I had no issue bringing in Murray ....just not at that outrageous price.

Iginla, well Shero said himself "when you get an opportunity to get Jarome Iginla, you get Jarome Iginla"
- YouMeAndDupuis9

i'll defend that deal to the hilt. a late 1st and 2 probably never weres that might be 4th liners for the best forward at the deadline? HCDB misused the man and he looked out of sink. not sheros fault. he set the team up the way a gm should. now murray... too much

i feel like it would lower the return for martin.

id rather give someone scuderi and a fourth for their sixth and call it a day.
- stayinthefnnet

which gm accepts that rip off. scuds and a 2nd for a 7th is a stretch

i feel like it would lower the return for martin.

id rather give someone scuderi and a fourth for their sixth and call it a day.
- stayinthefnnet

Thats why you market it as an awesome deal, martin plus this defensive stud and a pick or D prospect for your non rental top 6F

which gm accepts that rip off. scuds and a 2nd for a 7th is a stretch
- ChrisMS

touche.

Must be a long layoff between games again, because we're talking about trading Martin when it simply isn't going to happen.

When Bortuzzo is ready to go the bottom pairing should be Bortuzzo-Despres. I don't live in lala land I know Scuds is playing. Do you guys think Despres sits down? In my opinion Bortuzzo is just as good at moving the puck, and has way more of an impact on the game than Despres. I will say Despres has actually impressed me which I didn't think would happen.

When Bortuzzo is ready to go the bottom pairing should be Bortuzzo-Despres. I don't live in lala land I know Scuds is playing. Do you guys think Despres sits down? In my opinion Bortuzzo is just as good at moving the puck, and has way more of an impact on the game than Despres. I will say Despres has actually impressed me which I didn't think would happen.
- Grinder47

The way I see Bortuzzo playing is after the trade deadline this season unfortunately... I feel like Harrington is valued over Bortuzzo right now. I could be wrong, but thats the vibe I am getting, which makes Bort #8.

I think Skuds might be a BIT more moveable than we assumed, since something is actually floating out there, which already sounds more than we hoped for.

The trade deadline point, is assuming Martin gets moved, which I think is somewhat of a 50-50 chance which varies heavily on 2 things. Ehrhoff extending, and a solid offer coming in for Martin.

That would end us up with...

Letang - Ehrhoff
Maatta - Despres/Harrington
Bortuzzo - Harrington

This is my speculation, but I think is pretty safe on assumptions.

Edit: Noticed I misread your post a tad... I think Despres is going to be good enough to jump over Bortuzzo, solely due to him being out with the injury. I think they are both roughly equal in skill overall (hard to judge with Despres limited usage), but for now, don't fix what isn't broken. And only Skuds is broken.

All this talk about trading Martin is making me hungry. I made a huge pot of seafood chowdah! Going to get me some and a nice glass of sparkling wine.

Maatta - Despres/Harrington
Bortuzzo - Harrington

- Guile

Total NHL playoff games for that group (who would be 2-5 on the depth chart) = 27.

I just don't think they're going to subject themselves to that by trading Martin.

I hope they start "resting" scuds in the next week or two. Now is the time to see what you have in some of these young guys. If a couple of them perform well, that's when you consider moving Martin.

HCDB had many flaws IMO, but the one of the biggest was not giving young guys time to see where they stand. If they knew Despres or Bortuzzo were competent, maybe Ray doesn't go out and over-pay for a guy that is over the hill.

I'd say yes because it's been clear he's going to test FA unless we overpay on $$ and term. Also we have such a logjam on D prospects. Now one could say why not Try to trade one or a bunch of them but I honestly don't see anyone trading a top 6F for a bunch of kids with little experience . But as a package with him a younger d, and pics seems like it might be enough to get someone who has some contract left and not just a rental.
- ImScore71

IF you take the attitude that the youth can replace Martin next year at a much cheaper cost, is it really like letting Martin walk for nothing?

You have his cap space to fill a perceived need up front and use the cheap youth to fill in at the back end. I think we are going to need Paul Martin for this run, so moving him for the sake of getting a return in the top 6 may not be a great move.

Some prospects may be moved for top 6 help, or heaven forbid, Bennett gets healthy and does what we hope he can and our top 6 gets deeper.

IF you take the attitude that the youth can replace Martin next year at a much cheaper cost, is it really like letting Martin walk for nothing?

You have his cap space to fill a perceived need up front and use the cheap youth to fill in at the back end. I think we are going to need Paul Martin for this run, so moving him for the sake of getting a return in the top 6 may not be a great move.

Some prospects may be moved for top 6 help, or heaven forbid, Bennett gets healthy and does what we hope he can and our top 6 gets deeper.
- walshy66

Valid point in theory, but realistically there isn't much in the upcoming free agent market. And a trade for a forward is better management than overpaying in free agency, imo.

