Salary Cap: Pens Salary Cap: Free Agency, everyone panic!!! Geno talk to the Geno thread only please

[Zirakzigil]

Off season time. New thread time apparently cause @Ugene Magic doesn’t like high page counts.

So how about them Malkin and Letang UFAs? Maybe we should sign one or both.

Geno thread. Keep Geno talk here:

Rumor: - Geno where art thou?

With all the Geno rumors and news, time for its own thread. Keep the Geno talk here please.

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[Tom Hanks]

Not trying to be difficult but so what? The team is going to need dead salary in a few years, anyway.

What would the team realistically get for a like 40 year old Letang or Malkin? If they are keeping the core together it won't be to just trade them at the very bitter end IMO.

I don’t think we have to bottom out.

By all reports the owners aren’t shy at throwing money for a quick turnaround.
Having a lot of cap tied up that you can’t move that aren’t worth their deals any longer goes against that.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Ruhwedel as an everyday #6 is fine and will continue to be fine unless you believe the blueline urgently needs to be bigger. Which I kind of do.

I also fully believe he has eschewed the chance to seek more money and career opportunities elsewhere to stay here. That, of course, earns him nothing back.

It isn't fine though.

Friedman is being used on the left side and they play Ruhwedel on the right while POJ has been ready for a job in the NHL. So why would any team hold back a young player that is ready and play on the left side and already have a solid young RD that can play to play a 30yr old journeyman defenseman with limited upside?

As a #7 he's fine. But when you're playing him as a #6 over logical options, it's bizarre as shit and par for the course for the blokes that want to wax poetic that this team puts young players in positions to succeed, which is 100% has not in a while.


POJ-Friedman, this would have been a solid 3rd pair, also given this team more of a look with what to do with Pettersson and Dumoulin, whereas now there are question marks of "can POJ handle 15-16mins a night?" because they had such a hard on for....Chad f***ing Ruhwedel. Some might scoff at it as "bruh its just Chud bruh, a solid #6"...

It's more to do with having young options and to push youth in areas they can, to also maximize potential with them, otherwise why bother? Why not just trade them for something else? Drew O'Connor is someone they're apparently high on but the way they've used him would make you think they hated him because why would you be high on a young player and then give him the worst line-up usage of any young player on this team when he's shown he can play with better players but was handcuffed to Brian Boyle.

Edit: When Rodrigues and Heinen were doing their disappearing acts, DOC would have been an option to try with Geno, there were multiple opportunities to, yet they kept going back to hard headed same moves. Let's not even go to what was done to Kapanen, a bloke that can play pk minutes and is comfortable there, would have at least helped him break out of his slump, but instead they basically left him out to dry with his confidence destroyed and Jeff Carter trying to help him, then when he does have a strong bunch of games, Heinen gets promoted and not him. So comical.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don’t think we have to bottom out.

By all reports the owners aren’t shy at throwing money for a quick turnaround.
Having a lot of cap tied up that you can’t move that aren’t worth their deals any longer goes against that.

Way too hard to totally bottom out in this league, anyway. Unless you are just hilariously mismanaged. And draft rules implemented over the years make it so you are guaranteed exactly nothing, regardless. Nobody said anything about bottoming out... however once Crosby retires or is at the very end of things I don't see any problem at all having a wobbly roster for a season or two, collecting the better-than-usual picks and using them wisely in the draft. THAT is how you make a quick turnaround.

This idea of the team turning itself into the 90s Rangers and merc-ing it up every offseason to avoid some down years while accomplishing very little all the while is pretty wrongheaded. Once Crosby is gone there is nothing wrong with leaning into a small rebuild and collecting some good picks. Because drafting and development are way, way more important to building a winner than going out on the market every season and spending money on unknowns that other teams have already gotten the best out of more often than not.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I don’t think we have to bottom out.

By all reports the owners aren’t shy at throwing money for a quick turnaround.
Having a lot of cap tied up that you can’t move that aren’t worth their deals any longer goes against that.

Letang is the worry there for me in that regard. His offense is fine on 5v5, but on the powerplay its been a detriment for a while, he was exposed a ton in the playoffs when a veteran like him is supposed to be rock solid. Then there's the issue of "only Dumoulin can play with Letang" because we've seen what a tyre fire Pettersson and Matheson were with Letang. So the team keeping him is purely on loyalty over any sort of common sense. At least in say, Klingberg's defense for anyone that wants him - They can have a clean slate of who he works with, Letang is so engrained with playing with a player like Dumoulin to cover his mistakes that no one else can babysit him and he can't babysit himself as we all painfully know.

