Anyone doubt that Crosby is already working on him behind the scenes to buy into the discount and have the team stick together? Hell, he might even be talking about that whole play Staal on his line some of you have been dreaming about for years now.
Anyone doubt that Crosby is already working on him behind the scenes to buy into the discount and have the team stick together? Hell, he might even be talking about that whole play Staal on his line some of you have been dreaming about for years now.
For this to work, Crosby, Malkin, and Staal will all have to sit down in a poorly-lit room. At this point, Sid and Geno have to put equal money on the table for Staal's contract.
Let's say Crosby and Malkin each offer a 750,000 discount on their contract to give to Staal, that adds 1.5 million to Staal's contract, bumping him up from the 5 million # people have been mentioning to 6.5 million.
Edmonton
Calgary
Winnipeg Minnesota
Phoenix
Nashville
Columbus New York Rangers New Jersey
Florida Buffalo
Toronto
You know what those 12 teams are? Places where Staal would be the #1 center right now. And, I think you could argue that he'd be a co-#1 in up to another half a dozen places.
WTF do you think the going rate is for that? WTF do you think teams would pay for that, for a 25 year old not even in his prime with a cup under his belt, a future captain, a perennial selke candidate, and someone who is playing now with third/fourth line caliber linemates at a 65-75 point pace?
I've been anything but a Staal Kool-Aid drinker, but you have to be pretty obtuse not to see the writing on the wall when it comes to Staal's bargaining power. He holds ALL the cards.
I agree he'd be a #1 center on all those teams besides the ones I bolded. That still doesn't make him a legit #1 center... yet.
Yes he has been clearly developing over the past year, and his offensive contributions are increasing big time. But comparing him to players like Backstrom, Getzlaf, and Staal is stupid and homerish (yes I made up a new word) to the fullest.
I also never said anything about his future contract. But I expect him to re-sign him for less than 5 years, and around $5 mill, just like Neal. At some point he will hit his prime and will want a bigger role in terms of offensive opportunity and linemates, which he will never get here.
I could actually see Malkin and Crosby give a discount this time of maybe $8 million per year. Although Crosby is supersticious about that number, so may stay the same $8.7 million. But I definately could see them giving some to keep the team together. Their last contract everyone was so young and made so little there was no need. This is the time where you lose people if concessions are not made. Look at Neal. He was supposedly money hungry in Dallas. He signed a very reasonable contract with no fuss at all. I could see the core of this team giving some to keep this going.
In a sane world, I'd say he gets a Neal-ish deal or something with a slight hike in pay or less years. Since Burke went and ****ed things up beyond belief with Grabovski, all bets are off.
A string of games? Didn't someone post that in his last 82 games he has 33 goals and 66 points? Pretty large sample size…it’s just that it's been interrupted with injuries. Which also makes it even more intriguing in my opinion. Those are pretty good numbers.
Ya that was me. Pretty hard to argue with a sample size of 82 games. But some still will lol.
I agree he'd be a #1 center on all those teams besides the ones I bolded. That still doesn't make him a legit #1 center... yet.
Yes he has been clearly developing over the past year, and his offensive contributions are increasing big time. But comparing him to players like Backstrom, Getzlaf, and Staal is stupid and homerish (yes I made up a new word) to the fullest.
I also never said anything about his future contract. But I expect him to re-sign him for less than 5 years, and around $5 mill, just like Neal. At some point he will hit his prime and will want a bigger role in terms of offensive opportunity and linemates, which he will never get here.
While I agree with you that lumping J Staal in with Getzlaf, Backstrom and E Staal is too much right now.
Who are you saying is a better center than him on NJ? Zajac?
Also Roy can be pretty good but even that one might end up being debatable. lol
I think what Shero has built here is what will see our entire core take less. All of them love it here, they were all (aside from Neal) drafted by Pittsburgh. I think they are all smart enough to know what they have here. Money can't buy being put in the history books. This core can be one of THOSE kinds of cores.
It's way too early to talk about what Letang would get, but I could see Sid and Geno taking similar, and Staal re-signing for an identical Neal contract. I think that's a good comp. Neal was a higher scorer every year in the league, and was producing at a higher level when he signed the contract.
While I agree with you that lumping J Staal in with Getzlaf, Backstrom and E Staal is too much right now.
