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

[HandshakeLine]

Mark Madden is in shambles right now.

Good.

Plus, Pettersson is the ideal player you want on the roster when you start introducing young defensemen into the lineup (hopefully in a post-Sullivan world, where Sullivan becomes the alternate governor of the team or something. Maybe he pulls a Woody Johnson and becomes an Irish ambassador to the POTUS. Whatever). Having Pettersson now makes sense because he is ideal for Karlsson as a partner. But down the road, he is the ideal partner for someone like Brunicke, too.

This is probably the best argument for re-signing him, even if I don't agree with it. I still see no reason to think he'd be a good mentor for rookies, but maybe he can be a stabilizing presence. On the other hand, that's probably why he'd also fetch the most value of the moveable roster pieces and he's our only real shot at selling high on a piece of this team and getting decent assets for a roster player.

 

[BusinessGoose]

Well, Geno is ahead of Trocheck at least so all is right with the world …lol

https://x.com/i/web/status/1813204640277643417

Mark Madden is in shambles right now.

Mad respect to Geno on the career he's had.

But it was also a career worst year by a good margin. Top 50? I guess.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Well, Geno is ahead of Trocheck at least so all is right with the world …lol

https://x.com/i/web/status/1813204640277643417

Tuch is waaaay underrated here.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Good.


This is probably the best argument for re-signing him, even if I don't agree with it. I still see no reason to think he'd be a good mentor for rookies, but maybe he can be a stabilizing presence. On the other hand, that's probably why he'd also fetch the most value of the moveable roster pieces and he's our only real shot at selling high on a piece of this team and getting decent assets for a roster player.

The young D we have coming through (at this stage) are very likely going to start on the bottom pair so Pettersson isn’t going to be their partner.

I’m not fussed if we trade him at the deadline or re-sign him. Depends what’s on offer, where we are in the standings but if we re-sign him he has to have pretty weak trade clauses in the first couple of years.

Although he turned out to be , Pouliot’s best stretch of games was when he was paired with Lovejoy. Someone who was stable, didn’t try to do too much but was aware enough to cover for his partner. I don’t have names off the top of my head but there will be cheaper bottom pair D men who can play the insulator role. They won’t put up a lot of points but their value is to cover rookie mistakes and allow their partner to push the play and develop their skills in game.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Well, Geno is ahead of Trocheck at least so all is right with the world …lol

https://x.com/i/web/status/1813204640277643417

Malkin is absolutely not a top-50 forward anymore.

 

[Tom Hanks]

Dimitri Filipovic has been doing some great work analyzing high danger chances and they are downright awful at this point, especially considering most teams are moving towards "generating" them.

Love Dimitri and I should look at what he says but the numbers aren’t lying in terms of shooting percentage. For most teams it’s by far the best area to shoot from.

The question is why was our S% so low in these areas? Set up too predictable for the goalie, players who aren’t as good taking too many shots, poor passes to shooter

 

[SEALBound]

And no, IF he go's back to Juniors we don't burn a year on his entry level contract.

CapFriendly is not longer here for me - is this the "contract slide" rule?

I can see the benefit of waiting to sign Yager until the ambiguity of where he's going to play next season (either NHL or WHL) is resolved.

Well, he can't play in the NHL unless he's signed. I would think that they would opt to sign him so he could play pre-season and then up to the max of the 9 games before being sent back. That's usually when they would make such decisions so I'm not sure that's the thing.

Well, Geno is ahead of Trocheck at least so all is right with the world …lol

https://x.com/i/web/status/1813204640277643417

Overall, I think it's a good list but man are there some odd ones on there. Like, Rantanen. Dude is awesome but I'm not sure I'm taking him over anyone from 11-30. I'd take Brady Tkachuk over Guentzel honestly. Clayton Keller ahead of a few people is odd. Timo Meier ahead of a guy like Fiala or Jarvis is really weird. Caufield over Bennett. And I'm not sure where exactly he should be but I think Lucas Raymond should be higher. Having watched a lot of the DRW during the last part of the season, I was very impressed with him. I'm very high on him. Certainly higher on him than Giroux, Lindholm, Hertl, Koncecny, Meier, Ehlers...

