Salary Cap: Salary Cap & Roster Building | Countdown to Free Agency (Cap Details + Links in First Post)

[Riptide]

I still don't understand the logic for anyone (not you) saying ZAR sucks as a 4th line option. The only time we saw him there was for a handful of games when he was coming back from injury as a rookie. That's not a big enough sample to to determine anything.

I think Empo summed it up best. On the 4th line, I see next to nothing from him that separates him from Kuhnhackl. No more speed, skill, hitting, offense or anything really. At which point we might as well have Kuhnhackl there and ZAR in WBS getting puck time in an offensive role, to hopefully improve his offensive game. However, if we were putting ZAR with Crosby or Malkin (or perhaps even Brassard), then I think he could be used in a more offensive role, and that we would see more out of him offensively. In that case, sure try it and see how it goes, because I really liked what we were seeing when he was playing with Crosby. But when he was with Sheahan? Meh, extremely bland, to the point that he might as well have been in WBS, because Kuhnhackl could have easily replaced him.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

A STL reporter says Skinner is nixing deals:



A Canes reporter is saying they haven't come to Skinner yet to ask for approval(tweet liked Canes advanced stats guy):

-Blues and Canucks were turned down

 

[ColePens]

-Blues and Canucks were turned down

Sources?

 

[cheesedanish87]

A STL reporter says Skinner is nixing deals:



A Canes reporter is saying they haven't come to Skinner yet to ask for approval(tweet liked Canes advanced stats guy):

Both tweets could be correct.

The GM could go to the agent and ask if he would accept a trade to their team.

The team wouldn't have to ask the agent for its approval because the opposing GM already did.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I think we all need to take a moment to appreciate the greatness of that name.



I'm also guessing its possible that Skinner or his agent have informally put a kibosh on potential landing places without Carolina having ever said ought formally to him.

Very possible cuz the team that wants him, no doubt wants a guarentee he'll sign an extension. GM talks to Skinner's agent...Skinner puts the kibosh on it without Canes even being involved.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

Sources?

-It was twitter, Im looking for it again but the tweet may have been deleted

 

[Coach Travis]

I disagree with the notion that you can have too many offensive players on the wings. Bring it on and watch other teams try to keep up. Offensively minded wingers are quick on the breakout and keep your opponent's D honest at the blue line so they're not just constantly holding the line. Offensive wingers keep the puck 200 feet away from our net and drain the energy out of teams who are forced to play without the puck and, if they need to be, skilled players are skilled players. They *can* play defensively as good, or better, than your prototypical offensively anemic 100-foot Kuhnackl prototype. I'm sick of the glorification of players who hold conservative defensive position, simply because they aren't fast and skilled enough to read offensive chances and maintain possession.

 

[Peat]

Think the goal here for JR is to balance out the wings as best he can. ATM he has too much of the same thing in Sheary and his 3M + Phil + Sprong.

If he can get an upper tier LW'er(Domi/Skinner) to push the Hagelin's down while keeping his Phil's and Sprong's, great.
If he has to open up cap and buy low on some grit that can score(Kunitz and others), he's open to that as well.

I guess that makes more sense, but even so, I'm only modifying my analogy so far as planning to take your first date to the fanciest seafood in town without a reservation, and if it strikes out, thinking there's always Long John Silver's. There's so many options in between, some of which are actually acceptable for such an occasion - which Long John's isn't, just like Kunitz wouldn't be acceptable in the top 6. I don't really buy that it's much of a rebalance if it involves players you can't play with your best.

 

[PenguinSpeed]

I disagree with the notion that you can have too many offensive players on the wings. Bring it on and watch other teams try to keep up. Offensively minded wingers are quick on the breakout and keep your opponent's D honest at the blue line so they're not just constantly holding the line. Offensive wingers keep the puck 200 feet away from our net and drain the energy out of teams who are forced to play without the puck and, if they need to be, skilled players are skilled players. They *can* play defensively as good, or better, than your prototypical offensively anemic 100-foot Kuhnackl prototype. I'm sick of the glorification of players who hold conservative defensive position, simply because they aren't fast and skilled enough to read offensive chances and maintain possession.

-Agree 100%. 2 years ago we have the #3 offense in the league and the best offense in the league after December. The following year we had the #1 offense in the league. We are built to outscore people, keep it that way.

