coesillian 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 i saw this in the paper and found it interesting so looked into in a bit. Here are the committed cap hits of the pens for next season:Crosby 8.7malkin 8.7Gonchar 5.0Fleury 5.0 *estimateWhitney 4.0Orpik 3.7Stall 3.0 *estimateEaton 2.0Dupuis 1.4Cooke 1.2talbot 1.0letang .835Godard .75that adds up to $45M for 13 players. The current salary cap is $56M, assuming the cap remains the same there will be $13M left to sign 11 more roster players including 3 or 4 top six wingers. It'll be hard to properly surround Malkin and Crosby with so little left to work with. If the cap were to go down its would bcome a very difficult situation for the Pens. Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I think this year they are ok, but next year(2010-2011) will be the interesting number..There are talks that the cap will be significantly lower, maybe in the low $40s...Teams like the Penguins will be crippled trying to ice an NHL hockey team..I dont blame the Pens, but the stupid CBA.. Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'm very interested to see how Shero manages this. I think he's going to make more noise at the trade deadline than he is letting on. The next couple of weeks will determine if the Pens are going to be buyers or sellers but I would imagine that list will change quite a bit either way. Link to post Share on other sites
digitalmonkey 929 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'm very interested to see how Shero manages this. I think he's going to make more noise at the trade deadline than he is letting on. The next couple of weeks will determine if the Pens are going to be buyers or sellers but I would imagine that list will change quite a bit either way.I have a feeling Whitney is gonna be traded. Link to post Share on other sites
nell789 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I have a feeling Whitney is gonna be traded.I really think the pens should deal either gonchar or whitney as they have young, cheap d-men who can pick up the slack offensively, and as far as I know, gonchar and whitney aren't outstanding defensively anyway. Link to post Share on other sites
WestcoastCanuck 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Whitney has struggled, but I think Gonchar gets slagged way too much for his D because of the 2005-2006 season. He isn't great, but he usually controls the game when he is on the ice. Link to post Share on other sites
fryer98 30 Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 I wouldn't let Whitney pay me to play on my adult league team with how he's been playing. Link to post Share on other sites
Speed Limit 0 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I wouldn't let Whitney pay me to play on my adult league team with how he's been playing.What if he paid you in hockey babes? Link to post Share on other sites
fryer98 30 Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 What if he paid you in hockey babes?Then I would let him start.Which, considering we have 5-6 guys show up, isn't all that special. Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Luca Caputi gets a goal in his 1st shift in the NHL. 1-0 Pens!edit...Fluery should not be allowed out of his net at any point. Handling the puck is not a strength of his. 1-1. Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Luca Caputi gets a goal in his 1st shift in the NHL. 1-0 Pens!edit...Fluery should not be allowed out of his net at any point. Handling the puck is not a strength of his. 1-1.I have seen the future and his name is Luca Caputi...ya baby Link to post Share on other sites
fryer98 30 Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 Are we SURE you can't decline penalties? Link to post Share on other sites
fryer98 30 Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 I wouldn't let Whitney pay me to play on my adult league team with how he's been playing.See what I mean? Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Luca Caputi gets a goal in his 1st shift in the NHL. 1-0 Pens!edit...Fluery should not be allowed out of his net at any point. Handling the puck is not a strength of his. 1-1.edit...poop, 2-1 Habs.edit...poop, 3-1 Habs.edit...Call Arnold Slick from Turtle Creek (pronounced "crick"). Malkin brings it to within 1 on the PP with 9:30ish left. 3-2 Habs.edit...Ryan Whitney was on the ice. 4-2 Habs. He's now a -4 in the game and tied with Max Talbot for worst on the team with a -12 on the year. Link to post Share on other sites