Hell I would still hit up Guerin about Dumba for 1yr, he needs cap space, we need a PMD, I'd be better with a bloke like Dumba for a year to see how he does (he could rebound, he's a player that definitely can produce and has a physicality to his game) with the added benefit of cap flexibility at the end of his deal vs say, committing to 7yrs with Klingberg or worse, the 5yrs Letang wants which is an epic mistake.

Malkin is a no-brainer to sign, there is nothing out there that replaces what he does, Malkin being hurt and being blamed for his injuries is so blind to the actual problem - Maybe give him better wingers so he doesn't feel like he has to do it all and watch him suddenly be more durable. When Malkin has had better options, he's killing himself less.

That Jeff Carter contract was so short sighted, I like Hextall but unless they can convince Carter to move to RW or find a way to move Blueger to LW, wtf...not sure what they're doing with that bottom 6 anymore. Puustinen looked good with Carter, Kapanen looked good with Carter and Zo, etc etc.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Lebrun claiming Malkin wants a 4 year deal is very odd because it goes against literally everything we've heard up to this point. Also the 2 year offer to Letang also seems super odd.

If Malkin wants 4 years and will keep the cap hit down to do it, you give him 4 years and then work on convincing Crosby to not retire after his current deal. I don't even see that as a question, especially if he's willing to take $6 million AAV or less to do that.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Way too hard to totally bottom out in this league, anyway. Unless you are just hilariously mismanaged. And draft rules implemented over the years make it so you are guaranteed exactly nothing, regardless. Nobody said anything about bottoming out... however once Crosby retires or is at the very end of things I don't see any problem at all having a wobbly roster for a season or two, collecting the better-than-usual picks and using them wisely in the draft. THAT is how you make a quick turnaround.

This idea of the team turning itself into the 90s Rangers and merc-ing it up every offseason to avoid some down years while accomplishing very little all the while is pretty wrongheaded. Once Crosby is gone there is nothing wrong with leaning into a small rebuild and collecting some good picks. Because drafting and development are way, way more important to building a winner than going out on the market every season and spending money on unknowns that other teams have already gotten the best out of more often than not.

I'd be down to see this team collect a few picks and also trade for RFA's from teams that clearly aren't doing those players any justice, etc. Like finding a Strome situation like the Hawks did, or something to that extent.

The only gripe I have is that Sullivan kept on during a transitional period would be pointless. I hate him being here now, the team needs some innovation since they won't get it via the roster because of lack of options in some areas and cap restraints, but a coach that is already not willing to use youth that we do have that can play, really f***ing sucks to watch. I thought we were finally past the whole "1yr deal of vets" bs.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I mean... I like Rust just fine and I'm OK with his deal but they just signed that dude til the end of flippin' time and he's way more of a danger to spiral down to ECHL levels of play at the back end of his deal than Malkin/Letang and I don't see anyone hand-wringing over that one.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Lebrun claiming Malkin wants a 4 year deal is very odd because it goes against literally everything we've heard up to this point. Also the 2 year offer to Letang also seems super odd.

If Malkin wants 4 years and will keep the cap hit down to do it, you give him 4 years and then work on convincing Crosby to not retire after his current deal. I don't even see that as a question, especially if he's willing to take $6 million AAV or less to do that.

Odd because you and I and all of the Pens fan base and media know Malkin literally wants to mirror Crosby's last years, so unless Sid is telling Geno yeah bro sign that 1yr extra deal, I'll be there too, that doesn't jive with everything we know.

Letang wants 5yrs, to go from 3yrs to 5yrs to 2yrs in the negotiations makes zero f***ing sense.

Canadian hockey media is basically just Eklund's.

 

[dogthateats]

View attachment 564564

Modified it from an e4 to e5 rumor.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I mean... I like Rust just fine and I'm OK with his deal but they just signed that dude til the end of flippin' time and he's way more of a danger to spiral down to ECHL levels of play at the back end of his deal than Malkin/Letang and I don't see anyone hand-wringing over that one.

Rust is a weird one, College players that peak like him usually find ways to stay good for a while, not saying at the same rate he is at now, but I think in years 3-4, he'll still be a reliable 40pt player. His chemistry on the team is with Guentzel, that's the player he works best with regardless of who's in the middle.

I would be shocked if Jake doesn't get a deal that extends him to the same years as Rust, maybe a year more to bring down the cap hit. Like a 5yr deal next summer. He's 28 near the start of the season.

You need a Phil Kessel looking through the window outside reflection.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Lebrun claiming Malkin wants a 4 year deal is very odd because it goes against literally everything we've heard up to this point. Also the 2 year offer to Letang also seems super odd.

If Malkin wants 4 years and will keep the cap hit down to do it, you give him 4 years and then work on convincing Crosby to not retire after his current deal. I don't even see that as a question, especially if he's willing to take $6 million AAV or less to do that.

