Qualifying Deadline at 5pm

[puckhead]

If the oilers want size, Steve Bernier is available.

RFAs Michal Repik, Niclas Bergfors, Steve Bernier, Byron Bitz officially cut loose by #FlaPanthers
Avs do not qualify Brian Elliott, Phillipe Dupuis:

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

The Caps did not qualify Joe Finley so if anyone needs an 8 foot meathead who is most notable for throwing furniture out of a window, he is out there. The only other notable guy not qualified was Josh Godfrey. Hey qualified Varlamov even though there appears to be no chance of him staying in Washington.

 

[pixburgher66]

Bergfors is tempting. Kills the Pens on a regular basis. The only reason I'm upset about not qualifying TK is that we don't get picks out of it...but Shero even said it was too risky to qualify and didn't want to take on too big a salary.

 

[evolver115]

Bergfors is tempting. Kills the Pens on a regular basis. The only reason I'm upset about not qualifying TK is that we don't get picks out of it...but Shero even said it was too risky to qualify and didn't want to take on too big a salary.

I was surprised by this only because i thought Shero would be willing to gamble on someone else throwing a wad of cash in Kennedy's face while Pittsburgh reaps the reward of some draft picks.

I guess he wasn't willing to take that chance and not have it happen. Then, they would be strapped to TK for probably more than he's actually worth in an arbitrator's ruling. It was a shrewd move. I also think this pretty much guarantees that Ray is very serious about #68 playing in the burgh next season.

 

[evolver115]

Oh WoW!

Looks like it's already been decided...

CKAC Sports Reports Jaromir Jagr Has Agreement With the Pittsburgh Penguins | The Hockey Writers

 

[pixburgher66]

Oh WoW!

Looks like it's already been decided...

CKAC Sports Reports Jaromir Jagr Has Agreement With the Pittsburgh Penguins | The Hockey Writers

That's just a Russian paper misquoting Rossi. But it's supposedly close.

 

[dash]

So who's going to play goal for the Avs next season?!? David Aebischer?!?

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

So who's going to play goal for the Avs next season?!? David Aebischer?!?

If they had to play right now I'd say Pickard. I have a feeling the Avs will offer Vokoun a big contract. If he goes to a contender Roloson or Pascal Leclaire are possibilities.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

No shocks out of Buffalo.

Only didn't qualify Felix Schutz. Qualified Jhonas Enroth, Mike Weber, Andrej Sekera, Marc-Andre Gragnani, Dennis Persson, Nathan Gerbe, Travis Turnbull and Dennis McCauley.

 

[thedddd]

Bergfors is tempting. Kills the Pens on a regular basis. The only reason I'm upset about not qualifying TK is that we don't get picks out of it...but Shero even said it was too risky to qualify and didn't want to take on too big a salary.[/QUOTE]

Yep that is exactly why he didn't get a qualifying offer. Just imagine if he won a 2.5 million per year contract at arbitration. That would kill their cap situation this season. Also I bet he tried to get feelers as trade bait around the draft to get an idea if anyone would match the contract. I have a feeling there wasn't enough interest and he knew the Penguins would be stuck.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Couldn't the Pens just walk away from the arbitration award and make him a UFA then if they didn't like what the arbitrator had to say?

They'd still get nothing in return, but they'd at least take the chance.

 

[thedddd]

Couldn't the Pens just walk away from the arbitration award and make him a UFA then if they didn't like what the arbitrator had to say?

They'd still get nothing in return, but they'd at least take the chance.

Honestly not sure, If that is the case then they should have qualified him unless it ties cap money down until arbitration and would stop them from going after some UFA's?

 

[thedddd]

Didn't the Sabres do that last year with Tim Kennedy?

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Didn't the Sabres do that last year with Tim Kennedy?

I did a bit more reading after my last post and it looks like it's based on how much the award is. The CBA sets it as $1,042,173, but to increase by a % equal to the average league salary increase, so I don't know what it's at now.

But essentially, if TK's arbitration is above the threshold (and I'm assuming it would be), the Pens could walk away from it entirely, assuming it was player elected arbitration and not club elected, which they cannot ever walk away from. The only risk then is that they are limited to how many times per season they can walk away.

