Free agency

[the wicked child]

Theoretically, yes... he could spend that money. However, that would probably force the team to use compliance buyouts to get under the cap. I don't get the feeling that the Pens want to do that.

[Beveridge]

can't use compliance buyouts anymore this summer =p

[the wicked child]

In other words... Shero isn't going to spend that 6 million.

[columbia]

He's not buying out Fleury until next summer.

[Gaucho]

He'll have plenty of cap space to work with once he traded Fleury and Malkin to LA for Quick and Dead.

[Gaucho]

Brad Thiessen signed with HIFK Helsinki.

[mikey287]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

[Defence21]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

How do you see this mess shaking out? It would appear the acquisitions are complete, with the Bortuzzo signing being the only player left to fit in. That said, they're over the cap, so something has to give, and meanwhile, the third line looks pretty discombobulated. Really wish Shero would have pursued Lapierre.

[GSdrums87]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

How do you see this mess shaking out? It would appear the acquisitions are complete, with the Bortuzzo signing being the only player left to fit in. That said, they're over the cap, so something has to give, and meanwhile, the third line looks pretty discombobulated. Really wish Shero would have pursued Lapierre.

Who's to say he didn't?

[columbia]

That puts them about 500,000 over the cap and still needing to sign Bort.

Your move, Ray.

[mikey287]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

How do you see this mess shaking out? It would appear the acquisitions are complete, with the Bortuzzo signing being the only player left to fit in. That said, they're over the cap, so something has to give, and meanwhile, the third line looks pretty discombobulated. Really wish Shero would have pursued Lapierre.

The Nisk-cannon has wheels and is therefore portable.

Frankly, I just don't know what I would do at this point. Not because it's such a mess, but just because I just don't know what's going on out there. We can run 3 O lines and 1 shutdown line now it seems...it's bold, but if it's coached correctly, it can be done.

[Defence21]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

How do you see this mess shaking out? It would appear the acquisitions are complete, with the Bortuzzo signing being the only player left to fit in. That said, they're over the cap, so something has to give, and meanwhile, the third line looks pretty discombobulated. Really wish Shero would have pursued Lapierre.

The Nisk-cannon has wheels and is therefore portable.

Frankly, I just don't know what I would do at this point. Not because it's such a mess, but just because I just don't know what's going on out there. We can run 3 O lines and 1 shutdown line now it seems...it's bold, but if it's coached correctly, it can be done.

Many have said the physicality is diminished from last season, but I don't buy that. Sure, Murray, Iginla and Morrow all added physicality to the team, but they weren't here for the majority of the season. The only physical player who was last from the majority of the regular season is Cooke. He hasn't been replaced, leaving a physical void on the third line. That's where I'm most concerned. I'm not one to suggest a team needs to be heavy with hard-hitting/physical/agitating players, but I do think having at least one on each of the 3rd/4th lines is important. Whether line three is D'Agositini-Sutter-Bennett or D'Agostini-Sutter-Jokinen, I don't like the way it plays out.

Just a thought: If the approach is three offensive lines and one checking line, could we see Sutter demoted to the fourth line with Jokinen centering line three? It's a bold move, but Jokinen is most effective as a scoring line center and Sutter is most effective as a shut-down center. Rather than having a true third/fourth line combo, might the Penguins have a balanced third/fourth line combo that fluctuate in icetime based on opponent and situation. In other words, against a stingy defensive team, Jokinen's unit gets more icetime to help create offense, whereas against a more high-scoring team Sutter's unit gets more icetime to help shut down the opponent.

The only problem here is that one would assume a scoring line with Jokinen as center would have to include Bennett on one side, with D'Agostini likely on the other. Who, then, plays on Malkin's left wing? I think that's where my idea falls apart.

[Beveridge]

The idea only falls apart if the season starts tomorrow. We don't know how the roster will change from today until camp and who knows what happens at camp. Could be an interesting way to go. I don't see it panning out that way but interesting nonetheless.

[pcm]

I don't know if having Sutter on the 4th line in a shutdown role plays out, as I think he can and should develop into a more balanced player. He's got offensive talent, it's just that Blysma pidgeon-holed him into a shutdown role, and thus he had no freedom or confidence to play in the O zone.

I was all for it going into the playoffs, when it was obvious that was all he was providing, and Morrow-Jokinen-Bennett was tearing it up. But I think moving forward he would play best with guys who play the game like him: decent all around two-way game. Jeffrey fits that description the best (of available options) on this team.

[BurghersAndDogsSports]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

How do you see this mess shaking out? It would appear the acquisitions are complete, with the Bortuzzo signing being the only player left to fit in. That said, they're over the cap, so something has to give, and meanwhile, the third line looks pretty discombobulated. Really wish Shero would have pursued Lapierre.

The Nisk-cannon has wheels and is therefore portable.

Frankly, I just don't know what I would do at this point. Not because it's such a mess, but just because I just don't know what's going on out there. We can run 3 O lines and 1 shutdown line now it seems...it's bold, but if it's coached correctly, it can be done.

Many have said the physicality is diminished from last season, but I don't buy that. Sure, Murray, Iginla and Morrow all added physicality to the team, but they weren't here for the majority of the season. The only physical player who was last from the majority of the regular season is Cooke. He hasn't been replaced, leaving a physical void on the third line. That's where I'm most concerned. I'm not one to suggest a team needs to be heavy with hard-hitting/physical/agitating players, but I do think having at least one on each of the 3rd/4th lines is important. Whether line three is D'Agositini-Sutter-Bennett or D'Agostini-Sutter-Jokinen, I don't like the way it plays out.

