2024-2025 Season Random Penguins Fodder

[KG]

Looks like Hallander is coming back. Maybe he was waiting for Sully to get fired so he would actually get a chance this time around

[Pens4Life]

Hallander for 775k only?? Thats sounds off.. we signed him like under belt cheap. But I'm glad he is back

[Puck-Lurker]

Hallander for 775k only?? Thats sounds off.. we signed him like under belt cheap. But I'm glad he is back

League minimum. Seems fair.

[Antonio]

Potentially a very nice pick up especially for the lm. Pick up..re pick up? Whatever we are calling it.

[Victor]

Hallander for 775k only?? Thats sounds off.. we signed him like under belt cheap. But I'm glad he is back

He probably makes half of that in the SHL, if that much. He also signed a one-way contract, so he will make that money even if he ends up in the AHL.

[Puck-Lurker]

Hallander for 775k only?? Thats sounds off.. we signed him like under belt cheap. But I'm glad he is back

He probably makes half of that in the SHL, if that much. He also signed a one-way contract, so he will make that money even if he ends up in the AHL.

SHL contracts usually range between €80K - €300K ( $91K - $343K) I think. Pretty sure that's before taxes, think it's 32% income tax in Sweden? (Lest anyone balks at that percentage, top 5 in terms of self-reported happiness)

$ 775K is for most a significant upgrade. Hållander is 24 and he gets a potential path to the NHL. League minimum is nothing to sneeze at for him. I wish him luck.

[Pens4Life]

Hallander for 775k only?? Thats sounds off.. we signed him like under belt cheap. But I'm glad he is back

He probably makes half of that in the SHL, if that much. He also signed a one-way contract, so he will make that money even if he ends up in the AHL.

SHL contracts usually range between €80K - €300K ( $91K - $343K) I think. Pretty sure that's before taxes, think it's 32% income tax in Sweden? (Lest anyone balks at that percentage, top 5 in terms of self-reported happiness)

$ 775K is for most a significant upgrade. Hållander is 24 and he gets a potential path to the NHL. League minimum is nothing to sneeze at for him. I wish him luck.

Yeah its probably 3-4x of what he was getting in Sweden.. but as he is coming back to Pens as more proven player back home, I thought he will get 1M maybe.. especially when compared what we are/we were paying some borderline 4th liners before.

And I of course expect Hallander to be top 9 player for sure, maybe even top 6.

[FLPensFan]

If LA loses the series to Edmonton, I still wonder if there is a chance to try and acquire either Jordan Spence or Brandt Clarke, both RHD. I can't imagine either are happy with a coach showing little trust in them in the playoffs, and the team losing because of it.

--There are 110 defensemen that have played in the playoffs.
--Jordan Spence has played 4 of LAs 5 games. He has a total of 26.42 minutes TOI. All of that is at even strength. He has zero SH or PP TOI.
--Jordan Spence ranks 108th out of 110 defensemen in TOI per game, at 6:40.
--Brandt Clarke ranks 98th in TOI per game, with 12:24 TOI per game.

It isn't unheard of to lean on your top 4, but the other team that is leaning heavily on their top 4, Minnesota, is also in danger of getting bounced in the first round. Zeev Buium is averaging 13:35 and Zach Bogosian is averaging 12:54. I don't think that is very far off a normal 3rd pairing TOI.

Spence and Clarke both averaged over 16 minutes TOI per game in the regular season, so Spence is playing about 10 minutes less per night, Clarke about 4 minutes less per night. Clarke and Spence had the highest GF% for LA defense in the regular season, both over 60%. Clarke, in the playoffs, has been on the ice for 5 goals for, only 1 against....best on the team. Spence has been on for 2 goals against, zero for.

[Ohio_Pens_fan]

C’mon Edmonton!

[KG]

Brian Burke was on the Jeff Marek podcast today. He said that the Pens were going to draft Knies with their pick in the 2nd round but the Leafs drafted him one spot before the Pens did. Pens drafted Broz with the next pick.

Can never tell if Burke is really telling the truth since he thinks he's god's gift to GM'ng, but it's still interesting to think about.

[KG]

Wow Tampa going out in 5. Wonder if Cooper will move on. Saw some rumors he’s close with the owner of Utah. Great coach. Might be time for something new.

[FLPensFan]

Wow Tampa going out in 5. Wonder if Cooper will move on. Saw some rumors he’s close with the owner of Utah. Great coach. Might be time for something new.

