Without me looking it up, what would be the Rags cap situation after next year on possibly having to give Staal $6M+ (which he deserves)? Meaning does he resign or trade him?
- Ur Not Me

all seriousness, without trying to Troll, I believe you have to trade him because he will be in carolina. Since he will get paid no matter where he goes, why wouldn't he play with his family.

Without me looking it up, what would be the Rags cap situation after next year on possibly having to give Staal $6M+ (which he deserves)? Meaning does he resign or trade him?
- Ur Not Me

We can easily sign him and all of our other players if we let MSL walk. At best we would have about 5 or 6M left ot resign MSL and a backup At worst, we'd have about 1.5.

The at worst scenario assumes zucc, step, and staal each get 6M a year and hagelin will get 3.5M with the cap rising 5 mil.

all seriousness, without trying to Troll, I believe you have to trade him because he will be in carolina. Since he will get paid no matter where he goes, why wouldn't he play with his family.
- ChrisMS

Marc Staal will be extended before january 1st. Carolina is more likely to trade a staal away than acquire another one imo.

Addition by subtraction. We have about two or three D prospects that are NHL ready that will automatically be improvements over Orpik (walked) and Scuds (likely benched a good bit this season) and we refused to overpay for an inflated Matt Niskanen. Despres is a hound dog, Bortuzzo is a faster, better version of Orpik at this point in his career, and Dumoulin can surprises. I have faith that Martin, Ehrhoff, Letang, and Scuds have enough experience to ground the young d core. Remember that Despres and Bortuzzo have been getting NHL experience for about 3 years now. This isn't their first rodeo.
- Victoro311

the d will be just fine but your a bit optimistic. despres has yet to prove he can sustain top play (many people blame XHCDB but I believe there is more to it that that) bortuzzo has shown AT TIMES an ability to play at younger orpik levels but has not yet shown it consistantly. scuds has to bounce back. letang has to stay moderately healthy. maatta has to avoid sophmore slump. lots of conditions with the d. that being said I think its gonna be a very strong defense.

Like? Columbus, Rangers, Flyers and Pens did not really change. You could argue additions and subtractions but the players gained/loss are minimal. NJ and Carolina did not get better and Isles and Caps did get better in some areas but not enough to call them a playoff team.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

This is a laughable assessment. We have a completely revamped team. Have you been asleep during this offseason? We have pretty much all new faces in the bottom 6, changed the dynamic of the top 6, and let the age and overratedness walk from our D core. I guess you'll see once the season starts.

Marc Staal will be extended before january 1st. Carolina is more likely to trade a staal away than acquire another one imo.
- rangerdanger94

IF carolina trades eric/jordan/jarred (kidding!) then maybe Marc stays in NY. But i beleive when your making the same money one place or another, you go where familiy is.

IF carolina trades eric/jordan/jarred (kidding!) then maybe Marc stays in NY. But i beleive when your making the same money one place or another, you go where familiy is.
- ChrisMS

Unless he wants to win a cup. Remember he's the only Staal (besides Jared, who's a coward) that hasn't won a cup, and lets not kid ourselves. Despite all of the losses the Rangers suffered this offseason, they are still more likely to win it all than Carolina.

I just recognize that young players don't develop linearly. They sometimes take 1 step back before taking 2 steps forward, or 1 step back and no steps forward. A lot of Rangers fans had the same logic that everyone on their team will improve after the ECF run 2 years ago. The Islanders had a similar mindset last offseason. It just doesn't work like that and players you expect to take the next step regress.
- rangerdanger94

except our young players didn't regress. Our goaltending was league worst and our defense suffered a ton of injuries to the point where a broken down radek martinek came out of retirement to play in our top 4 at times. That's horrific.

Nelson, Strome, Lee all had good seasons and should build on those, Lee may even start the year in Bridgeport but should be the first call up in the event of injury.

Add a top 4 defenseman to the Isles by moving Bailey or Grabner in a package (obviously not by themselves, and it could be an aging top 4 like Boychuk or Oduya) and our defense is a lot more solid.

IF carolina trades eric/jordan/jarred (kidding!) then maybe Marc stays in NY. But i beleive when your making the same money one place or another, you go where familiy is.
- ChrisMS

His and his wifes entire life is in ny. Family is appealing but it's still a difficult decision to uproot your life to go play for a worse team.

except our young players didn't regress. Our goaltending was league worst and our defense suffered a ton of injuries to the point where a broken down radek martinek came out of retirement to play in our top 4 at times. That's horrific.