Just a thought: If the approach is three offensive lines and one checking line, could we see Sutter demoted to the fourth line with Jokinen centering line three? It's a bold move, but Jokinen is most effective as a scoring line center and Sutter is most effective as a shut-down center. Rather than having a true third/fourth line combo, might the Penguins have a balanced third/fourth line combo that fluctuate in icetime based on opponent and situation. In other words, against a stingy defensive team, Jokinen's unit gets more icetime to help create offense, whereas against a more high-scoring team Sutter's unit gets more icetime to help shut down the opponent.

The only problem here is that one would assume a scoring line with Jokinen as center would have to include Bennett on one side, with D'Agostini likely on the other. Who, then, plays on Malkin's left wing? I think that's where my idea falls apart.

I don't know. Stats say we hit but other than that we are not very physical. No cycle, no forechecking, no offensive crease prescence, guys camp and play instruments in front of our net.

Kunitz tries, other than Glass throwing a few random hits who in our top 12 woul we say I actually physical......?

[Defence21]

Not sure where this goes...but Jeffrey re-signed, 1 year, $625K

How do you see this mess shaking out? It would appear the acquisitions are complete, with the Bortuzzo signing being the only player left to fit in. That said, they're over the cap, so something has to give, and meanwhile, the third line looks pretty discombobulated. Really wish Shero would have pursued Lapierre.

The Nisk-cannon has wheels and is therefore portable.

Frankly, I just don't know what I would do at this point. Not because it's such a mess, but just because I just don't know what's going on out there. We can run 3 O lines and 1 shutdown line now it seems...it's bold, but if it's coached correctly, it can be done.

Many have said the physicality is diminished from last season, but I don't buy that. Sure, Murray, Iginla and Morrow all added physicality to the team, but they weren't here for the majority of the season. The only physical player who was last from the majority of the regular season is Cooke. He hasn't been replaced, leaving a physical void on the third line. That's where I'm most concerned. I'm not one to suggest a team needs to be heavy with hard-hitting/physical/agitating players, but I do think having at least one on each of the 3rd/4th lines is important. Whether line three is D'Agositini-Sutter-Bennett or D'Agostini-Sutter-Jokinen, I don't like the way it plays out.

Just a thought: If the approach is three offensive lines and one checking line, could we see Sutter demoted to the fourth line with Jokinen centering line three? It's a bold move, but Jokinen is most effective as a scoring line center and Sutter is most effective as a shut-down center. Rather than having a true third/fourth line combo, might the Penguins have a balanced third/fourth line combo that fluctuate in icetime based on opponent and situation. In other words, against a stingy defensive team, Jokinen's unit gets more icetime to help create offense, whereas against a more high-scoring team Sutter's unit gets more icetime to help shut down the opponent.

The only problem here is that one would assume a scoring line with Jokinen as center would have to include Bennett on one side, with D'Agostini likely on the other. Who, then, plays on Malkin's left wing? I think that's where my idea falls apart.

I don't know. Stats say we hit but other than that we are not very physical. No cycle, no forechecking, no offensive crease prescence, guys camp and play instruments in front of our net.

Kunitz tries, other than Glass throwing a few random hits who in our top 12 woul we say I actually physical......?

I didn't say the Penguins are physical. I'm saying I don't buy that they're far off from where they were last season to get started.

[PAPLine]

"They" say that Jayson Megna may have a shot at making the team this year. My only question is Who?
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=678283

[netwolf]

I don't know that any of these guys have much of a chance to make the team straight out of camp, barring trades. That said, I know the organization really likes him (particularly his skating), so I wouldn't be that surprised if he got a look in the event injuries opened up a spot in the bottom 6.

[pcm]

Or in the event Jokinen is traded to clear up cap space.

Interesting to hear "they" think Megna can play in the bottom 6. I had gotten the impression he was more of a top 6 guy. But I guess "they" also signed D'Agostino for the bottom 6.

[MarioLives]

As it stands right now, and this is just my opinion, the Pens will give us a lot of 5-3 games in the regular season. Both wins and losses. But they are not set up to do much in the post season, when scoring goes down and sacrifices need to be made. This team is a bit soft and not difficult to play against. But it is a long season and a lot can happen.

Right now this is a fun, exciting regular season team.

[Idoit40fans]

This is certainly a season in which I will be traveling to Pittsburgh for matchups, not making it up there every time there is a weekend game.

[Steve Dave]

As it stands right now, and this is just my opinion, the Pens will give us a lot of 5-3 games in the regular season. Both wins and losses. But they are not set up to do much in the post season, when scoring goes down and sacrifices need to be made. This team is a bit soft and not difficult to play against. But it is a long season and a lot can happen.

Right now this is a fun, exciting regular season team.

Same could have been said about the 09 team. Fleury's ability to rebound will be the key.

[IntangibleBeer]

Now that the Devils have mutually terminated Kovalchuk's contract...Kovalchuk anyone?

Kinda hard to see anyone (especially Shero) turning that rock over to see what kind of squirmy things are underneath, don't you think?

I haven't heard or read anything about it, but it seems very strange. Was he just screwing over the Devils for some unknown reason or did he just take the guaranteed money and run?

[Idoit40fans]

He wanted to go back to russia, so he went to russia. Thats my take on it.

[offsides]

As it stands right now, and this is just my opinion, the Pens will give us a lot of 5-3 games in the regular season. Both wins and losses. But they are not set up to do much in the post season, when scoring goes down and sacrifices need to be made. This team is a bit soft and not difficult to play against. But it is a long season and a lot can happen.

Right now this is a fun, exciting regular season team.

Same could have been said about the 09 team. Fleury's ability to rebound will be the key.

To me, the 09 team was bigger and tougher to play against with guys like Rupp, Guerin, Staal, Cooke and a younger Orpik. I do agree with MAF being a big key\question mark for this team.