They aren't the Penguins yet, but, they are aging. No matter how many good trades they make (Hagel, Paul, Bjorkstrand/Gourde, etc), they still have a bunch of older players on their roster. Hedman is 34, McDonaugh is 35, Kucherov is 31, Gourde is 33, Girgensens is 31, Glendenning is 36. They've traded away their first round picks for the next 3 years.

I think the biggest thing lately...they've played Florida the last 2 years in a row in the 1st round, and Florida is a beast of a team at the moment.

2 Cup wins, another 2 Cup finals, and only one playoff miss in 16-17 under Cooper. I don't know that he needs to be the scapegoat. Brisebois has been an excellent GM, but it might be time for him to do more acquisitions via UFA or player for player swap, instead of gutting their picks and farm system.

[FLPensFan]

Avery Hayes gets a 2 year NHL contract, according to WBS:

[Gunnerfan]

Avery Hayes gets a 2 year NHL contract, according to WBS:

Good for you, young man!

[FLPensFan]

If LA loses the series to Edmonton, I still wonder if there is a chance to try and acquire either Jordan Spence or Brandt Clarke, both RHD. I can't imagine either are happy with a coach showing little trust in them in the playoffs, and the team losing because of it.

--There are 110 defensemen that have played in the playoffs.
--Jordan Spence has played 4 of LAs 5 games. He has a total of 26.42 minutes TOI. All of that is at even strength. He has zero SH or PP TOI.
--Jordan Spence ranks 108th out of 110 defensemen in TOI per game, at 6:40.
--Brandt Clarke ranks 98th in TOI per game, with 12:24 TOI per game.

It isn't unheard of to lean on your top 4, but the other team that is leaning heavily on their top 4, Minnesota, is also in danger of getting bounced in the first round. Zeev Buium is averaging 13:35 and Zach Bogosian is averaging 12:54. I don't think that is very far off a normal 3rd pairing TOI.

Spence and Clarke both averaged over 16 minutes TOI per game in the regular season, so Spence is playing about 10 minutes less per night, Clarke about 4 minutes less per night. Clarke and Spence had the highest GF% for LA defense in the regular season, both over 60%. Clarke, in the playoffs, has been on the ice for 5 goals for, only 1 against....best on the team. Spence has been on for 2 goals against, zero for.

And it continues...Spence on for zero goals against through 1st period. Clarke on for one goal against (not his fault) and scored a goal. Anderson, Doughty, and Edmundson all over 8 minutes TOI in the first with 11, 12, and 11 shifts respectively.

Clarke got 4:45 minutes, 8 shifts. Spence got 1:58 minutes TOI, 4 shifts.

Hiller going down with the ship sticking to his non-working principles sheltering his best net positive Goals For % defensemen. Absolutely puzzling.

[KG]

Former 1st round pick Isaac Howard not signing with Tampa. Have to think KD is in on trading for him. Assuming he would sign here.

[Pens4Life]

Yeah, he should be on to him.. but I wonder what the price would be?!

[DeHaven162]

I would assume a majority of teams would be kicking the tires on this.

[FLPensFan]

Yeah, he should be on to him.. but I wonder what the price would be?!

Isaac Howard was the 31st overall pick in 2022. He has yet to play a single pro game. If there are a number of teams bidding, someone may be dumb enough to offer a first, but it shouldn't be Dubas. I would be fine with a 2nd and a mid prospect, like a Poulin, Puustinen, Ponomarev type.

I think Howard will be a good NHL player, but I think he's in that Rust, McGroarty, Koivunen level of player. Good, but not great. He's still not that A+ level prospect that the Penguins need to start adding.

Tampa has little leverage. If they want a first, or a first plus....teams might as well just wait for him to become a UFA next summer.

[FLPensFan]

Just adding on to the Isaac Howard thought, I do think there are a handful of young guys out there that may not be happy with their current team and usage:

--Isaac Howard already stated he would not sign with Tampa
--Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke were badly underutilized by LA coach Jim Hiller
--Marco Rossi was relegated to the 4th line at some points of the playoffs
--Simon Nemec was unhappy with his usage (forced to AHL) earlier in the season
--Mason McTavish has been forced into a 3rd line role mainly, though feels he has more to give
--Bowen Byram has been rumored to be potentially on the trade block, as he is an RFA and BUF has a good amount of cap sunk into Dahlin and Power
--Matej Blumel was leading goal scorer in AHL, and one point of top point producer...but hasn't been given a chance to crack Dallas lineup
--K'Andre Miller is another d-man that has been in the rumor mill
--Shane Pinto stuck behind Stutzle and Cozens at center
--Shane Wright stuck behind Berniers, Stephenson, and McCann, plus Catton in the wings
--Matthew Knies or Mitch Marner? No known issues, but Toronto likely can't make both of them happy with a contract, and Dubas has ties.
--Brock Boeser a UFA

There may be a few others that I missed, but getting any of the d-men or forwards off of this list would be a great add to the Penguins. In addition, will Sullivan try to persuade any trades with Dubas for "Sully guys" like Rust, Acciari, etc?

