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

[Andy99]

NHL Power Rankings: Fallout from off-season moves

What do all the off-season moves mean as we close in on the 2024-25 NHL season? Ryan Dixon fires up the power rankings to see how everything comes together.

www.sportsnet.ca

30. Pittsburgh Penguins: Snagging Rutger McGroarty from Winnipeg was a nice move this summer, but this team is just at the outset of a long decline. Given the age and injury history of some key players, it feels like there’s real crumble potential here — which may be best-case scenario for Pens fans.

Man, how the mighty have fallen lol…

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Shit, I hope the Pens finish 30th. More importantly, I hope they're in the running next summer for McKenna.

 

[eXile3]

It’s much more straightforward. only thing to really question is the accuracy of the tracking tech itself.

Regardless, even if say MPH is 1.5 mph slower than it should be across the board, the players would still be ranked in the same order and the same guys would be the fastest, and others slowest.

Where it gets interesting is if there is variance between chips, but I’d imagine that is tested, and because they’re always tracking the sample size is so large that it should kinda absorb the outlier issues.

So I’d take it at face value IMO.


Fed is cutting next week. 6%

50 bps is my bet.

 

[deakka]

NHL Power Rankings: Fallout from off-season moves

What do all the off-season moves mean as we close in on the 2024-25 NHL season? Ryan Dixon fires up the power rankings to see how everything comes together.

www.sportsnet.ca

30. Pittsburgh Penguins: Snagging Rutger McGroarty from Winnipeg was a nice move this summer, but this team is just at the outset of a long decline. Given the age and injury history of some key players, it feels like there’s real crumble potential here — which may be best-case scenario for Pens fans.

Man, how the mighty have fallen lol…

I'm as pessimistic as anyone here. But even i don't see it as even remotely possible we are the 3rd worst team in the league. I think I would set the over/under line at 10 from the bottom if I were a broker.

 

[The Old Master]

Shit, I hope the Pens finish 30th. More importantly, I hope they're in the running next summer for McKenna.

and if they fall short, they need to do everything they can to trade up.

 

[Andy99]

and if they fall short, they need to do everything they can to trade up.

I think you mean bribe Bettman to pick our lottery ball…you know those movies where the cards are rigged so that every card is an ace lol…

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I don't think there's really a chance in hell the Pens are picking top-3 unless Sid misses pretty much the entire season *and* they jump a few spots with lotto luck. But I'd prefer a complete cratering to this lame no man's land bullshit they've been doing for years.

 

[The Old Master]

I think you mean bribe Bettman to pick our lottery ball…you know those movies where the cards are rigged so that every card is an ace lol…

i did say "anything"

 

[deakka]

I don't know guys. We didn't win the Lafreniere lottery with equal odds. And we didn't win last season either. Maybe uncle Gary has abandoned us?

 

[Nakawick]

I'm as pessimistic as anyone here. But even i don't see it as even remotely possible we are the 3rd worst team in the league. I think I would set the over/under line at 10 from the bottom if I were a broker.

I think they will make the playoffs this year. They were only a handful of PP goals away last year. The D and bottom 6 and PP should be better.

 

[Rave7215]

Sure. But that's the exception of having a bad roster and bad pipeline. Guentzel is, in part, a Crosby creation. To the victor go the spoils, so to speak. Rust, to a degree too, who is more of a second line talent anyhow. But yeah, to concede, if we only have three wingers on the team worth a damn...and Crosby established himself with the best one quite clearly. Yeah, Malkin gets Kasperi Kapanen and Danton Heinen. Fair enough.

But I mean, even look at this discussion...it's all "McGroarty with Crosby" - the guy who has zero pro games goes right to Crosby. That's not a positive. That's a challenge that Malkin generally isn't equipped to handle.

This is just blatantly false. Guentzel is his own creation and suggesting his success is due to Crosby is an insult to his talent and skill. He has been a top goal scorer since he was brought into the league and was placed with, guess who, Malkin. I fully agree with Jagr68Sid87, Jake always looked and played best on Geno's wing.

 

[Darren McCord]

Shit, I hope the Pens finish 30th. More importantly, I hope they're in the running next summer for McKenna.

I don't get this. I want crosby in the playoffs and moving up in the all time point list.

People who want to see this team fail blow my mind.

 

[Michael Farkas]

This is just blatantly false. Guentzel is his own creation and suggesting his success is due to Crosby is an insult to his talent and skill. He has been a top goal scorer since he was brought into the league and was placed with, guess who, Malkin. I fully agree with Jagr68Sid87, Jake always looked and played best on Geno's wing.

I should have been more clear, my apologies. Guentzel is a very talented and skilled player and he will (and has) do (done) just fine without Crosby. My point was, he was handed off to Sid as a very different player. On the plus side, and to Guentzel's credit, he was a freakin' sponge...he took a lot of Crosby traits and applied them (some from Hornqvist, Cullen, and Malkin too). He's kid that could do anything...he's Brian Jones to our Mick and Keith...he can just pick up an instrument and play it. In another situation, he might have learned from Pierre-Luc Dubois...and maybe he could have overcome that, maybe not...

