Salary Cap: Pens Salary Cap Thread: If we score 6 we win, its science!

[Sidney the Kidney]

Tbh I think we go Pettersson- POJ - Smith at this point we look better than we do now with Dumo.

Realistically what I’d do is go..

Rutta - Letang
POJ - Petry
Petts - Smith

Even if it was just for a couple games to see what we got without Dumo.

The odds of Sullivan not playing Dumo at 1LD is about as great as Sullivan putting Poulin on Geno's line permanently.

 

[Gurglesons]

The odds of Sullivan not playing Dumo at 1LD is about as great as Sullivan putting Poulin on Geno's line permanently.

I still have dreams STK.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I'm not implying that is what he will do, but he seems to be slowly churning through Rutherford's pieces and turning them into cheaper deals.

Maybe he resigns Zucker if Zucker takes a huge pay cut, but I just don't see Zucker having that type of mindset. I see no way in hell Heinen takes a pay cut here and I imagine he bolts for the biggest deal he can get.

I imagine what we do is sign a LD or bottom six forward and then use the cap and some minor assets to bring in a player on a bigger contract that a cap team can't afford.

I would imagine our roster in 2022-23 at this point to look more like..

Guentzel - Crosby - Rakell
Trade - Malkin - Rust
Signing - Poulin - Carter
WBS - Poehling - McGinn

Trade / Signing - Letang
Pettersson - Petry
POJ / Smith - Rutta

Jarry
Desmith

I think it's pretty optimistic to pencil Poulin in at 3C next season. I could see them bringing back Blueger to sorta learn on the job with Carter, switching off who plays wing and who plays center--though I imagine it'd have to be Blueger at center and Carter to wing because Carter's less shit than Blueger in that regard. I imagine we'll just see Blueger walk or be traded at the TDL and the team run a 3rd of ?-Carter-Kap with Heinen probably having the inside track to that winger spot. I think the 4th line will almost certainly be something like DOC/?-Poehling-McGinn. -edit- Shame we can't throw together a 4th that's like, DOC-Poehling-Poulin. Maybe the cap jumps and somebody is willing to snag McGinn without Hextall having to add much of anything.

But more or less yeah, the roster's pretty fleshed out except for some spots here and there.

 

[Pens x]

Sooo, uhhhhh, we need a top pairing dman.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I get the whole Letang signing over the off-season but man, he sure ain’t playing like he was a must-sign blueliner.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I get the whole Letang signing over the off-season but man, he sure ain’t playing like he was a must-sign blueliner.

Yeah, both he and Dumo have been awful thus far--individually and as a pairing.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I don’t know what’s going on with it, but I hope it puts a nail in the “must keep Dumo” talk.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Dumo's been declining heavily for years, I don't really give a shit about overly convoluted analytics or what they have to say about his game recently. He's a far cry from the dude who won back to backs. Injuries completely derailed his game and have had a serious impact on his confidence, decision-making and athletic ability.

I still default to thinking he's re-signed. Hope I'm wrong, but it feels like a situation where a FO would just shrug, hand him a retirement deal based on legacy and it being the easy thing to do, and that's that.

 

[Pens x]

Hextall should be fired on the spot if he re-signs Dumo.

 

[Pens x]

I still default to thinking he's re-signed. Hope I'm wrong, but it feels like a situation where a FO would just shrug, hand him a retirement deal based on legacy and it being the easy thing to do, and that's that.

That’s what happens when you have a terrible front office. You’ve officially accepted the Pens have an incompetent, lazy front office.

I wish others here could see the light.

 

[Pens x]

McCann and Marino for Ty Smith.

Hextall keeps Hextalling. Great asset management by the current front office. I’m sure it’s JR’s fault.

 

[Andy99]

Definitely need to find more mobile D men….what I would try:

Petts-Letang
POJ-Rutta
Smith-Petry

Dumo out and Petry needs less minutes…both have been pretty bad…also give Smith a shot to take over for Letang on PP1

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Smith-Petry is just about the worst goddamn combination for a pairing you could possibly come up with using guys playing their natural side. That's impressive.

 

[Andy99]

Smith-Petry is just about the worst goddamn combination for a pairing you could possibly come up with using guys playing their natural side. That's impressive.