[Pens4Life]

I also hope we get coach sooner than in mid or late June, maybe in next 2-3 weeks..

[Puck-Lurker]

I also hope we get coach sooner than in mid or late June, maybe in next 2-3 weeks..

I think there's about zero chance that happens.

Dubas said several times he'd be "casting a wide net". That will mean looking at many names from all over, not just household names in the NHL. Distilling the first list down to any kind of short list will take a while. Then they'll need to be talking to the candidates on that list, eliminate a few more. Followed by more indepth interviewing with their guy, before they settle on someone. After that's done, coach should be signed within a week.

Before you get that far though.. I think June is ambitious as it is.

[Victor]

I also hope we get coach sooner than in mid or late June, maybe in next 2-3 weeks..

I think there's about zero chance that happens.

Dubas said several times he'd be "casting a wide net". That will mean looking at many names from all over, not just household names in the NHL. Distilling the first list down to any kind of short list will take a while. Then they'll need to be talking to the candidates on that list, eliminate a few more. Followed by more indepth interviewing with their guy, before they settle on someone. After that's done, coach should be signed within a week.

Before you get that far though.. I think June is ambitious as it is.

Dubas mentioned in his presser that the timeline would be to have a new HC likely by early June, but it might be delayed because people are still involved in NHL/AHL playoffs.

[FLPensFan]

I also hope we get coach sooner than in mid or late June, maybe in next 2-3 weeks..

I think there's about zero chance that happens.

Dubas said several times he'd be "casting a wide net". That will mean looking at many names from all over, not just household names in the NHL. Distilling the first list down to any kind of short list will take a while. Then they'll need to be talking to the candidates on that list, eliminate a few more. Followed by more indepth interviewing with their guy, before they settle on someone. After that's done, coach should be signed within a week.

Before you get that far though.. I think June is ambitious as it is.

Dubas mentioned in his presser that the timeline would be to have a new HC likely by early June, but it might be delayed because people are still involved in NHL/AHL playoffs.

Dubas is also the GM for the IIHF World Championship team for Canada. That tourney is playing out this month, so he is likely occupied by that as well. I'd look at the first or second week of June for a coach to be named...sometime before the draft.

I don't think the coach will alter the draft selections too much, but it could alter how Dubas uses draft capital in trades or offer sheets. New coach could easily come in and say "For me to effectively run my system, I need X player type....which we have little to none in the organization." Toughness, both up front and on the backend, is in short supply in this organization.

[Daniel]

I also hope we get coach sooner than in mid or late June, maybe in next 2-3 weeks..

I think there's about zero chance that happens.

Dubas said several times he'd be "casting a wide net". That will mean looking at many names from all over, not just household names in the NHL. Distilling the first list down to any kind of short list will take a while. Then they'll need to be talking to the candidates on that list, eliminate a few more. Followed by more indepth interviewing with their guy, before they settle on someone. After that's done, coach should be signed within a week.

Before you get that far though.. I think June is ambitious as it is.

Dubas mentioned in his presser that the timeline would be to have a new HC likely by early June, but it might be delayed because people are still involved in NHL/AHL playoffs.

Dubas is also the GM for the IIHF World Championship team for Canada. That tourney is playing out this month, so he is likely occupied by that as well. I'd look at the first or second week of June for a coach to be named...sometime before the draft.

I don't think the coach will alter the draft selections too much, but it could alter how Dubas uses draft capital in trades or offer sheets. New coach could easily come in and say "For me to effectively run my system, I need X player type....which we have little to none in the organization." Toughness, both up front and on the backend, is in short supply in this organization.

I think the draft preparation and coaching search will likely be the same. We have this, we want to get to this, list of prospects match the list of coaches kind of thing. As good as MacDonald was with coaching WBS, I hope they get a style that he can adapt to in the next few years because I think he's going to have a nice career developing players.