Who are you saying is a better center than him on NJ? Zajac?
Also Roy can be pretty good but even that one might end up being debatable. lol
Elias is their #1 center as far as I know. Roy has been a point per game center for a few seasons, though he's slumping this season. Hard to argue for Roy over Staal if you're basing it off this season alone.
And people can mock my use of words all you want, but even if you take into account his previous 82 games, in which he scored 66 points according to an earlier post, that is still not #1 center material. Don't make him out to be some sort of franchise player or superstar. He isn't. And comparing him to established star players is laughable.
I'm in no way a Staal hater. In fact I've always defended him when people wanted to trade him because he "only" put up 49 points in a season. Now he's on pace to score like 10-15 more points than before and he's a super star all of the sudden.
Last edited by Ziggyjoe21: 03-09-2012 at 01:36 PM.
Elias is their #1 center as far as I know. Roy has been a point per game center for a few seasons, though he's slumping this season. Hard to argue for Roy over Staal if you're basing it off this season alone.
And people can mock my use of words all you want, but even if you take into account his previous 82 games, in which he scored 66 points according to an earlier post, that is still not #1 center material. Don't make him out to be some sort of franchise player or superstar. He isn't. And comparing him to established star players is laughable.
I'm in no way a Staal hater. In fact I've always defended him when people wanted to trade him because he "only" put up 49 points in a season. Now he's on pace to score like 10-15 more points than before and he's a super star all of the sudden.
Who said he was a franchise player or superstar? All people are saying is that he's a number one center on many teams. That's not a lie or exaggeration.
In a sane world, I'd say he gets a Neal-ish deal or something with a slight hike in pay or less years. Since Burke went and ****ed things up beyond belief with Grabovski, all bets are off.
Burke had to pay Grabo like a #1 center though.
Not a great contract or something I could see Shero doing.
Patience has really paid off when it comes to Staal and Fleury. Many (myself included) were ready to run them out of town a number of different times in their careers, but now we see the great value in being patient. Both are now thriving. Fleury looks to already be in his prime and Staal looks poised to start entering his with this breakout season.
I think Staal will get a deal similar to Neal. He may be able to squeeze 5.5m/per out of the Pens if he really tries. I don't think the Pens will go 6m/per with him though. At some point it's just too much money/cap space being ate up.
Patience has really paid off when it comes to Staal and Fleury. Many (myself included) were ready to run them out of town a number of different times in their careers, but now we see the great value in being patient. Both are now thriving. Fleury looks to already be in his prime and Staal looks poised to start entering his with this breakout season.
I think Staal will get a deal similar to Neal. He may be able to squeeze 5.5m/per out of the Pens if he really tries. I don't think the Pens will go 6m/per with him though. At some point it's just too much money/cap space being ate up.
Hopefully people will remember the examples. Goaltenders, big forwards, defenseman ... very few of them come in their late teens and early twenties and are immediately both dominant and consistent. Too many posters around here tend to get all life-and-death over a player's play in a given year when he's only 21 or 22 years old, and immediately want to tie him to a raft and send him down the river.
In a year and a half when Despres and Morrow are both going through a pronounced slump, hopefully folks will remember and resist the temptation to take a collective jump off the nearest bridge.
Patience has really paid off when it comes to Staal and Fleury. Many (myself included) were ready to run them out of town a number of different times in their careers, but now we see the great value in being patient. Both are now thriving. Fleury looks to already be in his prime and Staal looks poised to start entering his with this breakout season.
I think Staal will get a deal similar to Neal. He may be able to squeeze 5.5m/per out of the Pens if he really tries. I don't think the Pens will go 6m/per with him though. At some point it's just too much money/cap space being ate up.
Even given the examples we've had (mind you, both examples were drafted 1 and 2 overall in their respective years), people will still have these crazy expectations for young guys. I mean, Letang even took 5 years or so to really turn into the player he is now.
I think people were spoiled by Crosby and Malkin where they came into the league and paid dividends immediately, and that's now the bar set here.
Yeah, because you want that going into the year we have to sign him.
What? Yes, I do want the players on my team to play to the highest level of their abilities, score tons, help win games and championships. He'll I'd be perfectly comfortable with staalsy deciding to go 3 points per game the rest of the season for a matter of fact.