Just so many good players it's tough to rank. I think the S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier, C-Tier would be much better.

 

[Gurglesons]

CapFriendly is not longer here for me - is this the "contract slide" rule?

Well, he can't play in the NHL unless he's signed. Even pre-season. I would think that they would opt to sign him so he could play pre-season and then up to the max of the 9 games before being sent back. That's usually when they would make such decisions so I'm not sure that's the thing.

Overall, I think it's a good list but man are there some odd ones on there. Like, Rantanen. Dude i awesome but I'm not sure I'm taking him over anyone from 11-30. I'd take Brady Tkachuk over Guentzel honestly. Clayton Keller ahead of a few people is odd. Timo Meier ahead of a guy like Fiala or Jarvis is really weird. Caufield over Bennett. And I'm not sure where exactly he should be but I think Lucas Raymond should be higher. Having watched a lot of the DRW during the last part of the season, I was very impressed with him. I'm very high on him. Certainly higher on him than Giroux, Lindholm, Hertl, Koncecny, Meier, Ehlers...

Just so many good players it's tough to rank. I think the S-Tier, A-Tier, B-Tier, C-Tier would be much better.

Rantanen is 7th in scoring over the past 3 seasons. Really bizarre take, he’s probably the 2nd best wing in the game right now or tied with Tkachuk.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Well, he can't play in the NHL unless he's signed. Even pre-season.

Yager played pre-season last year. So just like your ELC take about Howe/Brunicke, no.

 

[SEALBound]

Yager played pre-season last year. So just like your ELC take about Howe/Brunicke, no.

Lol, thanks...but what exactly was my ELC take on Howe and Brunicke?

Well let's correct that a bit - he can't play an NHL regular season game without the contract. I would suggest that if there is a question about whether or not to keep him at the NHL level or send him back, they would want to see a couple NHL regular season games with him playing before the ultimate decision is made. I would doubt they would make the decision based on pre-season games alone. Not impossible, but highly doubtful in my mind.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Lol, thanks...but what exactly was my ELC take on Howe and Brunicke?

Your Post: Why sign them now if it starts their ELC early.

Answer: Their deals will just slide until their pro careers start.

To the second point, first that’s not what you said. Second, I fully imagine that if Yager is so good in camp/pre-season to earn a reg szn game; they will just sign him. Third, I doubt he is, and he will go back to junior IMO.

 

[SEALBound]

Your Post: Why sign them now if it starts their ELC early.

Answer: Their deals will just slide until their pro careers start.

I looked back and I can only find ones where I was talking specifically about Yager but I get your point and do appreciate your answer/correction.

 

[Ryder71]

CapFriendly is not longer here for me - is this the "contract slide" rule?

If he plays by say 25-26 the team (if he signs) would have him for a full 7 years.

 

[JRS91]

Mad respect to Geno on the career he's had.

But it was also a career worst year by a good margin. Top 50? I guess.

There's no doubt he's lost a step.

He had 27 goals and 67 points in 82 games. That's solid production from a second line center, especially one that was 37 years old and is turning 38 years old in a couple weeks.

Trocheck is probably the better player right now. He's better defensively and will most likely produce more, but given Malkin is at the end of his career, seeing him leave on bad terms just wouldn't sit right. The guy is a legend and deserved to get one last contract. Signing Trocheck doesn't make them contenders. Is it the smarter move? Probably, but I doubt he makes a huge difference compared to Malkin.

Also, look at the catalog of players that we thought would fit here, that didn't Smith being the most recent. Brassard, Perron, the list goes on. There's no guarantee the guy fits here and you risk upsetting the best player on your team by letting Malkin walk for another 1st round exit. Madden just flat out hates Malkin, he's always been on the "Trade Malkin" bandwagon since 2008. He's a Crosby fanboy and hates the fact that there's someone remotely close to his skill level on this team. He wanted Malkin gone in 2008, he wanted him gone in 2014, he wanted him gone in 2022.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

There's no doubt he's lost a step.