Nelson, Strome, Lee all had good seasons and should build on those, Lee may even start the year in Bridgeport but should be the first call up in the event of injury.

Add a top 4 defenseman to the Isles by moving Bailey or Grabner in a package (obviously not by themselves, and it could be an aging top 4 like Boychuk or Oduya) and our defense is a lot more solid.
- Isles_since_6

You could argue hamonic regressed. As did bailey since he was actually a decent nhler towards the final stretch of the lockout shortened season.

Unless he wants to win a cup. Remember he's the only Staal (besides Jared, who's a coward) that hasn't won a cup, and lets not kid ourselves. Despite all of the losses the Rangers suffered this offseason, they are still more likely to win it all than Carolina.
- Victoro311

But he adds a top 4 to carolina, whom will also be getting a probably top 5 pick. they would be only a year or two away form competing, considering he himself would be a significant piece.

So you think anton "1 goal" stralman is more talented than dan boyle? And that stempniak whos played on the 2nd and 3rd line his career is less talented than brian boyle?
- rangerdanger94

didnt d boyle have one of the worst +/- rating for the sharks (on a good team) and by a pretty good amount?

But he adds a top 4 to carolina, whom will also be getting a probably top 5 pick. they would be only a year or two away form competing, considering he himself would be a significant piece.
- ChrisMS

Still a gamble. This precludes that Carolina's prospects pan out and that they'll draft well in the near future. Yours is a valid argument, but its not without its counters.


Also its scary that I didn't give Rutherford a bigger vote of confidence on his drafting ability...

Like? Columbus, Rangers, Flyers and Pens did not really change. You could argue additions and subtractions but the players gained/loss are minimal. NJ and Carolina did not get better and Isles and Caps did get better in some areas but not enough to call them a playoff team.
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

cammi doesnt make the devils better?
havlat if healthy should help

plus they could prob score in the shootout, which would help the devils out alot

16 points in his last 22 games is rarely producing??
- Vukota

strome turning martin and mcdonald into a goal scoring line obviously didn't get much notice aside from on Long Island. Strome will put up a lot of points playing in the top 6, or even top 9. I agree with you completely.

You could argue hamonic regressed. As did bailey since he was actually a decent nhler towards the final stretch of the lockout shortened season.
- rangerdanger94

-this is not meant to sound condescending, just matter of fact -

you didn't watch much - Hamonic was paired with Amac until Amac was traded. Every one of our defenseman had drastically lower possession numbers with Amac than without. Not marginally, huge. When Hamonic was paired with Dehaan he found his game again, because his partner wasn't turning the puck over multiple times per shift.

Bailey had a good what, 15 games for part of one year? That's every year with him, that's not regression. That's looking at the end of that year and thinking he had fixed the gap between his ears.

Bailey is, at best, a 3rd line winger. I believe either he or grabner will be moved as part of a package for a defenseman prior to the start of the season. He's lacking heart and drive, and you can't be a top six forward in the NHL if you're not willing to go into the corners, to the front of the net, or shoot the puck.

-this is not meant to sound condescending, just matter of fact -

you didn't watch much - Hamonic was paired with Amac until Amac was traded. Every one of our defenseman had drastically lower possession numbers with Amac than without. Not marginally, huge. When Hamonic was paired with Dehaan he found his game again, because his partner wasn't turning the puck over multiple times per shift.

Bailey had a good what, 15 games for part of one year? That's every year with him, that's not regression. That's looking at the end of that year and thinking he had fixed the gap between his ears.

Bailey is, at best, a 3rd line winger. I believe either he or grabner will be moved as part of a package for a defenseman prior to the start of the season. He's lacking heart and drive, and you can't be a top six forward in the NHL if you're not willing to go into the corners, to the front of the net, or shoot the puck.
- Isles_since_6

Who's this Amac player you bring up???

Who's this Amac player you bring up???
- Ur Not Me

He's some hot shot Philly signed

This is a laughable assessment. We have a completely revamped team. Have you been asleep during this offseason? We have pretty much all new faces in the bottom 6, changed the dynamic of the top 6, and let the age and overratedness walk from our D core. I guess you'll see once the season starts.
- Victoro311

Really?

You lose Niskanen and replace him with Erhoff. Niskanen is the better Dman IMO
You lose Orpik, a physical Dman who blocks shots like a champ.

