(Official) Free Agent and Offseason Discussion Thread

[meecrofilm]

I really don't see how we have room for Doan anyway....

Parise - Crosby - Dupuis
Neal - Malkin - Kunitz
Cooke - Sutter - Kennedy
Tangradi - Adams - Glass

Suter - Letang
Orpik - Martin
Niskanen - Engo

Parise and Suter didn't sign with us.

[columbia]

Dan Tencer ‏@dantencer

Linus Omark signs to play with Swiss team EV Zug this season. His coach will be former NHL'er Doug Shedden. The Oilers retain his NHL rights

[mikey287]

Not surprised. Another YouTube All-Star finds he's not long for this league...

[sil]

So here's a hypothetical...

Say the players accept the NHL's proposed cap limits with no salary rollbacks on the new CBA? The pens will suddenly be $3,000,000 + over the cap ($58,000,000) with their current roster (this also assumes a modest $600,000 - $800,000 for Tangradi). What happens then? We can't waive Martin (NMC) and teams may not be willing to deal. So what's the solution in this case? Attempt to trade Martin for a pick, then sign Coliacavo (sp?) for $1,500,000 tops? If that fails, how else would we shave $3,500,000 from our roster?

[mikey287]

Going to be awfully tough to shave, what, ~20% off the cap and not have some give regarding salaries or buyouts or something of that nature...I don't think that's a realistic scenario. Also, Colaiacovo has offers in the $2.5 million range, so even if you adjust for cap scaling, he's still a $2 million player...

[sil]

Going to be awfully tough to shave, what, ~20% off the cap and not have some give regarding salaries or buyouts or something of that nature...I don't think that's a realistic scenario. Also, Colaiacovo has offers in the $2.5 million range, so even if you adjust for cap scaling, he's still a $2 million player...

Hopefully it isn't realistic...but what would you do in such an awful case?

[Mongoose87]

Going to be awfully tough to shave, what, ~20% off the cap and not have some give regarding salaries or buyouts or something of that nature...I don't think that's a realistic scenario. Also, Colaiacovo has offers in the $2.5 million range, so even if you adjust for cap scaling, he's still a $2 million player...

Hopefully it isn't realistic...but what would you do in such an awful case?

Cry

[mikey287]

Going to be awfully tough to shave, what, ~20% off the cap and not have some give regarding salaries or buyouts or something of that nature...I don't think that's a realistic scenario. Also, Colaiacovo has offers in the $2.5 million range, so even if you adjust for cap scaling, he's still a $2 million player...

Hopefully it isn't realistic...but what would you do in such an awful case?

Failing to move Martin, I'd have to look towards Kennedy unfortunately....

[Penspal]

From what I read, if the players were to accept what's on the table now, there are plans for the teams over the cap, and I do not believe it means casting off players. You know that would be the first question asked by the union if they are even willing to talk to that amount.

[llipgh2]

I can't post from Twitter here, but according to a Dmitry Chesnokov retweet of an interview with Malkin (conducted with a Russian sportwriter) - Malkin told the reporter while Sid has no plans to play in the KHL (or anywhere) in 2012, he might "after Christmas, if the NHL season is cancelled".

I hope Geno is joking. Do not want. They will definitely headhunt Sid in the KHL.

[Zach6668]

I can't post from Twitter here, but according to a Dmitry Chesnokov retweet of an interview with Malkin (conducted with a Russian sportwriter) - Malkin told the reporter while Sid has no plans to play in the KHL (or anywhere) in 2012, he might "after Christmas, if the NHL season is cancelled".

I hope Geno is joking. Do not want. They will definitely headhunt Sid in the KHL.

Odd collision of stereotypes here. Are euros soft and lazy or are they dirty headhunters???

[llipgh2]

I can't post from Twitter here, but according to a Dmitry Chesnokov retweet of an interview with Malkin (conducted with a Russian sportwriter) - Malkin told the reporter while Sid has no plans to play in the KHL (or anywhere) in 2012, he might "after Christmas, if the NHL season is cancelled".

I hope Geno is joking. Do not want. They will definitely headhunt Sid in the KHL.

Odd collision of stereotypes here. Are euros soft and lazy or are they dirty headhunters???

The KHL has the team that's nothing but dirty players. I can't remember the name of it, but it is comprised mainly of international goons. It's been discussed on the NPR page.

No stereotyping here. It's a goon squad.

[MRandall25]

I can't post from Twitter here, but according to a Dmitry Chesnokov retweet of an interview with Malkin (conducted with a Russian sportwriter) - Malkin told the reporter while Sid has no plans to play in the KHL (or anywhere) in 2012, he might "after Christmas, if the NHL season is cancelled".

I hope Geno is joking. Do not want. They will definitely headhunt Sid in the KHL.

Odd collision of stereotypes here. Are euros soft and lazy or are they dirty headhunters???

The KHL has the team that's nothing but dirty players. I can't remember the name of it, but it is comprised mainly of international goons. It's been discussed on the NPR page.

No stereotyping here. It's a goon squad.

Vityaz Chekov, I believe

[mikey287]

Correct, at above.

[HockeyDaddy]

I honestly can't imagine Sid going to Russia to play during a lockout. The most likely scenario would be intense on and off-ice training with a select group of players and specialized trainers.

[mikey287]

I honestly can't imagine Sid going to Russia to play during a lockout. The most likely scenario would be intense on and off-ice training with a select group of players and specialized trainers.

Or a friendlier league like NLA (Switzerland)...