Zach6668 513 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I have seen the future and his name is Luca Caputi...ya babySome random thoughts from the game...Oh man... Caputi played a WONDERFUL game tonight. He was one of the lone bright spots, and has me really excited for the future of the 'Donks and gives the Pens some hope to fill a top 6 winger spot next season from within. It wasn't really lopsided, per se, but meh, Pens didn't play well.The shots are always out of whack against the Pens because they're ****ing defense sucks at putting the puck on net...Blown call while Malkin got tripped behind the net led to the 4th Montreal goal. I was a LONG LONG way away from that play though, so it could have been a clean hit or something, but from where I was it looked like a trip. Either way, just sucks for it to lead to a goal against when the Pens were pressing.Did I mention Caputi looked really good? Therrien finally rewards a prospect with proper ice time. He started on the 4th line, scores a goal on his first shift, and then he gets PP time AND time on Malkin's wing. Wow.I feel sorry for Crosby. When they split up Malkin and Sid, they gave 87 Dupuis and Talbot as his wingers... come on. I like Dupuis a lot, and I really think he's fit in well on Sid's wing, but only as the complementary grinding player. Talbot too, but he's not as good as Dupuis at it. Dupuis and Crosby have some chemistry if they have a legit sniper on the wing, like a Sykora, or obviously a Malkin. Sucks really hard that Satan has not panned out this year. If he would put some effort in to play hard, Dupuis - Crosby - Satan, Feds - Malkin - Syko could have been a good top 6.I kinda want to see this year just be finished. The Pens really don't even seem like a threat to score anymore. All their play is on the outside, all their shots get blocked, they don't have much of a transition game, and with guys like Geno and Sid, that's what they need. On the other hand, some nights, like against the Rags a week ago, everything was dangerous, so who knows.The way this team is built, it'll be hit or miss sometimes with the FA classes. Obviously when you have the core locked up so tight, and so expensive (2x8.7M), you're going to need to be plugging holes from within and from FA. Some years you're going to get the Satan's of the world, and other years you might find a hidden gem out there that mesh's with your core.I guess that's just the life of a cap era when you've got 2 of the top players in the league.Shero was at least smart to limit his commitment to guys like Satan and Fedotenko to 1 year, although I think Feds was quite good before his injury.Satan is 100% gone after this year, if not at the deadline.It's way too early for this, but based here's some early speculation for 2009/10, because I'm bored, and I like to be optimistic.Dupuis - Crosby - RWCaputi - Malkin - Sykora*Cooke - Staal - KennedyGodard - Talbot - MinardThey still need to find a winger for Sid. LW or RW, doesn't matter, Dupuis can play either side. He can also be swapped with Cooke or Caputi, or however that falls together. It's of course possible that Caputi doesn't crack the lineup next year, but with how he's been playing in WBS, and how he played tonight, I'm certain he'll be given every opportunity to make it during training camp next year.*Sykora is a UFA at the end of the year, but he expressed interest in staying with the Pens because he has a lot of fun playing with Malkin, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him resigned at a similar price, although he probably deserves an extra million or so, depending on the cap situation. He could be replaced by a FA as well, if he won't sign here for whatever reason.There's also always a possibility that Staal ends up on a wing, but it looks like that experiment has failed a bit.Talbot's role seems to be fading after a standout stretch run and playoffs last year. Dunno what happened. He's signed for 2 more years, and fills in nicely as a 4th line center, but I kinda like having a faceoff specialist like a Zigomanis in that spot. Talbot could play wing where I have Minard penciled in. He's essentially an AHL lifer, but he's been playing well in his stints with the Pens this year, so he'll get a chance to compete for the bottom 6. So will Bissonnette, Thomas, Wallace, Jeffrey and Taffe.On defense, I never know the pairings, but our top 6 should be:GoncharOrpikWhitneyLetangGoligoskiScuderiex EatonOf those 7, we'd need to resign Scuderi and Goligoski. Reliable Rob is a UFA and I think signing him is incredibly important, since he's such a great shutdown defemsemen. He's super solid and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Thankfully, not being flashy will save the Pens some money. Gogo is coming off his entry level deal, and only having one year at the NHL level, he'll probably get a cheapish 2 or 3 year deal, I'd bet.It wouldn't surprise me to see Gonchar or Whitney moved, but if Whitney is really as good as we all think he is, then he should not be traded with his very cap-friendly deal. However, he's been shit this year.Boucher and Gill come off the books.So... to break it all down cap-wise...Dupuis (1.4M) - Crosby (8.7M) - FA RW** (???M)Caputi (.83M) - Malkin (8.7M) - Sykora or FA(( (???M)Cooke (1.2M) - Staal (4.0M) - Kennedy (0.73M)Godard (0.75M) - Talbot (1.05M) -WBS grinder (0.5M)ex WBS grinder (0.5M)Gonchar (5.0M)Whitney (4.0M)Orpik (3.75M)Scuderi** (???M)Letang (0.84M)Goligoski** (???M)ex Eaton (2.0M)Fleury (5.0M)Curry or FA backup** (1.0M)That's a roster of 22 players. There are 5 spots that need to be filled, marked with **.Of the 17 players under contract, there are 11 forwards (including the 4th line grinder from the system, and extra forward if they