Pit is gonna be squeezin the cap next year.

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I'm thinking they could pick up some good offers though. I could see him going to Edmonton for Brule and Hall. This would leave you with 8.7 million left for 4 more forwards if you think your Defense is sound.

Edmonton isn't going to trade Taylor Hall. They are building their team around him.

One thing you must take into account is the cap for other teams. I think it's hard to trade a player coming off a serious injury. Malkin would have to show he's 100%. I'd trade Staal instead of Malkin because Malkin has twice the amount of talent Staal has. Plus Staal would bring back a nice package as well.

 

[CatScrap]

Edmonton isn't going to trade Taylor Hall. They are building their team around him.

One thing you must take into account is the cap for other teams. I think it's hard to trade a player coming off a serious injury. Malkin would have to show he's 100%. I'd trade Staal instead of Malkin because Malkin has twice the amount of talent Staal has. Plus Staal would bring back a nice package as well.

I don't know about that, Staal is as good or better than Malkin IMO.

First, he doesn't play with the same caliber players as Malkin and is still close in scoring. As well as the fact that his cap hit is considerably lower, less than half that of Malkin's.

For your consideration,

Pro rated for the pace they were at and then divided into an 82 game season, ie no injuries,

Malkin was on pace to score 28 goals this year and get 41 assists for 69 points while playing with talented helpers. With his cap hit this comes to .126 million per point.

Staal was on pace to score 21 goals this year and get 32 assists for 53 points while playing with mediocre helpers. With his cap hit this comes to .075 million per point. Less than 60% of the cost vs. production of Malkin this year.

I think if you moved Staal up to play where Malkin was you would be pleasantly surprised by the results.

 

[pixburgher66]

First off, Tangradi and Vitale are 4th line depth players at best right now. They should be healthy scratched for in case you get an injury, not solid reliable players.

Second, if you don't mind not having any depth at D you can have Lovejoy and Engelland be your interchangable 5-6 combo. Just pray you don't get an injury.

However, I wil give you the fact that Letetsu is a great up and coming center who you guys do have locked up for cheap.

This still leaves you with 6 d-men and no depth, 6 forwards, not counting tangradi and vitale as I don't see them as NHL calibre yet, and 2 goalies. So your fielding a team of 14 men for a 51.57 million cap hit.

You should still sign 2 D-men for depth, cheap guys, and 8 forwards, 6 to fill your lines and 2 for depth, again depth players are cheap. Assuming .65 million each for your 4 depth players and the cap being raised the max it can of 62 million next year, this leaves you with 7.8 million to sign 6 forwards for your team.

In other words, you can keep Malkin and the gang and have a team that has a thin Defense with 1 great line, 1 really good line, and 2 AHL lines.

OR

You can move some cap space in the off season and Have over 2 million a player to spend on your 5-6 Dmen, leaving Lovejoy and Engelland as depth, as well as 6 forwards, again leaving tangradi and vitale for depth. This would leave your team with a good Defense with some depth, a Great first line, a really good second line, and Good 3rd and 4th line with some depth on forward as well. It just really makes more sense to me.

Again this is just my opinion, but personally I hope you keep Malkin and do what you said, as I would rather play against a team where I only need to lock down 1 or 2 lines instead of 4 that has to over play it's top 2 defensive pair because of a lack of depth.

We could talk in circles about the subject, because really there's no way to decide which way is better: 2 great, highly sought after players in the middle, surrounded by a couple great wingers, and sketchy depth, or a more balanced lineup with only 1 'great' player. As a Pens fan, I couldn't give up on Malkin this offseason because he showed far too much ability before his injuries creeped up. The situation isn't too dire, I mean, it's not as bad as Chicago's this past offseason, it's just gonna come down to who we want to keep and who we can bring in cheap. We got lucky a this offseason getting Asham and Comrie at 500k. That won't happen too often.

 

[pixburgher66]

I don't know about that, Staal is as good or better than Malkin IMO.

First, he doesn't play with the same caliber players as Malkin and is still close in scoring. As well as the fact that his cap hit is considerably lower, less than half that of Malkin's.

For your consideration,

Pro rated for the pace they were at and then divided into an 82 game season, ie no injuries,

Malkin was on pace to score 28 goals this year and get 41 assists for 69 points while playing with talented helpers. With his cap hit this comes to .126 million per point.

Staal was on pace to score 21 goals this year and get 32 assists for 53 points while playing with mediocre helpers. With his cap hit this comes to .075 million per point. Less than 60% of the cost vs. production of Malkin this year.

I think if you moved Staal up to play where Malkin was you would be pleasantly surprised by the results.

Staal's more versatile and defensively responsible, Geno is the much better offensive machine. Keep in mind the injuries really affected Geno's numbers more-so than Jordan's.