So, I don't mean that he's a "product of Sid" like an idiot would say...I mean, he's a "product of Sid" like a smart would say haha

No, what I'm saying is he's probably the best example of Crosby actually (helping) developing a player as opposed to just making him look good/better, if that makes sense...

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I don't get this. I want crosby in the playoffs and moving up in the all time point list.

People who want to see this team fail blow my mind.

You must not be a big fan of Kyle Dubas, then.

 

[Darren McCord]

You must not be a big fan of Kyle Dubas, then.

I'm not. But Sullivan is much more at fault than him.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I'm not.

Aw what... you don't like the idea of paying a guy 7M dollars a year to toss his hands up after one halfhearted kick at the can and surrender for the sake of collecting trashbin futures?

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I don't get this. I want crosby in the playoffs and moving up in the all time point list.

People who want to see this team fail blow my mind.

Agreed on bolded but I’d also take a couple top 3 picks over finishing one spot away the last 2 years.

 

[Darren McCord]

Agreed on bolded but I’d also take a couple top 3 picks over finishing one spot away the last 2 years.

Agreed, it's just infuriating because with a different coaching staff they probably make it in easy both years.

Aw what... you don't like the idea of paying a guy 7M dollars a year to toss his hands up after one halfhearted kick at the can and surrender for the sake of collecting trashbin futures?

The thing I dislike most about dubas is his loyalty to a crap coach he didnt hire. If he would have fired sullivan, they make the playoffs last year and dont go hard into the rebuild trading jake

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

The thing I dislike most about dubas is his loyalty to a crap coach he didnt hire. If he would have fired sullivan, they make the playoffs last year and dont go hard into the rebuild trading jake

For sure. That was my breaking point. Watching this guy shrug his way through an entire season while not even being able to bring himself to shitcan the clearly-awful ASSISTANT coach was... something. If he can't even do that then why would I have any faith in or respect for him as the person expected to guide this team and shape the next few years?

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

You could say “who knows if they would be as good if XYZ hadn’t happened” about every upper echelon player in the league. The few you can’t are like McDavid, Crosby, Makar, Malkin types lol

Doesn’t make anyone a product of anything. Kucherov ain’t a product of Stammer despite it being a benefit to play with him on a good team early in his career.

 

[pistolpete11]

I'm one who thinks Guentzel looked the best with Malkin, but....it was a small sample size and I think there is an element of "Sid's out, we've all gotta pick up our game."

It's still absolutely ridiculous that Sullivan NEVER went back to it, though.

You could say “who knows if they would be as good if XYZ hadn’t happened” about every upper echelon player in the league. The few you can’t are like McDavid, Crosby, Makar, Malkin types lol

Doesn’t make anyone a product of anything. Kucherov ain’t a product of Stammer despite it being a benefit to play with him on a good team early in his career.

Not to mention we've seen a number of players fail with Crosby and/or Malkin. So it's not like any schmuck can be successful just because they play with those guys.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I was always and still am fine with the idea of largely keeping Jake and Crosby together. But the fact that they didn't EVER tinker with it is just negligent. It's a potential advantage not leveraged. Like... what if someone like Zucker was moved to Crosby's line and they hit it off... certainly not a stretch. Then you can move Jake to L2 and really create some nightmare matchup issues.

But nah... lets sub JEFF CARTER in on L1 when Crosby goes down. Because that's smart... can't afford to break up that killer Heinen/Malkin/Kapanen line, after all. That might seem like a small thing but it told me and anyone else paying any attention everything I needed to know not just about that particular dynamic but the larger team dynamic under Mike Sullivan.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I'm one who thinks Guentzel looked the best with Malkin, but....it was a small sample size and I think there is an element of "Sid's out, we've all gotta pick up our game."

It's still absolutely ridiculous that Sullivan NEVER went back to it, though.


Not to mention we've seen a number of players fail with Crosby and/or Malkin. So it's not like any schmuck can be successful just because they play with those guys.

Yes. As someone who calls Jake a complimentary player, I think it’s very safe to say at this point that he did not need to play with or be around Crosby to become the player he is. I’m sure he would’ve picked up adaptations and skills and developed well on other teams. Like I said, almost every upper tier NHL player has done that and the ones that don’t need to are the elite of the elite.

He torched every league he played in prior to the NHL w/o Sid.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I don't get this. I want crosby in the playoffs and moving up in the all time point list.

People who want to see this team fail blow my mind.

Potentially shocking news for you about the past handful of seasons of Pittsburgh Penguins hockey. They're already a garbage team. If you want Sid in the playoffs and moving up the points list, he's probably gonna have to be on a team where he isn't centering Drew friggin' O'Connor on the top line.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Agreed, it's just infuriating because with a different coaching staff they probably make it in easy both years.



The thing I dislike most about dubas is his loyalty to a crap coach he didnt hire. If he would have fired sullivan, they make the playoffs last year and dont go hard into the rebuild trading jake

Guess what? FSG hired and re-signed Dubas/Sully both. Dubas had no control over Sully's extension.