carry one), for a cap hit of $28.36M. Of course, our forwards are missing two big time wingers, so they need to spend money up there. On defense, 5 of the 7 guys are signed for a total hit of $15.59M. In net, Fleury's hit is $5M, and I assume Curry or someone else will backup for $1.0M, approx.So, basically, the 17 spots filled equal $48.95M, and they need to fill 2 top 6 winger spots, resign Goligoski and Scuderi for the backend, and sign a backup goaltender.It doesn't look great, but it doesn't look that bad either. The key is in having guys like Caputi fill roles for cheap. Guys like Letang and Goligoski coming up, Wallace or Minard on the 4th line for 500k, etc. Keep those guys cheap so we can build around Geno and Sid in the top 6 with proper guys, unlike Satan types.The one thing that jumps out at me is Staal for $4M. Seems like a boatload to be paying a 3rd line center, even though I know he gets 20+ mins/game and kills penalties, and plays a shut down role. I wouldn't hate to see him traded, to be honest, but only if someone like Talbot or Dustin Jeffrey proves they can be a solid 3rd line center, and he hasn't done that this year.Well, there's my long post. lol. Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Well, there's my long post. lol.Good stuff man. I'm wondering how much this will change come the trade deadline. The Pens are starting to look more and more like sellers and if so who goes? Staal, Whitney, Satan? Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Afinogenov is a RW, and he could be lights out on Crosby's wing if he doesn't go home to Mother Russia after this season. Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Afinogenov is a RW, and he could be lights out on Crosby's wing if he doesn't go home to Mother Russia after this season.What is the deal with him? I don't see him very often but he seems to play well when I do. Does he just have no hands at all? Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Afinogenov is a RW, and he could be lights out on Crosby's wing if he doesn't go home to Mother Russia after this season.Afinogenov has been lost for the last 2 years..Reports are he is somewhere in and around Buffalo but the rumours can not be substantiated as of yet. Link to post Share on other sites
ajs510 122 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 What is the deal with him? I don't see him very often but he seems to play well when I do. Does he just have no hands at all?I don't really know, to be honest. He used to be the most creative, dangerous forward on the roster but for the past two years it seems like everything he does just backfires. If the team kept public turnover statistics I guarantee he'd be at the top of the list by a wide margin, he almost never wants to pass the puck and when he does it very often misses the mark. He's the worst defensive forward on the team which means he doesn't often get quality icetime and he's lost all trust with the coaching staff which means he generally doesn't have top-caliber linemates. It's very possible that he just never recovered from the wrist injury he sustained a couple years back, seems like that's the point at which he went from a PPG player to less than a half-PPG player who's being outscored by Adam Mair. These days he plays like a guy on death row, everyone knows for certain that he won't be back after this season and is probably on his last few games in a Buffalo uniform with the trade deadline coming up fast. Regier won't give him away just to be rid of him but I'm sure someone will dish out a decent draft pick for his services. Pittsburgh would be the most obvious deadline destination since they're badly in need of a fast, skilled RW for Crosby's line.He's been out for a month on IR, so who knows, he may not even be tradeable anymore. Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 That sucks, cause he was certainly a fun guy to watch at one point. The need to go back to the red and black jerseys, he was a much better in those....Some quotes from the last game recap that make the Pensblog what it is. The lead as usual is alive shorter than JonBenet Ramsey, and Montreal answers. The crowd tries to start a Fleury chant, but it isn't an automatic script so they stop. Without absolutely no rehearsal, the Pens collapse. Link to post Share on other sites
serge 904 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 than Jon Benet joke is very tasteless..IMO Link to post Share on other sites
dEv~ 19 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 than Jon Benet joke is very tasteless..IMOagreed...PensBlog is edgy like that. Link to post Share on other sites
Zach6668 513 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Afinogenov is a RW, and he could be lights out on Crosby's wing if he doesn't go home to Mother Russia after this season.He's Satan V 2.0. No thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
MapleLeafpoker 1,462 Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 Hey guys, quick question, how far is it to Atlantic City from Pittsburgh? Oh, and Satan will rebound. Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now