He had 27 goals and 67 points in 82 games. That's solid production from a second line center, especially one that was 37 years old and is turning 38 years old in a couple weeks.

Trocheck is probably the better player right now. He's better defensively and will most likely produce more, but given Malkin is at the end of his career, seeing him leave on bad terms just wouldn't sit right. The guy is a legend and deserved to get one last contract. Signing Trocheck doesn't make them contenders. Is it the smarter move? Probably, but I doubt he makes a huge difference compared to Malkin.

Also, look at the catalog of players that we thought would fit here, that didn't Smith being the most recent. Brassard, Perron, the list goes on. There's no guarantee the guy fits here and you risk upsetting the best player on your team by letting Malkin walk for another 1st round exit. Madden just flat out hates Malkin, he's always been on the "Trade Malkin" bandwagon since 2008. He's a Crosby fanboy and hates the fact that there's someone remotely close to his skill level on this team. He wanted Malkin gone in 2008, he wanted him gone in 2014, he wanted him gone in 2022.

Trocheck is probably the better player now but he only had 10 more points than Malkin did and that was with Trocheck having a top five winger in Panarin on his line. Compared to Malkin who had a rotating cast of misfits.

 

[ChaosAgent]

I think Malkin had a very solid to good year at ES. He was defensively responsible, created chances and produced. Like everyone else on PP1, he was garbage there. Hopefully with a fresh reset and no Guentzel these guys can figure their shit out there.

 

[Jacob]

IMO Malkin needs to be at least a part-time (50%) winger to be effective nowadays.

I think if you move him to wing permanently though he probably gets out of the groove too much, unless he's with Sid.

He should play with someone that can take the d-zone responsibilities now and then and the occasional faceoff. But not Hayes. Probably either Eller or O'Connor. Someone with legs.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I hope Trochek takes a slapper to the nuts.

 

[eXile3]

Like a lot of aging superstars Malkin lives and dies on the PP. He scored half as many PP points this year compared to the year before.

I think he could still put up high 70s, low 80s with a half decent PP. Guys like Thornton and Jagr racked up points well after their skating had deteriorated.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I wonder if the Pens and Yager are waiting to see whether he'll play in the NHL this season before deciding on the structure of the contract.

As mentioned by others, he'll get the max contract as a first round pick. But I think - and could be wrong - they can structure bonuses in different ways. Maybe if it looks like he's at least going to get a sniff at the NHL in training camp, they do the contract one way. But if it looks like he's definitely heading back to junior, they do it another way.

 

[BusinessGoose]

I wonder if the Pens and Yager are waiting to see whether he'll play in the NHL this season before deciding on the structure of the contract.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Like a lot of aging superstars Malkin lives and dies on the PP. He scored half as many PP points this year compared to the year before.

I think he could still put up high 70s, low 80s with a half decent PP. Guys like Thornton and Jagr racked up points well after their skating had deteriorated.

The Penguins entries and Geno's use will determine how this #1 PP unit scores. If he's staying put along the boards and favors high to the point this team hasn't learned a thing. I'd even try to get him to get into the soft areas like the bumper position to utilize his shot. If Sid/Geno play to the perimeter this teams gonna not do so well on the PP.

 

[Ugene Magic]

I wonder if the Pens and Yager are waiting to see whether he'll play in the NHL this season before deciding on the structure of the contract.

As mentioned by others, he'll get the max contract as a first round pick. But I think - and could be wrong - they can structure bonuses in different ways. Maybe if it looks like he's at least going to get a sniff at the NHL in training camp, they do the contract one way. But if it looks like he's definitely heading back to junior, they do it another way.

 

[Jobeycool]

If the Pens defensemen cannot do their job skating and clearing the puck out of their zone better gonna be a tough year for the Pens. However they should be a little bit better with forwards or wingers or whatever you choose to call them.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Like a lot of aging superstars Malkin lives and dies on the PP. He scored half as many PP points this year compared to the year before.

I think he could still put up high 70s, low 80s with a half decent PP. Guys like Thornton and Jagr racked up points well after their skating had deteriorated.

Are we gonna pretend like he wasn't a major part of the problem? He has the puck an awful lot on that unit.