Salary Cap: Pens Summer Salary Thread: We Hayes Dubas's offseason moves so far

[Sideline]

“He is a very loyal person and he has one year left on his current contract. However, you have to ask the tough questions with missing the past two postseasons, along with the scarce prospect pool, a decision must be taken soon and we need to talk about the future in July.”​

Sidney Crosby’s agent drops bombshell on his client in French interview!

Ahead of the Draft, Pat Brisson stuns with this statement in an executive interview:

www.hockeyfeed.com

Just Google Martin McGuire Crosby. The interview was in French which is leading to some different translations but none of them appear to be good.

@Scandale du Jour pls help

 

[Ulf5]

While searching for Brisson's comments, came across this, thought some might enjoy.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5217618/2024/01/22/brendan-brisson-sidney-crosby/

 

[HandshakeLine]

someone should tell Sid that Dubas has A Plan.

 

[Turin]

Stemming from this article. Penguins' Sidney Crosby Extension In Limbo: 'It Has To Make Sense'

I don’t think those quotes are real. That article was written on June 29th. If those quotes were real, they would’ve been picked up by every single hockey outlet in America and Canada. Also, Sid wants this entire thing to be as private as possible. I don’t see his agent going against that.

This.

 

[Maninthebox87]

Sid is just a different guy he probably could have a lineup of all Wheeling Nailers and still think his team can win.

 

[SomeDude]

As others have said, if the Canadian press thought there was any chance Sid would go to another team it would be the story of the year for them.

 

[vodeni]

Sid is just a different guy he probably could have a lineup of all Wheeling Nailers and still think his team can win.

well if he hasn't realized in a five years that no, you can't win with crappy teamates and stubborn know it all coach, its his problem...also, as much as I love Sid, I am not sure how he wasn't able to beat those awful blackhawks and jackets teams byhimself and get Pens in the playoffs, or why he kind of pouted for 10-ish games after Jake's trade that dug them the hole thaey could not get out of it. Anyways, he has accomplished everything all while maintaining this great human vibe, he does not need to prove anyone anything anymore...as for winning he should be better to ask someone for advice what would be best next steps..nothing to prove...

 

[Andy99]

someone should tell Sid that Dubas has A Plan.

An “A” plan, or a B or C plan? Lol

 

[Andy99]

Stemming from this article. Penguins' Sidney Crosby Extension In Limbo: 'It Has To Make Sense'

I don’t think those quotes are real. That article was written on June 29th. If those quotes were real, they would’ve been picked up by every single hockey outlet in America and Canada. Also, Sid wants this entire thing to be as private as possible. I don’t see his agent going against that.

Well Dubas’ quotes are real: my favorite is that since Sid wants to win, we’re going to put”younger and hungrier” players around him…..and then he goes out and picks up Hayes and Gryz lol…well technically I guess they are younger than Sid…

 

[Scandale du Jour]

@Scandale du Jour pls help

It is just keeping all options open I think. Agent speak.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Then only 5 more seasons of David Quinn hockey after that.

I cannot wait!

 

[Ryder71]

I hope Crosby is smart enough to see as currently constructed that this team has no real chance of competing. Please ask for a trade Sid!

The assets we could accrue would really accelerate a rebuild.

No one with even a modicum of common sense can look at this roster and really believe this team is anything but a sub par non-playoff caliber team. If Sid really wants to win he needs to be moved.

 

[Ryder71]

Well Dubas’ quotes are real: my favorite is that since Sid wants to win, we’re going to put”younger and hungrier” players around him…..and then he goes out and picks up Hayes and Gryz lol…well technically I guess they are younger than Sid…

95% of the league is younger than Sid!

#SellHimOff

 

[Ulf5]

I hope Crosby is smart enough to see as currently constructed that this team has no real chance of competing. Please ask for a trade Sid!

The assets we could accrue would really accelerate a rebuild.

No one with even a modicum of common sense can look at this roster and really believe this team is anything but a sub par non-playoff caliber team. If Sid really wants to win he needs to be moved.

If there's one thing that trumps Sid's obsessive compulsiveness, it'd be his competitiveness.

 

[BusinessGoose]

You know what will suck

When we do sell our stars for assets

And went up drafting a team of poulins and pouliots and end up being shit anyway

 

[Ryder71]

EDM and COL would be the best destinations for Sid. They have the prospects and players to make such a deal work.

Sid to EDM For Holloway, Broberg, Arvidsson, Kane and a '26 2hd, '25 3rd

Sid to COL for Middlestadt, Wood, '26 OR '27 1st, '26 OR '27 2hd

Something like that. Maybe we add a low cap hit guy.

 

[Scandale du Jour]

You know what will suck

When we do sell our stars for assets

And went up drafting a team of poulins and pouliots and end up being shit anyway

Exactly. Let's ride with them until the end.

 

[Turin]

You know what will suck

When we do sell our stars for assets

And went up drafting a team of poulins and pouliots and end up being shit anyway

Yea Kris Beech really helped the rebuild last time

 

[OnMyOwn]

I just don’t see a 38 year old sid playing elsewhere. Doesn’t make much sense to me at this point and what he’s accomplished.

