Salary Cap: Pens Summer Salary Thread: Dull days of August... Oooo! A trade!

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Well, I think Dubas is executing on their vision, so whatever they want to pay him for it, I couldn't care less.

True. If FSG wants to dump a wheelbarrow of money on some doof for doing a job a braindead golden retriever with a Magic 8 Ball could do that's their business I suppose.

 

[Pancakes]

If they keep Marcus Pettersson even if they are in the playoffs, this franchise's direction is even more confusing.

I know he's the latest "John Marino analytics say he is great" guy, but he's a dime a dozen defenseman that we can get multiple futures for.

Do not re-sign him.

Same argument as Guentzel last year.

I sincerely doubt they trade him if they're in a playoff spot at the deadline.

I doubt they will be in one though so probably nothing to worry about there

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

I would still do the EK trade again, even knowing what I know today.

As for giving up the 1st, cover half his cap hit, and you'll get the 1st back (and likely more) easily today!

If I were to blame Dubas for anything, it would be Graves.
Beyond that it's a lot of could/would/should have which could have gone in many directions. I'm fine with what he's doing overall.

Besides we all know Sully will be the problem....again.

 

[SEALBound]

I sincerely doubt they trade him if they're in a playoff spot at the deadline.

I doubt they will be in one though so probably nothing to worry about there

Agreed.

I imagine Dubas will have extension talks with his agent before then to get an idea of what he might want. While I do like Petts, he's not something I'm going to overpay to keep. If he'd do a $5.5-6mil extension for 4 years, I'd do it. If we are talking 7x7, no. Trade him and find another LD in FA.

 

[Goodleaf]

I agree with all of your post, save for the bolded.
MP was essentially the keystone for the defense that prevented it from crumbling. All those rushes from EK and Letang had to be covered up and MP did that. Guy prevents zone entries like no one else. While he's a bit weak in front of the net and doesn't provide offense, he's an extremely solid positional defender.

Having MP on your team doesn't take you from middling to contender. But removing MP from this Pens team could take it from middling to top 5 to 10 pick very quickly

I agree with you, but I don't want to be a middling team. At the end of the day this team hasnt won a series since hes been here. Get a couple scratch offs and 4mil cap space and lets move towards the future.

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

Agreed.

I imagine Dubas will have extension talks with his agent before then to get an idea of what he might want. While I do like Petts, he's not something I'm going to overpay to keep. If he'd do a $5.5-6mil extension for 4 years, I'd do it. If we are talking 7x7, no. Trade him and find another LD in FA.

I agree with that number. Though it is really enticing to see if we can get assets for him, and find another plugger in his place. What he brings isn't insurmountable.

Even Kulikov (who couldn't stay healthy with us) could fill that role.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I agree with you, but I don't want to be a middling team. At the end of the day this team hasnt won a series since hes been here. Get a couple scratch offs and 4mil cap space and lets move towards the future.

Oh I agree on the middling part. This team should have picked a lane about 3 years ago (tanking vs going for it).

I just didn't want people to think that MP is just some spare part on this Pens team. Considering his role, he plays a very big part that prevents this team from truly cratering.

If I was Edmonton, I would have been clearing out cap for MP.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I would still do the EK trade again, even knowing what I know today.

As for giving up the 1st, cover half his cap hit, and you'll get the 1st back (and likely more) easily today!

If I were to blame Dubas for anything, it would be Graves.
Beyond that it's a lot of could/would/should have which could have gone in many directions. I'm fine with what he's doing overall.

Besides we all know Sully will be the problem....again.

oh you might get a 1st, but I can guarantee you that it will be no where close to the 11th overall pick!!

 

[SEALBound]

I agree with that number. Though it is really enticing to see if we can get assets for him, and find another plugger in his place. What he brings isn't insurmountable.

Even Kulikov (who couldn't stay healthy with us) could fill that role.

Maybe not Kulikov but with the number of dmen typically available in FA, I think you could find someone that is "good enough". Not being cup contenders, you don't necessarily need that super strong top pairing guy. We would just need someone "good enough". And who knows, if Graves refinds his game and Gryz does well, there you go. Gryz-EK, Graves-Letang, Aho-JSI-Shea. Hell, could even be Pickering.

 

[Empoleon8771]

The argument for re-signing Pettersson is that he's a guy that will maintain fairly constant value as he ages and you'd plan on selling him when you start selling guys like Karlsson and Rust in 2027 or 2028. But at that point, I don't know why you'd re-sign Pettersson for 5+ years only to plan on moving him in year 2 or 3 of it.

 

[The Old Master]

Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think that trade has worked out very well for us. I’d much rather have the 1st round pick.

There’s a chance EK can prove me wrong this upcoming season as he acclimates, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

do you think we are going to be better this year?

 

[Gurglesons]

I sincerely doubt they trade him if they're in a playoff spot at the deadline.

I doubt they will be in one though so probably nothing to worry about there

Then they are morons.

 

[Pancakes]

Not only is it well over and they have no chance of being competitive but the GM also clearly agrees because he's now prioritizing pick/prospect acquisition over competitive roster building. I'm not sure how a Pens fan could feel differently at this point.