For 10 min on the third pair, it will be fine…I’d get rid of Petry and bring up St Ivans or someone except I thought getting rid of Dumo was controversial enough lol…actually both Dumo and Petry should be benched lol

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

For 10 min on the third pair, it will be fine…I’d get rid of Petry and bring up St Ivans or someone except I thought getting rid of Dumo was controversial enough lol…actually both Dumo and Petry should be benched lol

It's gone from controversial to delusional though, man. Two guys who are trainwrecks defensively should not be paired up. A nobody prospect in for Petry? Bizarre shit. Changes for the sake of saying changes were made, even if they make zero sense.

This place is gonna absolutely unravel as the era winds down and the team no longer makes the playoffs. It's gonna be a mad scramble to post the most far-reaching stuff in any attempt to pretend the reality's not just that team just ain't good enough anymore and there's nothing that can be done when a huge chunk of the roster's cap is tied up in 31-38 year olds.

 

[eXile3]

Marino is and was a good puck moving dman. The narrative that he was a bad player got pushed, group think set in, and everyone jumped on board.

 

[Pancakes]

Marino is and was a good puck moving dman. The narrative that he was a bad player got pushed, group think set in, and everyone jumped on board.

Big issues with him were a complete lack of offensive ability and being really soft in front of our net. Petry is better at both things, so there's that.

Petry is a worse skater though, and worse defensively. Gotta give to get though. We obviously didn't make the trade 1-1 for Petry, but Petry was the replacement for Marino ultimately.

 

[Gurglesons]

Marino is and was a good puck moving dman. The narrative that he was a bad player got pushed, group think set in, and everyone jumped on board.

I think being involved in two crucial dumb plays in back to back playoffs may have something to do with it as well.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Defense needed to be revamped. Moving Marino or Pettersson was essential. Marino was the easier move.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I mean, on the one hand I wish Marino was playing like that for us, but he wasn't during his time here. Maybe it was role, maybe it was system, maybe he just needed a change of scenery.

This blueline looked great too for like the first 4 games and now it's gone to hell as the usage gets weird and the 1st pairing continues to free-fall. Dumoulin has to go. Dude is straight up killing us, and at this point, it's probably impossible to move him.

Marino is and was a good puck moving dman. The narrative that he was a bad player got pushed, group think set in, and everyone jumped on board.

Lol, what narrative? Everyone was "don't trade Marino! He's the cornerstone of the franchise" for years. Very few people were critical of him.

 

[molon labe]

82 games. 3 goals per game sort of the bar for this team to be have a winning record / success. (246G)

Jake (35) - Sid (30) - Rak (20*) (80-85 goals)
Zucker (15*) - Geno (30*) - Rust (20) (65-70 goals)
Heinen (12*) - Carter (15*) - Kappy (10*) (37-45 goals)
Plug - Plug - Plug / Blueger (15-20 goals***)

D Corps (18-30 goals)

215 to 250 is what you can expect out of this roster with little to no regression. We basically need everyone to hit average/expected goals to be a lower tiered playoff team - and a breakout / full performance to be a top tiered (seeded) playoff team.

Definitely a narrow point of view but it's something to consider. McGinn (unnamed but counted), Zucker, Kappy.... overpaid for what they bring. If they continue to fail, I don't think we should expect much more than the 5/6 wildcard - and not fret so hard at losing streaks. We actually picked up goals this year with Petry and still have this outlook. At least that arbitrary* number is possible.

Asterisks are due to wild variations to the player. Are Zucker/Kappy/Rakkell capable of hitting those numbers? I mean the absolutely only thing Kappy does is enter the zone with speed then pivot. Carter gets an asterisk because, while he's a goal scorer...has looked pretty bad to start the year (and last year he got worse as the season progressed).

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Actually, if you think about it, Marino *didn't* suck for two seasons and the tail end of his rookie campaign+playoffs. Hextall only moved him because he was pressured into it by the HFboards hive mind.

 

[Pens x]

Defense needed to be revamped. Moving Marino or Pettersson was essential. Marino was the easier move.

Pettersson and Dumo needed to be moved well before Marino.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Dumo should have been moved last year, true. By all accounts they tried to shop Pettersson and nobody wanted him.

 

[Pens x]

Dumo should have been moved last year, true. By all accounts they tried to shop Pettersson and nobody wanted him.

How aggressive were they in trying to move Pettersson? Was sleepy willing to include a sweetener?