 

[Ryder71]

We're not gonna likely get a Lemieux caliber player in the draft even if we're on the bottom. Nor should we expect complete busts like some here are convincing themselves. I look at it as somewhere in the middle. Yager looks like a pretty solid pick. What if we accrued four or five guys on that level? Maybe slightly better? Iylin looks promising for a 5th rounder. By many accounts are 2hd rounders this year have gotten good grades. Jesse I believe was high on them. In any case It's not likely to be one extreme or the other. But if we're drafting high, chances are good we'll get some quality young talent into the system. It just might take a few years.

 

[Tom Hanks]

EDM and COL would be the best destinations for Sid. They have the prospects and players to make such a deal work.

Sid to EDM For Holloway, Broberg, Arvidsson, Kane and a '26 2hd, '25 3rd

Sid to COL for Middlestadt, Wood, '26 OR '27 1st, '26 OR '27 2hd

Something like that. Maybe we add a low cap hit guy.

Sid has a NMC and would chose his destination (not that I think he’d leave) so the return won’t be as good as you think.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You know what will suck

When we do sell our stars for assets

And went up drafting a team of poulins and pouliots and end up being shit anyway

How can you NOT like our drafting? We have an uncanny ability to turn 1st round picks into journeymen NHLers and career AHLers like no other team!

 

[Gurglesons]

I just don’t see a 38 year old sid playing elsewhere. Doesn’t make much sense to me at this point and what he’s accomplished.

It makes a lot of sense. He can move very high up both the RS and Playoff all time point lists if he is on a competitive team. And nobody really cares if players leave teams.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

It makes a lot of sense. He can move very high up both the RS and Playoff all time point lists if he is on a competitive team. And nobody really cares if players leave teams.

It just comes down to which of Sid's "obsessions" is stronger: playing for 1 organization his entire career or playing on a competitive team with a chance at another deep playoff run.

 

[SEALBound]

For the sake of discussion, I will comment - I have NEVER, not ONCE been mad at Sidney Crosby since his draft day in 2005. That said, I can say that if he is at the point where is suggesting "hmm...I may not resign if we are not going to be competitive" then I have a significant problem with that because I believe that, more likely than not, it is HIS well-earned stubbornness and catering to that has played a bigger role than we want to admit for the mess we are in. Now, on one hand, there's just a general cyclical nature to team success. We all knew full well that when Sid and Geno got old, the team wouldn't be as competitive. In the pursuit of the cup when it made sense, they went for it. They mortgage the future constantly for pursuit of the cup and that's fine. It's hard to win the Cup and Sid has three with two conn smyths. It's hard to ask for much more. But at this point, there are some glaring issues that we can point to that are, at the root cause, Sid's fault.

Number one - the continued employment of Mike Sullivan. This offseason, a lot pointed to the premise that: 1. FSG likes Sullivan. 2. The core loves Sullivan and doesn't want to play for anyone else and 3. Sullivan may not have opted to leave because he's loyal to Sid and Geno. Coaching has been a MASSIVE issue for this team for 5+ years. To the point where other "fixes" are merely window dressing for a team rotting from the inside due to the unwillingness to move on to something different. If Sid has alluded to Sullivan being the only Penguin coach he's willing to play for, THAT is an issue and it's a Sidney Crosby issue.

Next, we have seen Sid be very selective with linemates to the point where line combos are put together that go against better judgment and better performance. To that end, we have seen the organization keep players on this roster that should have traded a while ago to recoup the assets needed to maintain performance. For example, Letang, Rust, and Guentzel. Now, we did trade Guentzel for an appropriate return but I don't think it was a secret that people were upset. They went out of their way to tell Rust that they love him though even though there was every incentive to ship him off as well. We should have done so if Detroit had been interested and we could have gotten a similar return to Guentzel (or slightly less). We could have replaced both Jake and Rust in free agency recently.

Those are issues that have festered and manifested themselves in significant ways, but we were happy to do so because that is what Sid wanted, and certainly, it's understandable that you give your franchise legend what he wants. If he's coming back now and saying, "Oh, wait, yeah, now it's a problem...but I'm also not going to support the moves necessary to make the changes,"...then that's a Sidney Crosby issue. That's a level of "unfairness" that is concerning to my viewpoint of Sid. That's a "no, don't turn the Titanic away from that iceberg. That would disrupt my life too much...oh...well now that the ship is sinking I wish to get on the lifeboat first" approach.

The organization set in place a plan to revamp as quickly as possible for the twilight years of Sid's career. To turn back now...especially after Geno and Letang resigned to be lifers...just sucks. Now this all said, it's not like I wouldn't be thrilled for Sid to join a playoff team and win another Cup. I would love nothing more but it sacrifices the "life long Penguin" aspect that I think would be important to his overall legacy. I don't think another Cup changes much. Finishing top 5 in points with a single team while ushering in a new era, that is a very Sidney Crosby-esque way to go out. To jump ship at the last minute...ouch.