Salary Cap: Pens Off Season Thread: Pre Free Agency Shenanigans!

[Darren McCord]

Yeah makes sense.

Sucks they just got a free cheap 2nd line center

 

[Peat]

At this point, I think the rumors about Dubas liking Granlund are true and he never really was looking to move him. It would explain why we heard so much more about Petry potentially being moved than Granlund.

I don't think Granlund is going to be their 3C next year, but I expect he'll be their 3RW. If the Penguins didn't have Carter on L4, I could stomach having Granlund at 3RW, but having 2 grossly overpaid guys on both L3 and L4 is just awful.

The Way of Gurglesonian Anger is looking attractive right now

GCRR
Duchene-Malkin-Smith
Granlund-NEW-Rust

Oh well, this ain't NHL 23.

That would be killer in NHL17

 

[Gurglesons]

The Way of Gurglesonian Anger is looking attractive right now



That would be killer in NHL17

Don’t worry. Be patient.

 

[pistolpete11]

If they landed Duchene:

Guentzel - Crosby - Rakell
Duchene - Malkin - Smith
XXX - XXX - Rust

Is the only lineup I'd want to see. Maybe swap Rakell and Smith, but I want no part of Duchene as 3C in a Mike Sullivan lineup.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Building a legitimate third line with Granlund sucking up 5M dollars of mediocre air is going to be a challenge without eating away at the money that should be reserved for far bigger issues. I feel like this team doesn't even learn the hard lessons.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Imo we all hate Granlund so much at this point it’s only natural he has a great year and we’re conceiving ways to keep him

Zucker 2.0

(Wishing it into existence)

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Duchene going back to Colorado would be dope tbh Idk about their cap situation tho

 

[Peat]

Don’t worry. Be patient.

Your ability to find enjoyment in tumult is admirable.

 

[Darren McCord]

Imo we all hate Granlund so much at this point it’s only natural he has a great year and we’re conceiving ways to keep him

Zucker 2.0

(Wishing it into existence)

I would run

Jake - Sid - Rakell
Smith - Geno - Granlund
xxx - xxx - Rust

But Sullivan is gona run

Jake - Sid - Rust
Smith - Geno - Archibald
Rakell - Carter - Granlund

 

[ikyan]

I think Ottawa or Columbus are both more likely than Colorado if it is a reunion people are wanting for him. Not that either are likely

Duchene going back to Colorado would be dope tbh Idk about their cap situation tho

 

[Jacob]

At this point, I think the rumors about Dubas liking Granlund are true and he never really was looking to move him. It would explain why we heard so much more about Petry potentially being moved than Granlund.

I don't think Granlund is going to be their 3C next year, but I expect he'll be their 3RW. If the Penguins didn't have Carter on L4, I could stomach having Granlund at 3RW, but having 2 grossly overpaid guys on both L3 and L4 is just awful.

Dubas doesn't really mind having atypical bottom-6 players. He had Ennis on the 4th line for a year. Spezza for a few. They weren't making $5 million, though.

I think with injuries Granlund will play more than half of the season in the top 6 and not look out of place.

 

[Josey Wales]

Duchene and Wheeler Being Bought Out
BIG NEWS.
Source: Eklund How in the Flying f*** is Wheeler being bought out big news ??

 

[Dominance]

Get Duchene for the love of god. Any means necessary. We can actually run three strong lines with Guentzel-Crosby, Malkin-Rust and Duchene-Rakell filled out with who tf cares.

 

[Nakawick]

Has anyone been linked to the Pens? Some interesting names out there.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Imo we all hate Granlund so much at this point it’s only natural he has a great year and we’re conceiving ways to keep him

Zucker 2.0

(Wishing it into existence)

I'm just going to try to keep telling myself this, yeah. Stranger things have happened. After all the pissing and moaning it would be a very Penguins thing to happen.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I guess Dubas really does like Granlund.

Sad if true.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Dubas said he wasn't gonna use a buyout. Anybody that expected Granlund to be bought out was letting their emotions do the thinking.

Dubas himself seriously kicked the tires on, and nearly acquired Granlund in Toronto.

We've got at least another few months of Granlund, if not a full season. Get excited.

 

[Empoleon8771]

POJ to Boston for Ullmark
Pickering and a 2024 1st to Calgary for Hanifin
Petry with $1.5 million retained to San Jose for nothing
Sign Schenn for 3 years at $2.5 million in UFA
Re-sign Poehling (2 years at $1 million), O'Connor (2 years at $900k) and Smith (2 years at $900k)

Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Smith-Malkin-Rust
XXXXX-XXXXX-Granlund
O'Connor-Poehling-Carter
XXXXXX-Nylander

Hanifin-Letang
Pettersson-Rutta
Smith-Schenn
Ruhwedel

Ullmark-DeSmith

If you have a league minimum player as your extra, you have $4.7 million to get 2 3rd liners to play with Granlund. This isn't me saying I want this, this is just the best I can think of without trading Granlund. It sucks.

The best you can hope for with that defense is that you use Pettersson-Rutta and Smith-Schenn like they used Maatta-Daley and Cole-Schultz in the past, meaning a 2A and a 2B pair, while Hanifin-Letang just plays a ton of minutes. I think it could work but it's so risky to attempt it.

 

[Kristopher Letang]

Has anyone been linked to the Pens? Some interesting names out there.

The 2027 1st overall pick.

 

[Lust for Life]

Unless they are hard at work trading him I guess both Dubas and Sully think Granlund has more to offer than what he showed last season. Which, to be fair, wouldn't be a big ask. But something to consider.

 

[Peat]

Also when placing Duchene with a new team

Colorado underachieved with him, moved him, got good
Ottawa's self-destruction wasn't directly linked to getting Duchene, but it was at the same time
Nashville got him to great acclaim and have proceeded to look limp and soggy

Some guys have the winner mentality. Some guys just want to score points and have fun.

Hockey is full of optimists, but I wouldn't be surprised if a bunch of contenders just said a straight no to Duchene. Not unless he wants to be a depth forward.

And I think I'd feel the same.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I really want to see the team shoehorn Granlund into the most ludicrous situations possible just to pump his numbers. Even if he's bonering up everything in between. Just to watch some people be like "HA! I told you he wasn't so bad!"

 

[Peat]

Unless they are hard at work trading him I guess both Dubas and Sully think Granlund has more to offer than what he showed last season. Which, to be fair, wouldn't be a big ask. But something to consider.

The question is whether he has more to offer than whatever you can get for 4m this year and 3.2m the next two.

Which to me, seems to be quite unlikely.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Is Duchene still good? I think 3C is just as a big of a gap as Goalie but I get I’m a bit of a contrarian on that.

I don't want him as a 3C. He needs to be in a scoring role, or nothing.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The Way of Gurglesonian Anger is looking attractive right now

Granlund stinks but you're not in the worst position as a team if he's your worst contract. The thing that sucks is that they still have Carter.

If they didn't have Carter, you could create a passable defense (like the one I posted above with Petry gone and Hanifin and Schenn in) while still having enough money to add some good 3rd line options in UFA.