If the award is below the threshold (as what happened with Tim Kennedy), the team MUST accept the award. What the Sabres did was waive Kennedy. He cleared waivers and they did a buyout on him.

 

[JustAsking]

Also by not qualifying TK, Shero now has a set deadline as to when a deal needs to get completed... Friday... if no deal by Friday, Shero will know that, and be ready on day 1 of FA... rather than playing a waiting game with TK, force the hand now.

 

[puckhead]

Also by not qualifying TK, Shero now has a set deadline as to when a deal needs to get completed... Friday... if no deal by Friday, Shero will know that, and be ready on day 1 of FA... rather than playing a waiting game with TK, force the hand now.

that's a good point, too. If you qualify, and he selects arbitration, you don't know what your cap will look like until the arbitration hearing (potentially August).
that's a tough pill to swallow when you are trying to squeeze a Jagr salary in the mix somewhere.

 

[falconski]

If they had to play right now I'd say Pickard. I have a feeling the Avs will offer Vokoun a big contract. If he goes to a contender Roloson or Pascal Leclaire are possibilities.

doubt it's gonna be pickard, we drafted him last year and it takes time for goalies to deelop (granted he is used to facing a stupid number of shots behind a terrible defense)


voukun getting offered is basically a guarantee at this point...I'm not even sure there's another legitimate option for starter right now....I'd still say harding is the best bet if we can't get voukun


I wouldn't be terribly surprised (though I would be terribly disappointed) if we used Josh Grahame as a backup...he's related to someone in the front office

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

Also by not qualifying TK, Shero now has a set deadline as to when a deal needs to get completed... Friday... if no deal by Friday, Shero will know that, and be ready on day 1 of FA... rather than playing a waiting game with TK, force the hand now.

that's a good point, too. If you qualify, and he selects arbitration, you don't know what your cap will look like until the arbitration hearing (potentially August).
that's a tough pill to swallow when you are trying to squeeze a Jagr salary in the mix somewhere.

If his award comes in above the minimum threshold though, the Pens could walk away with no impact on their cap.

I think qualifying him forces his hand more because he's not on the UFA market then until the Pens walk away from his arbitration award. By that point a lot of teams have spent a lot of money, so his value isn't as high as it is on July 1, because people can't afford him as well then.

 

[sabresfaninthesouth]

doubt it's gonna be pickard, we drafted him last year and it takes time for goalies to deelop (granted he is used to facing a stupid number of shots behind a terrible defense)


voukun getting offered is basically a guarantee at this point...I'm not even sure there's another legitimate option for starter right now....I'd still say harding is the best bet if we can't get voukun


I wouldn't be terribly surprised (though I would be terribly disappointed) if we used Josh Grahame as a backup...he's related to someone in the front office

I think there's a few other decent options.

There's definitely gonna be someone on the outside looking in in Philly after the Bryz signing. Maybe not legit #1 guys, but probably a reasonable pricetag.

Roloson proved he can still play at 41 and could make a good 1-year stop-gap solution to either a) help develop a young guy (not sure how the Avs system is looking) or b) hold them until July 1, 2012.

Giguere is still out there too, though I seem to recall there being some family medical concerns for him with relocation.

Leclaire has injury concerns, but could be worth a shot for the right $.

Even Ray Emery looked good in his comeback last year and could probably be had cheap, though I'm not sure he could be a legit #1 yet.

 

[pixburgher66]

If his award comes in above the minimum threshold though, the Pens could walk away with no impact on their cap.

I think qualifying him forces his hand more because he's not on the UFA market then until the Pens walk away from his arbitration award. By that point a lot of teams have spent a lot of money, so his value isn't as high as it is on July 1, because people can't afford him as well then.

The thing is Shero wants to re-sign TK, but at his price and at his time. With arbitration he could get overvalued, which could strap the Pens into either a bad deal or force them to sign a scrub to replace him because it wouldn't be known if they COULD sign him until August. Basically, they WANT to re-sign him, and this is the easiest way to get that done. Shero likes having his ducks in a row before July 1st so he can have a plan of attack. He even said that he had a list of replacements if they don't reach a deal.