[Hugo Stiglitz]

So here's a hypothetical...

Say the players accept the NHL's proposed cap limits with no salary rollbacks on the new CBA? The pens will suddenly be $3,000,000 + over the cap ($58,000,000) with their current roster (this also assumes a modest $600,000 - $800,000 for Tangradi). What happens then? We can't waive Martin (NMC) and teams may not be willing to deal. So what's the solution in this case? Attempt to trade Martin for a pick, then sign Coliacavo (sp?) for $1,500,000 tops? If that fails, how else would we shave $3,500,000 from our roster?

The Pens would be $2.3M over the cap.

The options? Well, it will all depend on what the cap floor is. If there are teams who need to add to reach the floor, then Martin becomes quite easy to trade. In that instance, what you suggest could be plausible, or even trading Martin for a Dman who makes around $2.5M.

If teams will not be drastically effected by the cap floor, Martin isn't so easy to trade, so you have to look to either Kennedy, Cooke or possibly Niskanen and personally, I'd trade Niskanen and not because I'm a Niskanen-hater. Here's the scenario: Whether we'd have to trade a bottom-six player(i.e. Kennedy or Cooke) or a Dman, we'd likely have to dip into players with two-way contracts in our system. The Pens obviously have better Defensive prospects than at Forward.

We have to remember that the Penguins aren't the only team that gets affected here...plenty of teams will have to have a fire sale and the Penguins are lucky enough to where they wouldn't have to do anything drastic compared to a good deal of other teams. It's not like the Penguins have to do any sort of rebuilding, but this scenario could potentially put them in a position to really dip into their prospect pool and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

[sil]

So here's a hypothetical...

Say the players accept the NHL's proposed cap limits with no salary rollbacks on the new CBA? The pens will suddenly be $3,000,000 + over the cap ($58,000,000) with their current roster (this also assumes a modest $600,000 - $800,000 for Tangradi). What happens then? We can't waive Martin (NMC) and teams may not be willing to deal. So what's the solution in this case? Attempt to trade Martin for a pick, then sign Coliacavo (sp?) for $1,500,000 tops? If that fails, how else would we shave $3,500,000 from our roster?

The Pens would be $2.3M over the cap.

The options? Well, it will all depend on what the cap floor is. If there are teams who need to add to reach the floor, then Martin becomes quite easy to trade. In that instance, what you suggest could be plausible, or even trading Martin for a Dman who makes around $2.5M.

If teams will not be drastically effected by the cap floor, Martin isn't so easy to trade, so you have to look to either Kennedy, Cooke or possibly Niskanen and personally, I'd trade Niskanen and not because I'm a Niskanen-hater. Here's the scenario: Whether we'd have to trade a bottom-six player(i.e. Kennedy or Cooke) or a Dman, we'd likely have to dip into players with two-way contracts in our system. The Pens obviously have better Defensive prospects than at Forward.

We have to remember that the Penguins aren't the only team that gets affected here...plenty of teams will have to have a fire sale and the Penguins are lucky enough to where they wouldn't have to do anything drastic compared to a good deal of other teams. It's not like the Penguins have to do any sort of rebuilding, but this scenario could potentially put them in a position to really dip into their prospect pool and that's not necessarily a bad thing.

I totally agree, which is kind of why I brought it up. It's amazing how strapped even we would be, let alone the 10 or so teams who've more salary! Just to be fully clear though, we would be more than $2,300,000 over. Tangradi has yet to get his new contract, so that puts us at $3,000,000 right there, plus the wiggle room you need, which is why I originally put out the $3,500,000 number. That'd be tough to do given the scenario, and we'd still have $1,200,000 to rid ourselves of even AFTER dumping Niskanen!

More or less this discussion is shedding light on how far apart the two sides are.

[Gaucho]

You can't lower the cap and not lower salaries. That's unpossible.

[sil]

You can't lower the cap and not lower salaries. That's unpossible.

Perhaps the union brought in Ralph Wiggum to say exactly that to the league/owners.

[mikey287]

Penguins re-sign Tangradi ($726,000), Strait ($605,000), Bortuzzo ($525,000) and Grant ($525,000) to one-year deals. Being that they are all one-year deals, I'm not sure any of them will be one-way.

EDIT: They are all two-way deals, AIUI. All are waiver exempt except Grant as far as I can tell...

[meecrofilm]

I though they all had to pass through waivers since their entry-level deals were up, no?

[columbia]

Penguins re-sign Tangradi ($726,000), Strait ($605,000), Bortuzzo ($525,000) and Grant ($525,000) to one-year deals. Being that they are all one-year deals, I'm not sure any of them will be one-way.

EDIT: They are all two-way deals, AIUI. All are waiver exempt except Grant as far as I can tell...

So they can play in WBS, in the event of a lockout, because they are two-way deals?

[mikey287]

I though they all had to pass through waivers since their entry-level deals were up, no?

No.

[mikey287]

Penguins re-sign Tangradi ($726,000), Strait ($605,000), Bortuzzo ($525,000) and Grant ($525,000) to one-year deals. Being that they are all one-year deals, I'm not sure any of them will be one-way.

EDIT: They are all two-way deals, AIUI. All are waiver exempt except Grant as far as I can tell...

So they can play in WBS, in the event of a lockout, because they are two-way deals?

Yes, but that's not necessarily reflective of the two-way deal or this contract in general, AIUI. Crosby could play for the Baby Pens if he wanted to sign an AHL deal for one season (see: Scott Gomez playing in the ECHL during the last lockout).