense, I think it misses the mark a bit. To bring in a $6mil wing/center, you're also looking at a decent length. Using the recent off season, you're looking at Toffoli or DeBrusk. Toffoli got 4years and DeBrusk got 7 years. They are 32 and 28 respectively and I have two comments there: 1. There isn't a free agent out there that we should be signing for $6mil for 4+ years. You talk about poor fiscal management, I would suggest on that same point it is poor fiscal management to dedicate $24 to 38.5mil to a player who is not going to move the needle much and must be paid while your team is expected to absolutely stink (which as we all know in Pittsburgh means a decline in ticket sales and interest in the team). 2. Adding either Toffoli or DeBrusk isn't going to save this team from what ails it - an aged out core. Neither of them are core level players. They would not be the sole difference between making the playoffs or not or winning in the first round or not. So what incentive or drive is there in the FO to dedicate millions to them? Looking at the guys Dubas has collected - Hayes, Glass, Beauvillier, Puljujarvi - these are all guys that have very modest salaries on short deals.

The last part regarding guys like Lizotte, Nieto, and Acciari (and you can include Eller in there) is that, most times if you want the player in FA, you have to be willing to add the term. Now it does irk me that Acciari got 3 years. Guys like him and Nieto should be 1-2 year deals or you move on. At the same time, at the time of the signing, you're obviously going after the player because you like them and want them on the team. It's quite possible that there are other teams competing for them and to get them, you add the extra year. At $2mil vs a $87mil (soon to be $90+mil), it's practically a non-issue. The biggest issue would be "Acciari is taking a roster spot over a younger player like Ponomarov". Now that said, sometimes these guys pan out like Lizotte and sometimes they are passengers like Nieto.

The existence of these guys on the roster taking up space "preventing" us from "making moves" is not a big issue for me because in all honesty, we probably shouldn't be making the moves that I imagine you want. Dubas has been fairly shrewd in collecting young players and draft capital knowing that we need to start the transition. We shouldn't be blowing those new found assets on another bandaid. Those days are over.

Florida being #3 in finishing is what is going to give them the leg up on us. I just hope Jarry isn't in net...
lol…Jarry in net…and wtf? Pickering on his off side and Hayes back in as 3C and no offense Glass on L2 again…Sullivan must want to lose to the Panthers tonight

 

BlindWillyMcHurt

ti kallisti
May 31, 2004
36,513
31,652
When I look at that lineup it’s hard to think we’re not tanking.

I hope everyone remembers pathetic lineups like this when the narrative flips in a few years to "lol the Penguins sucked because the core was old and burned out and that's that" but they won't.
 

DesertedPenguin

Registered User
Mar 11, 2007
7,615
8,574
Minor league move. Defensive reinforcements coming to WBS.



Second part hasn't been shared by the Pens yet, but Jagger Joshua is also on his way out for future considerations. Also a minor league move.



And that's because WBS announced it. Forgot Joshua is on an AHL deal.

 

Duffy13

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Feb 16, 2013
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PEI, Canada
Hayes in for Beau

I'd rather dress 9 defense and 9 forwards, imagine the pk and responsible defensive awareness levels this team could ascend to with that set up!!!!!!
 

Empoleon8771

Registered User
Aug 25, 2015
86,546
87,566
Redmond, WA
Joshua was actually pretty decent for WBS last year, but yeah they desperately need some help on defense.

What's good is that Poolman is also not an AHL veteran based on the amount of games he has played, so they don't have to worry about scratching another veteran to get him in. Only at 213 professional games when the cutoff is 260.
 

Empoleon8771

Registered User
Aug 25, 2015
86,546
87,566
Redmond, WA
That's too bad... despite him almost certainly not panning out into much I kinda liked JJ. He had some nice "pest that can score" moments this past preseason.

Yeah he was just caught in a numbers game and WBS desperately needed defensemen. WBS is so deep at forward that they have numerous should-be AHL forwards playing for Wheeling, which is a big reason why Wheeling is kicking the shit out of the ECHL this year.
 
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Speaker City

Im worth 3.5 million the govt knows about.
Nov 15, 2010
1,158
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Wheeling who are currently playing with 11F and a center on D watching 2 guys get traded: wheel.jpg
 
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