A lot of talk today out of Calgary about Iginla being moved for a shot at a Cup while the Flames consider a full rebuild. Probably a pipe dream for the Pens, who likely couldn't fit his cap hit in until next deadline, but it's something I'll be interested to keep an eye on.
If Matt Carle became a UFA - Which is possible considering Philadelphia's cap situation, would you consider signing him as a replacement for one of Martin or Niskanen?
We need a winger but not at the expense of one of our current wingers. Kennedy fits our style, is moderately skilled and has a fair cap hit for what he brings. He's staying.
CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR ROSTER
My Custom Lineup
FORWARDS
Chris Kunitz ($3.725m) / Evgeni Malkin ($8.700m) / James Neal ($5.000m)
Pascal Dupuis ($1.500m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / David Jones ($2.500m)
Matt Cooke ($1.800m) / Jordan Staal ($4.000m) / Chris Kelly ($2.500m)
Craig Adams ($0.675m) / Joe Vitale ($0.550m) / Tyler Kennedy ($2.000m)
Dustin Jeffrey ($0.575m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Brooks Orpik ($3.750m) / Kristopher Letang ($3.500m)
Matt Niskanen ($2.200m) / Zbynek Michalek ($4.000m)
Deryk Engelland ($0.567m) / Simon Despres ($0.840m)
Brian Strait ($0.750m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Al Montoya ($0.550m)
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $63,381,667; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $918,333
These are some moves I would like to see done in the off season and I think it builds a solid team with 3 solid lines.
The UFA market I know everyone is drooling over the idea of getting Parise same as in the past people were drooling over Kovy possibly dawning the black and gold... But I am going to take a calmer look. As I have in seasons past. I try to make quieter signings or moves in my proposals...
I am not putting Dupuis on the 2nd line due to me having a huge man crush like many have for Dupper right now due to his fantastic season. I did as many around here have to eat crow on him this season, but I am expecting him to level back out to what he was. And the only reason I am penciling him with Sid, is as much as the whinning will probably return about him being on a top 6 line next year by me and others he does have chemistry with Sid. And the likely hood of us getting him 2 wingers is unlikely. And I am not big on resigning Sully, after this post season especially if we go deep and have to play multiples of Philly, Boston, and New York all teams that are going to be physical series I do not see him having the legs any more for a full 82 in even the capability he had this year. So lets remove him. Acquire someone Jones who I put at 2.5M just as a match salary because he is not getting a raise due to his injury problems, SO... I put him at what would be a "max salary" on him just to see how he would salary fit. We could probably get away with paying him Cooke/Dupuis money to put him on this roster so cut his salary down if you want and mentally add that discount into the cap space.
Going off of that. If we are going to be penciling Dupuis into the top 6 due to the fact we cant get two wingers for Sid, lets give Staal a capable winger. TK I have given up hope on, next season if he can reclaim himself awesome... But he is basically a 4th liner at this point. Lets relegate him to the line of which he has played himself into and bring in someone that can actually help out Staal a bit.
Kelly comes to mind as a very good guy to complement Staal. A line of him, Staal, and Cooke I think would round out a top 9 for this team very nicely. And I only gave him a slight raise above, but take into account what I said about Jones salary and you could give Kelly another 250-350k and there you go, use your imagination.
Of coarse we would have to find a way to move Martin to make these fit properly as proposed above but I dont think it would be to hard to move Martin for picks or a soon to be RFA reclamation ala a Nisky 2.0.
Also Strait takes a little less money to have a 1 way contract. Make him a #6/7, and he would take a small pay cut from his current 800K some contract to have a 1 way NHL contract. And I just put Montoya in there just to throw in a back up, not proposing to sign him, just plugging someone in there at min contract. Plug what ever back up can be signed at that in there and there you go.
Quite simply moves/signings, but I think it makes a very solid team. Even with Jones signed at that amount and assuming youd have to give Kelly a bit more green to bring him in youd easily be able to get this line up and still have around 1M in cap space.
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"No! forget the glass Woodhouse, just give me the pitcher, for I am a sinner in the hands of an angry god. Bloody Mary full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me now and at the hour of my death... which I hope is soon. Amen."
We need a winger but not at the expense of one of our current wingers. Kennedy fits our style, is moderately skilled and has a fair cap hit for what he brings. He's staying.
IMO he's just as skilled if not more so, bigger and better defensively.
I'd like to see Jeffrey get a shot as a 2nd/3rd line winger next year. Put him on the 2nd with Sid or Geno and I think he could excel. If we can pick up a winger for that spot, but him on the 3rd with Staal, and I think he'll be better than TK.
I'd like to see Jeffrey get a shot as a 2nd/3rd line winger next year. Put him on the 2nd with Sid or Geno and I think he could excel. If we can pick up a winger for that spot, but him on the 3rd with Staal, and I think he'll be better than TK.
I think its more likely for him to get a shot at being Staals winger than a top 6 position. And I say this as a big Jeffrey fan. The reason I say this is that with Dupuis and Kunitz we already have to two complementary wingers we need for the T6 and that is if a signing doesnt bump Dupuis out of the T6. And if that happened then there isnt even a spot on the 3rd line for Jeffrey because a line of Cooke - Staal - Dupuis would almost be a certainty...
But assuming there isnt a signing that bumps Dupuis out of the T6 (which would be ideal even with his great season), and a signing of the likes I said above doesnt happen to get Staal a complimentary winger. I would have no problem with Jeffrey on Staals wing. I would give him a shot over TK reclaiming himself.
But I do not see Jeffrey getting a shot above L3 for next year unless its due to an injury of one of Kunitz, Dupuis, Neal, or what ever UFA we bring in for the T6 (my hope is a reclamation signing of Jones).
Steve Sullivan ($1.500m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Pascal Dupuis ($1.500m)
Chris Kunitz ($3.725m) / Evgeni Malkin ($8.700m) / James Neal ($5.000m)
Matt Cooke ($1.800m) / Jordan Staal ($4.000m) / Tyler Kennedy ($2.000m)
Tanner Glass ($0.625m) / Joe Vitale ($0.550m) / Craig Adams ($0.675m)
Richard Park ($0.525m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Kristopher Letang ($3.500m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Zbynek Michalek ($4.000m) / Brooks Orpik ($3.750m)
Deryk Engelland ($0.567m) / Matt Niskanen ($1.850m)
Ben Lovejoy ($0.525m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Josh Harding ($0.700m)
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CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(these totals are compiled without the bonus cushion)
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000; CAP PAYROLL: $62,343,517; BONUSES: $0
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $1,956,483
Wonder if we could get something for Niskanen at the draft. Maybe RFA swaps of Niskanen+Stewart, add some prospects, and maybe 3rd or 4th round picks. Sign Stewart 3M for 2 years, then if all goes well...a Neal contract for Stewart. Add something else at UFA for some more depth. Pens now have 3 solid lines, we could keep Cooke-Staal-Dupuis together, trade off TK.