Malkin lost both of his wingers. Who is going to play with him? Hornqvist and Spaling? You downgraded his wingers significantly offensively. You can argue they are better defensively all you want the argument is irrelevant. Two players played a defensive system in Nashville while Pens made Neal play a more offensive game. Defence is really only relevant to the Center who has to back check the hardest. Wingers only need to take away the point man while staying close enough to the boards so they can grab the puck when shot along the boards by their own Dman.

Crosby is still stuck with a glorified 3rd liner in Dupuis and a 2nd line Kunitz.

Your so called bottom 6 is Downie, Comeau, Goc, Bennet, Adams and Sutter. How is that significantly better than Glass, Adams, Sutter, Goc, Gibbons and Vitale?

Pens will still rely on Crosby and Malkin to carry the team, the D will struggle and goaltending will remain the same. This team isn't really better

Really?

You lose Niskanen and replace him with Erhoff. Niskanen is the better Dman IMO
You lose Orpik, a physical Dman who blocks shots like a champ.

Malkin lost both of his wingers. Who is going to play with him? Hornqvist and Spaling? You downgraded his wingers significantly offensively. You can argue they are better defensively all you want the argument is irrelevant. Two players played a defensive system in Nashville while Pens made Neal play a more offensive game. Defence is really only relevant to the Center who has to back check the hardest. Wingers only need to take away the point man while staying close enough to the boards so they can grab the puck when shot along the boards by their own Dman.

Crosby is still stuck with a glorified 3rd liner in Dupuis and a 2nd line Kunitz.

Your so called bottom 6 is Downie, Comeau, Goc, Bennet, Adams and Sutter. How is that significantly better than Glass, Adams, Sutter, Goc, Gibbons and Vitale?

Pens will still rely on Crosby and Malkin to carry the team, the D will struggle and goaltending will remain the same. This team isn't really better
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Really?

You lose Niskanen and replace him with Erhoff. Niskanen is the better Dman IMO
You lose Orpik, a physical Dman who blocks shots like a champ.

Malkin lost both of his wingers. Who is going to play with him? Hornqvist and Spaling? You downgraded his wingers significantly offensively. You can argue they are better defensively all you want the argument is irrelevant. Two players played a defensive system in Nashville while Pens made Neal play a more offensive game. Defence is really only relevant to the Center who has to back check the hardest. Wingers only need to take away the point man while staying close enough to the boards so they can grab the puck when shot along the boards by their own Dman.

Crosby is still stuck with a glorified 3rd liner in Dupuis and a 2nd line Kunitz.

Your so called bottom 6 is Downie, Comeau, Goc, Bennet, Adams and Sutter. How is that significantly better than Glass, Adams, Sutter, Goc, Gibbons and Vitale?

Pens will still rely on Crosby and Malkin to carry the team, the D will struggle and goaltending will remain the same. This team isn't really better
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Beau Bennett ($0.900m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / Patric Hornqvist ($4.250m)
Nick Spaling($2.000m)/ Brandon Sutter ($3.500m) / Steve Downie ($1.000m)
Blake Comeau ($0.700m) / Marcel Goc ($1.200m) / Craig Adams ($0.700m)
Kasperi Kapanen ($0.925m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Christian Ehrhoff ($4.000m) / Rob Scuderi ($3.375m)
Simon Despres ($0.900m) / Olli Maatta ($0.894m)
Robert Bortuzzo ($0.600m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.000m)

This a much better bottom 6 than last season. Glass and Vitale are anchors. Megna and Gibbons are fringe NHL players, although I did like Gibby and his work ethic. This is a lineup that is harder to play against and will make it more difficult for other teams to have free reign in our zone. I do think this is a transition year. Next year we will have a bit of cap space to play with.

Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Beau Bennett ($0.900m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / Patric Hornqvist ($4.250m)
Nick Spaling($2.000m)/ Brandon Sutter ($3.500m) / Steve Downie ($1.000m)
Blake Comeau ($0.700m) / Marcel Goc ($1.200m) / Craig Adams ($0.700m)
Kasperi Kapanen ($0.925m) /
DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Paul Martin ($5.000m)
Christian Ehrhoff ($4.000m) / Rob Scuderi ($3.375m)
Simon Despres ($0.900m) / Olli Maatta ($0.894m)
Robert Bortuzzo ($0.600m) /
GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.000m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.000m)

This a much better bottom 6 than last season. Glass and Vitale are anchors. Megna and Gibbons are fringe NHL players, although I did like Gibby and his work ethic. This is a lineup that is harder to play against and will make it more difficult for other teams to have free reign in our zone. I do think this is a transition year. Next year we will have a bit of cap space to play with.
- PittsPens

1 or 2 injuries to your forwards and your depth is shot tho. Also as bad as glass was last year he might be better than downie is at this point in his career.