Malkin at 4 years at $6M per works structured like: $7.5M, 6.5, 5.5, 4.5.

 

[dogthateats]

do something cheesier like
8.7
7.1
6.6
5.8

 

[Empoleon8771]

Odd because you and I and all of the Pens fan base and media know Malkin literally wants to mirror Crosby's last years, so unless Sid is telling Geno yeah bro sign that 1yr extra deal, I'll be there too, that doesn't jive with everything we know.

Letang wants 5yrs, to go from 3yrs to 5yrs to 2yrs in the negotiations makes zero f***ing sense.

Canadian hockey media is basically just Eklund's.

Yeah the "Letang wants 4 years to make the AAV more manageable" makes no sense when he's been asking for 4 or 5 years all along.

Just really weird rumors from LeBrun.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Rust is a weird one, College players that peak like him usually find ways to stay good for a while, not saying at the same rate he is at now, but I think in years 3-4, he'll still be a reliable 40pt player. His chemistry on the team is with Guentzel, that's the player he works best with regardless of who's in the middle.

I would be shocked if Jake doesn't get a deal that extends him to the same years as Rust, maybe a year more to bring down the cap hit. Like a 5yr deal next summer. He's 28 near the start of the season.


You need a Phil Kessel looking through the window outside reflection.

I really like Rust as a player and was pumped to see he took such a team friendly deal. But I also thought "likely going to be a cap drag last handful of years" and then immediately shrugged and thought "oh well."

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Letang at 5 years at $6.8M per works structured like: $8.5M, 7.65, 6.8, 5.95, 5.1.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I'd be more pissed at seeing Heinen and Rodrigues signed, because if you dump those two f***ing muppets, the cap can be used to keep Rakell, a player I would 100% prioritize as a need over both of those wankbuckets.

Whatever the deals are, you know Heinen would be getting north of 2m/yr and same for Rodrigues, I'd rather allocate that to Rakell, even if for a 3yr deal at like 5m.

That opens up a spot for Zohorna, O'Connor, Puustinen, etc. I think it's interesting that the team seems to want to keep Zucker right now, I absolutely love the bloke but he needs to be moved for the simple fact that Sullivan has no f***ing idea how to use him and the reality of his cap hit being the bad part of the misusage.

Guentzel, Crosby, Rust
Rakell, Malkin, Puustinen - I wish, let me wish...
O'Connor, Carter, Kapanen - Youth with old legs can help Carter
Zohorna, Blueger, McGinn

 

[jmelm]

We should just sign Malkin, Letang, Rakell and Fleury to 8 year deals just to keep the AAV down.

Guentzel, Crosby, Rust
Rakell, Malkin, Puustinen - I wish, let me wish...
O'Connor, Carter, Kapanen - Youth with old legs can help Carter
Zohorna, Blueger, McGinn

Too much Kapanen in that lineup.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I trust Lebrun. It is an official leak if it is coming from PL

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Letang at 5 years at $6.8M per works structured like: $8.5M, 7.65, 6.8, 5.95, 5.1.

Letang's ego wouldn't allow it.

 

[dogthateats]

 

[Empoleon8771]

I trust Lebrun. It is an official leak if it is coming from PL

Yeah LeBrun is basically the best insider out there, it's just really weird to think that the Penguins only offered 2 years at first and Letang only wants 4 years to keep the cap hits more manageable.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

We should just sign Malkin, Letang, Rakell and Fleury to 8 year deals just to keep the AAV down.



Too much Kapanen in that lineup.

I'd move Kapanen just to see what he is capable of when he's not dicked around, maybe make the move for Dumba with Kapanen +.

Like Firstov + Dumba for Kapanen, Pens 3rd in 2024.


I don't trust LeBrun, Canadian media uses Rob Rossi as a source, that's the end right there.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I was always under the impression that Geno wanted to finish his career in Russia. He may have abandoned that plan, given the current situation. I know I wouldn't be feeling very nationalistic right now.

So I could see that being the reason he's aligning his term with Tanger's.

Hex was pushing for Letang at 3 years and Letang wanted 5. So I think what Lebrun is saying is Tanger accepted meeting in the middle to keep the AAV down and make Hex budge.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I would guess that would be something like that 5th overall, Allison, and probably the final year of JVR.

 

[jmelm]

I'd move Kapanen just to see what he is capable of when he's not dicked around, maybe make the move for Dumba with Kapanen +.

Like Firstov + Dumba for Kapanen, Pens 3rd in 2024.

Huh?

Dumba is worth two 1st rounders.

So if we add Kapanen to the package, it would be Dumba for Kapaenen + two 1st rounders.