 

[Turin]

I agree with stacking offense, but a lot of that has to come from the defense in order to work. You also have to be able to make a play.. Sheary very often will kill plays with his shortcomings, so I don’t see him as necessary I’m stacking the wings.

 

[JBose7]

So John Carlson resigned with the Caps..........now we will see other domino fall

 

[Malkinstheman]

So John Carlson resigned with the Caps..........now we will see other domino fall

I think Tavares and and Karlsson's situations have to be resolved before other pieces start falling.

 

[Peat]

I disagree with the notion that you can have too many offensive players on the wings. Bring it on and watch other teams try to keep up. Offensively minded wingers are quick on the breakout and keep your opponent's D honest at the blue line so they're not just constantly holding the line. Offensive wingers keep the puck 200 feet away from our net and drain the energy out of teams who are forced to play without the puck and, if they need to be, skilled players are skilled players. They *can* play defensively as good, or better, than your prototypical offensively anemic 100-foot Kuhnackl prototype. I'm sick of the glorification of players who hold conservative defensive position, simply because they aren't fast and skilled enough to read offensive chances and maintain possession.

If high skilled offensive minded wingers were just as good at playing defensively and were always keeping the puck 200 feet away from their own net, that would show in possession stats. It doesn't.

Which is not to say there's such a thing as too many offensive players. There isn't. But there is such a thing as too many defensively irresponsible/weak players. At which point you make compromises.

 

[SHOOTANDSCORE]

While we're on the nostalgia train, we might as well make it Skinner and Staal.

 

[ColePens]

I disagree with the notion that you can have too many offensive players on the wings. Bring it on and watch other teams try to keep up. Offensively minded wingers are quick on the breakout and keep your opponent's D honest at the blue line so they're not just constantly holding the line. Offensive wingers keep the puck 200 feet away from our net and drain the energy out of teams who are forced to play without the puck and, if they need to be, skilled players are skilled players. They *can* play defensively as good, or better, than your prototypical offensively anemic 100-foot Kuhnackl prototype. I'm sick of the glorification of players who hold conservative defensive position, simply because they aren't fast and skilled enough to read offensive chances and maintain possession.

I want to touch on this. I think you can win with offense, defense, or balance. You need to focus on your strength and go. Make it your identity. Where you lose is being something you are not. Pens should focus on offensive hockey. Period.

One of the reasons Washington won is because they stopped playing like an offensive team as they just never had it. Defense 5 on 5 and dominate the power play. That should have been the case every year. Instead they didn't commit.

Focus on strength only. Commitment to the identity.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I want to touch on this. I think you can win with offense, defense, or balance. You need to focus on your strength and go. Make it your identity. Where you lose is being something you are not. Pens should focus on offensive hockey. Period.

One of the reasons Washington won is because they stopped playing like an offensive team as they just never had it. Defense 5 on 5 and dominate the power play. That should have been the case every year. Instead they didn't commit.

Focus on strength only. Commitment to the identity.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. In fact, we often read on this board about how speed is our identity. It isn't. Scoring goals has always been what this franchise is about, regardless of the package it comes in. Mario Lemieux was a great skater but not the fastest. Mark Recchi was quick, never fast. James Neal skates well for his size but is not considered fast. They scored goals. Just three of many examples.

A guy who is faster than the wind but who cannot finish off plays is worse for this franchise than a very slow skater who can. Ideally, we want both (especially for this coach).

But first and foremost, we need even more of what we do best.



The Carlson re-signing is interesting. I think there were a number of teams who were hoping he would get to market. I think JR should speak with those teams.

 

[genomalkin71]

PIT is reportedly in on him with other teams looking for a scoring LW'er. LA(who just signed Kovy so probably out), SJ, STL.
SJ seems to have the edge on landing Pacioretty.
That leaves STL and PIT and now a Cane's reporter says Skinner may be calling the shots of where he'd like to land.

One things for sure is JR's been searching for an upper tier LW'er for awhile to balance things out. While he was C searching last season he still had the LW spot in mind(Galychenyuk who can play both C/LW, Patches interest, finishing 2nd on Domi).

Only thing i'll say is this team is much better and more balanced if you swap out Sheary for Skinner and have the option of Hags/Skinner playing 3rd line LW or really any of the 3 LW'ers can be slotted in the top 3 LW spots(Jake, Skinner and Hags).