He's trying to get picks/prospects yes. He's absolutely decided to stop trading away futures for short term deals.

But he hasn't decided to fully pull the plug on the team's ability to try to be competitive. If he'd made *that* decision, then he would be trading everyone who isn't nailed down, and that clearly hasn't been the approach.

Dubas is going to play this out with MP the exact same way he did with Guentzel. He's going to let the team try to make the playoffs. If (when) they're still out of it at the deadline he'll move MP for the best return he can get. If they're in the playoffs somehow by then I imagine he'll keep MP which I think would be a mistake but I just don't see a GM of any team trading away their best LHD when they have a shot at a playoff spot, no matter how misguided that might be.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

lol if this team keeps MP I definitely don't wanna hear anyone lecturing me anymore on how this team has a plan and they are super cereal about it.

 

[Pancakes]

Then they are morons.

It would be stupid, yeah. But they do make plenty of stupid decisions. Sully is still here after all.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

He's trying to get picks/prospects yes. He's absolutely decided to stop trading away futures for short term deals.

But he hasn't decided to fully pull the plug on the team's ability to try to be competitive. If he'd made *that* decision, then he would be trading everyone who isn't nailed down, and that clearly hasn't been the approach.

Honestly if that's the case I'm not sure why ya'll bang on pixies so hard about this basically being Hextall 2.0 but younger, less bizarre and with Harry Potter glasses.

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

oh you might get a 1st, but I can guarantee you that it will be no where close to the 11th overall pick!!

So maybe a 1st round, and decent D that makes Pettersson more expendable. We trade him for more stuff . Point is you have to play the game to win.

Maybe not Kulikov but with the number of dmen typically available in FA, I think you could find someone that is "good enough". Not being cup contenders, you don't necessarily need that super strong top pairing guy. We would just need someone "good enough". And who knows, if Graves refinds his game and Gryz does well, there you go. Gryz-EK, Graves-Letang, Aho-JSI-Shea. Hell, could even be Pickering.

I'm hoping Graves can recover.
Gryz has potential, I agree.
Ludvig fills our bottom 6 nicely, and brings something we don't have much of.

It all comes down to if Sully can find hidden gems vs playing safe. Safe.....we won't know until Petts gets traded whether we should have traded him or not :\.

Sure we aren't contenders, but I wouldn't mind at least trying to not sabotage any chance of maybe contending.

 

[Pancakes]

Honestly if that's the case I'm not sure why ya'll bang on pixies so hard about this basically being Hextall 2.0 but younger, less bizarre and with Harry Potter glasses.

Listen we all know Pixies enjoys the heat he gets.

I think what Dubas is doing is different from what Hextall is doing in the sense that Dubas is actually being allowed to do it . Hextall wanted to do what Dubas is doing now but wasn't allowed to.

 

[Gurglesons]

Listen we all know Pixies enjoys the heat he gets.

I think what Dubas is doing is different from what Hextall is doing in the sense that Dubas is actually being allowed to do it . Hextall wanted to do what Dubas is doing now but wasn't allowed to.

YEAH PLUS HEXTALL GAVE AWAY JOHN MARINO AND MIKE MATHESON.

THE CALAMITY!!!!!!

 

[pistolpete11]

They should have traded Petts and kept POJ.

A downgrade? Yeah, probably, but everyone around here hated Petts when he was 24, too. So did Sullivan. Then he was forced into the top 4 and flourished. It's not like POJ hasn't shown signs of being capable either. At the very least, he's younger, cheaper, and wouldn't have been a long term commitment.

 

[ChaosAgent]

If they re-sign Petts maybe he's the next captain?

That would be a fun poll question - next Penguins captain after Sid? Starts bringing scenarios like Sid leaving after next year, 2-3 years down the line etc.

Possibilities: Petts, Rust, Letang (if Sid leaves after next year I think Letang becoming captain is possible), Malkin, Rutger? Most likely it's someone not even here after a couple year hiatus, but Rutger seems like a good bet.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

As long as Rutger pans out to be any kind of contributor everything I've heard about him suggests he's leader material. That's one of his biggest assets, right?

 

[pistolpete11]

If they re-sign Petts maybe he's the next captain?

That would be a fun poll question - next Penguins captain after Sid? Starts bringing scenarios like Sid leaving after next year, 2-3 years down the line etc.

Possibilities: Petts, Rust, Letang (if Sid leaves after next year I think Letang becoming captain is possible), Malkin, Rutger? Most likely it's someone not even here after a couple year hiatus, but Rutger seems like a good bet.

I'd throw Karlsson's name into the ring, too, but I still doubt Sid leaves. By the time he does, Malkin, Letang, Karlsson, and Rust are probably gone, too.

'Other' is the safe bet, if I have to pick a name, I'd say it's McGroarty after a year or 2 of being vacant.

 

[SEALBound]

lol if this team keeps MP I definitely don't wanna hear anyone lecturing me anymore on how this team has a plan and they are super cereal about it.

The plan is - compete now as best we can while collecting picks and prospects.

Resigning your top pairing dman is not in contrast to that goal. They are not in "sell off" mode.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

One of the hundreds of reasons you want Sid around with young developing players

https://x.com/i/web/status/1828420806382096838

How have I never seen this before now?