Really?

You lose Niskanen and replace him with Erhoff. Niskanen is the better Dman IMO
You lose Orpik, a physical Dman who blocks shots like a champ.

Malkin lost both of his wingers. Who is going to play with him? Hornqvist and Spaling? You downgraded his wingers significantly offensively. You can argue they are better defensively all you want the argument is irrelevant. Two players played a defensive system in Nashville while Pens made Neal play a more offensive game. Defence is really only relevant to the Center who has to back check the hardest. Wingers only need to take away the point man while staying close enough to the boards so they can grab the puck when shot along the boards by their own Dman.

Crosby is still stuck with a glorified 3rd liner in Dupuis and a 2nd line Kunitz.

Your so called bottom 6 is Downie, Comeau, Goc, Bennet, Adams and Sutter. How is that significantly better than Glass, Adams, Sutter, Goc, Gibbons and Vitale?

Pens will still rely on Crosby and Malkin to carry the team, the D will struggle and goaltending will remain the same. This team isn't really better
- xShoot4WarAmpsx

I've got to laugh at this a little bit:

1) Niskanen was a decent defender. At best, he is as good as Erhoff. Erhoff has a cannon and was lost on a terrible Buf team

2) Orpik was physical and did block a lot of shots, but it's simple to block a ton of shots when you're alway pinned in your own zone. He has been one of my favorite players, but he is finished. He was slow to begin with and lost another step. That was an awful signing by Washington. Orpik < Bortuzzo at this point in his career, and Bortuzzo won't make the Pen's top 6.

3) I love that Philly fans trashed Neal while he was with the Pens but now that he's gone, he's amazing. Is he a better pure goal scorer than Hornqvist? Yes. But Hornqvist is a better all around player, which is exactly what the Pens needed. Scoring isn't a problem, and won't be a problem with this team. Look at Neal's numbers the year before he came to the Pens and compare them to Hornqvist's last year - they are very similar. Malkin will make Hornqvist better, plain and simple. Plus, he won't take the terrible penalties that Neal took. Neal's numbers are going to plummet playing with Riberio this year. Spaling will be playing on the 4th line, the 2nd line winger is likely to be Bennett.

4) I have my questions about Dupuis, but i'll wait until the beginning of the season to doubt him - he's a work out machine. If a 30+ goal scorer in Kunitz is a 2nd line winger - I'll take him every day of the week. The Pens don't need the most talented people playing around Crosby, just players he can play with. Look back at the Dups - Crosby - Kunitz stats.

5) If you watched Glass/Vitale/Adams/Kobasew/Pyatt try to play hockey last year, you would know why Pens fans are happy with the new players. Not that they are the best of players, but they have much better possession stats and better scoring abilities. The Pens no longer have the worst bottom 6 in hockey.

6) Of course the two best players are expected to lead the team - that's why they get paid the most money. I have no worries about the D struggling. The goalie situation is still a concern, but Greiss > Zatkoff so at least it's slightly better than last year.

1 or 2 injuries to your forwards and your depth is shot tho. Also as bad as glass was last year he might be better than downie is at this point in his career.
- rangerdanger94

We had those injuries last season and got through them just fine. Downie is my biggest question mark. He played his best hockey under Rick Tocchet, and I am hoping Tocchet can get him back to an acceptable level. If not he is only on a 1 year deal. I think if Beau Bennett can stay healthy he can put up some decent numbers as well. My point is, as of right now and considering everyone healthy, you can not deny it is a better and more improved bottom six from last season.

1 or 2 injuries to your forwards and your depth is shot tho. Also as bad as glass was last year he might be better than downie is at this point in his career.
- rangerdanger94

The only two players who might be worse than Glass are Taylor Pyatt and Jonathan Scott. There is 0% chance Downie is worse. Just wait until you watch Glass try to play night in and night out - he is awful. And it wasn't only last year - Glass was terrible the year before. He's just a bad hockey player.