Only issue is what is Skinner gonna cost. He likely comes with retention and then theres no doubt JR wants to keep him past this season, so an extension may be part of the deal.

I can see JR maybe going for 1st+Jarry+CapDump(likely Sheary) but would Carolina? If he's a must move right now and PIT's the only place he can go, maybe they accept that...Dunno.

Thanks. Hearing about this got me very excited because Skinner is one of my favorite non pens. I think he fits perfect in our system and he also gives us more options with our top 9 as well. We can have a more offensive winger on each line (Skinner, Kessel, sprong) and then a defensive winger who can retrieve pucks and go to the net (Jake, rust, horny, hags).

 

[Son Goku]

All the yinzer fans on facebook clamoring to resign Kunitz. One even said he's the best linemate Crosby has ever had, even better than Hossa.

 

[Tom Hanks]

I want to touch on this. I think you can win with offense, defense, or balance. You need to focus on your strength and go. Make it your identity. Where you lose is being something you are not. Pens should focus on offensive hockey. Period.

One of the reasons Washington won is because they stopped playing like an offensive team as they just never had it. Defense 5 on 5 and dominate the power play. That should have been the case every year. Instead they didn't commit.

Focus on strength only. Commitment to the identity.

Our offense is our strength but you still need complimentary players (skill, speed, strength etc) to make the right mix too (also for the coach to identify the right style for the roster). Our GA against Washington was 3.17 and we’ve haven’t averaged more GF than that outside of the first round in the last 3 years.

We still need players to contribute on defense or Murray will have a rough go of it.

 

[Ogrezilla]

I think Empo summed it up best. On the 4th line, I see next to nothing from him that separates him from Kuhnhackl. No more speed, skill, hitting, offense or anything really. At which point we might as well have Kuhnhackl there and ZAR in WBS getting puck time in an offensive role, to hopefully improve his offensive game. However, if we were putting ZAR with Crosby or Malkin (or perhaps even Brassard), then I think he could be used in a more offensive role, and that we would see more out of him offensively. In that case, sure try it and see how it goes, because I really liked what we were seeing when he was playing with Crosby. But when he was with Sheahan? Meh, extremely bland, to the point that he might as well have been in WBS, because Kuhnhackl could have easily replaced him.

ZAR is a guy that seems like a good complement to skill players. That's not what we need on our 4th line as it was built last year. Maybe that will be different this year. For one, maybe we'll have a more talented guy across from him instead of Rowney. For another, he may just play better this year.

 

[Ogrezilla]

If high skilled offensive minded wingers were just as good at playing defensively and were always keeping the puck 200 feet away from their own net, that would show in possession stats. It doesn't.

Which is not to say there's such a thing as too many offensive players. There isn't. But there is such a thing as too many defensively irresponsible/weak players. At which point you make compromises.

Well said. I think it really depends on the specific players. You can't just have guys who score on the rush. You also need guys who help the team spend more time playing offense. If those guys can play good offense themselves that's obviously ideal. But I'll take a Hagelin over a Sheary even though Sheary has more actual offensive talent.

I always think the best lines have a guy who can carry the play, a guy who can finish, and a guy who can do the dirty work. If guys can do more than one of those things, great. But I don't want Kessel or Sprong playing with Sheary on the left wing. Sure, when it goes well it will be great. They will make some absolutely beautiful plays. Same thing with Hagelin and Hornqvist. Sure, as long as everything goes just right, that line is crazy good. But then you get games where we are reminded that neither Hags or Horny actually have hands.

 

[EightyOne]

All the yinzer fans on facebook clamoring to resign Kunitz. One even said he's the best linemate Crosby has ever had, even better than Hossa.

That's..uh..honestly...That's not all that wrong.

Kunitz is just too old to keep up with Sid anymore. But Sid has played with far worse. As far as I am concerned, Hossa doesn't count in a comparison unless he re-signed.

 

[Pens x]

So John Carlson resigned with the Caps..........now we will see other domino fall

If JT re-signs with Washington before July 1, this will be a very boring offseason.

 

[JackFr]

Please no Johnson. Please. Please.

If we trade Hunwick or Sheary so we can give him a contract....

 

[66-30-33]

Jesus christ I can't even go on the trade board. Every thread gets turned into a Leafs thread. Leafs really are the center of the universe, it's disgusting.