 

[CatScrap]

We could talk in circles about the subject, because really there's no way to decide which way is better: 2 great, highly sought after players in the middle, surrounded by a couple great wingers, and sketchy depth, or a more balanced lineup with only 1 'great' player. As a Pens fan, I couldn't give up on Malkin this offseason because he showed far too much ability before his injuries creeped up. The situation isn't too dire, I mean, it's not as bad as Chicago's this past offseason, it's just gonna come down to who we want to keep and who we can bring in cheap. We got lucky a this offseason getting Asham and Comrie at 500k. That won't happen too often.

I'd love the Sabres to pick him up in the off season and put Stafford and Ennis around him. I really think he just needs the right players around him and he would come back to his old self.

 

[Darkstone42]

True, but do you trust Engelland or Lovejoy enough to have them be your 3rd or 4th d-man if 1 or 2 of your top end guys get hurt? They aren't developed enough yet to be counted towards your main starters, should be more depth players than anything else. IMO.

Niskanen is under contract for next year. We have 7 defensemen signed already. We don't need any more. Niskanen's proved a competent 5 and Engelland and Lovejoy have proved a competent 6/7 tandem. We also have Simon Despres and Brian Strait in the minors, the former who will be a stud, and the latter who can fill that 6/7 role now if need be.

I honestly think the Penguins spend too much money on their third and fourth lines right now, so cutting salary there in favor of a great defensive top 4 and top-notch scoring on the top two lines is pretty much what I've wanted them to do all along.

 

[Vadered]

Niskanen is under contract for next year. We have 7 defensemen signed already. We don't need any more. Niskanen's proved a competent 5 and Engelland and Lovejoy have proved a competent 6/7 tandem. We also have Simon Despres and Brian Strait in the minors, the former who will be a stud, and the latter who can fill that 6/7 role now if need be.

I honestly think the Penguins spend too much money on their third and fourth lines right now, so cutting salary there in favor of a great defensive top 4 and top-notch scoring on the top two lines is pretty much what I've wanted them to do all along.

You have to make sure your 3rd D pairing is capable though. Come playoffs - and as much as I hate the Pens, they deserve to be in the playoffs - you can't have your top four D shoulder everything. And you guys know damn well how much injuries can screw over a team, and how important depth is.

 

[Dacks]

Since when did our 5/6 pair become such a problem? We've had one of the stronger defensive corps in the league this season, with Engo/Lovejoy paired with Gogo in that spot. I don't think the downgrade from Gogo to Niskanen, from a defensive standpoint, will hurt us that much. Not to mention next year everyone will be that much more used with each other and Bylsma's system.

This basically comes down to depth vs. top-end talent. You can't have both in the cap world (unless you're Chicago and you win while everyone's on ELC's). Right now the Pens have the top-end talent, and we're seeing what happens when some of them go down with injury. But we'll never get an equal return, value-wise, trading Malkin for depth, so might as well go with what we've got. I think we're a stronger team than won the cup two years ago, so I'm not really worried.

 

[JustAsking]

The Pens are not in any type of problem for next year...

I play with the cap all the time, and the Pens are in very good shape.

 

[h X c Chris]

The Pens are not in any type of problem for next year...

I play with the cap all the time, and the Pens are in very good shape.

lol i'll let Shero know you got it locked down just in case something comes up.

 

[JustAsking]

lol i'll let Shero know you got it locked down just in case something comes up.

You know Shero?

EDIT: If you know Shero, yes, please let him know I got it all handled...

 

[Dacks]

I just checked the numbers. The Gogo/Neal&Niskanen trade adds 2.5 million that will carry over next season, but also adds a player. The salary cap is expected to go up 3 million next year, so that's not a problem.

The only salary increases next season are for Engo and Letestu, and sums up to about 200k.

So I assume the big problem is dealing with all our UFA 3rd and 4th-liners? Give me a break. Shero can handle that. None of Dupuis, Talbot, Rupp, Godard, Comrie or Asham deserve big raises, and to be honest, are replaceable. We'll need guys like Tangradi and Letestu take bigger roles. Hopefully Kennedy will resign at a reasonable price, and then the rest will be filled by the guys above, call-ups or free agents.

 

[pixburgher66]

I just checked the numbers. The Gogo/Neal&Niskanen trade adds 2.5 million that will carry over next season, but also adds a player. The salary cap is expected to go up 3 million next year, so that's not a problem.

The only salary increases next season are for Engo and Letestu, and sums up to about 200k.

So I assume the big problem is dealing with all our UFA 3rd and 4th-liners? Give me a break. Shero can handle that. None of Dupuis, Talbot, Rupp, Godard, Comrie or Asham deserve big raises, and to be honest, are replaceable. We'll need guys like Tangradi and Letestu take bigger roles. Hopefully Kennedy will resign at a reasonable price, and then the rest will be filled by the guys above, call-ups or free agents.

You mmaaaaay want to reconsider your tag line thing there. Gaga for...Neal? Nisky? Agreed though, the situation isn't that bad honestly. Shero has proven he's great at his job, I trust he'll doing well.