Edit - prospects being moved for top 6 help may be the most likely scenario.

IF you take the attitude that the youth can replace Martin next year at a much cheaper cost, is it really like letting Martin walk for nothing?

You have his cap space to fill a perceived need up front and use the cheap youth to fill in at the back end. I think we are going to need Paul Martin for this run, so moving him for the sake of getting a return in the top 6 may not be a great move.

Some prospects may be moved for top 6 help, or heaven forbid, Bennett gets healthy and does what we hope he can and our top 6 gets deeper.
- walshy66

This makes sense. You can't trade one asset only to gain a scoring and create a defensive liability liability at the same time.

Valid point in theory, but realistically there isn't much in the upcoming free agent market. And a trade for a forward is better management than overpaying in free agency, imo.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

It's a trade off that would have to be considered very carefully for this year.

It's a trade off that would have to be considered very carefully for this year.
- powerhouse

That's a big 10-4 amigo.

It would be nice if there was ANYTHING worth speaking of on next years forward UFA market as a backup plan. Hopefully, Kapanen is ready next year as well.

Oh and something Johnston alluded to in the "Peek Inside" video....there's always a slight chance Kapanen and/or Sundqvist play in the NHL THIS year once they're Euro season/playoffs end....they are free to come play with WBS or PIT.

That's a big 10-4 amigo.

It would be nice if there was ANYTHING worth speaking of on next years forward UFA market as a backup plan. Hopefully, Kapanen is ready next year as well.

Oh and something Johnston alluded to in the "Peek Inside" video....there's always a slight chance Kapanen and/or Sundqvist play in the NHL THIS year once they're Euro season/playoffs end....they are free to come play with WBS or PIT.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Interesting. I did like Sundqvist.

Montreal is in first gear, TB is in overdrive. No contest.

Total NHL playoff games for that group (who would be 2-5 on the depth chart) = 27.

I just don't think they're going to subject themselves to that by trading Martin.
- hardnosed

Not everyone can be a playoff veteran

Not everyone can be a playoff veteran
- Guile

No but if the Penguins go into the playoffs with 27 career playoff games between four defensemen I don't want to see any complaints about mistakes they make.

No but if the Penguins go into the playoffs with 27 career playoff games between four defensemen I don't want to see any complaints about mistakes they make.
- Ben37

I'd rather that inexperience in 4, than 1 Skuderi

Hey guys parents can't make Thursdays pens game and we are in hospital having our 3rd boy so I can't go. If anyone interested in going to Oct 16th game tickets are face value sec 201 row C seats 17 & 18 center ice, and you get to see my boy hemsky!!

Interesting article Gunner and it makes sense when you have these sure fire players. If the Pens pull the trigger next season I would have to imagine a deal in the 4.8-5.2 million dollar range for the next 5-8 years, with the maximum prefered of 8.
His skill and mental ability is top notch, he will only get better.

The only thing that I wonder about is with his growth into a top tier player, will they pay him that money along with Letang and Ehrhoff? Hoff can't get that much term, 3-4 years of productivity left in him, but he certainly fits the bill to get paid a 3-4 year deal at 5 mill per (minimum).

Hey guys parents can't make Thursdays pens game and we are in hospital having our 3rd boy so I can't go. If anyone interested in going to Oct 16th game tickets are face value sec 201 row C seats 17 & 18 center ice, and you get to see my boy hemsky!!
- nh4442

Congrats Nh! I would buy it from you If I weren't in Brazil

Interesting article Gunner and it makes sense when you have these sure fire players. If the Pens pull the trigger next season I would have to imagine a deal in the 4.8-5.2 million dollar range for the next 5-8 years, with the maximum prefered of 8.
His skill and mental ability is top notch, he will only get better.

The only thing that I wonder about is with his growth into a top tier player, will they pay him that money along with Letang and Ehrhoff? Hoff can't get that much term, 3-4 years of productivity left in him, but he certainly fits the bill to get paid a 3-4 year deal at 5 mill per (minimum).
- usethe1-2-2

Commenting on the article? What happened to the Paul Martin talk?

j/k ...I think Maatta has pretty much already proven himself as a top 4 so he is worth that money either way. And I think you pay him now and give him term now because his ceiling is so high. They can afford Maatta, Ehrhoff, and Letang as long as the rest of the D is relatively cheap (aka. no scuderi, robert)

Only two games so far, so the sample size isn't great, but I'm not as worried about the top 6 as I was during the offseason. I said I would eat crow if it happened, and so I will now. Pascal looks good. I don't know how he'll hold up over the stretch, but right now he's not the problem. Our center depth is also in a place where we can continue to experiment with Flats in the top 6. Hornqvist looks like lightning in a bottle.

It'd be great to have another winger on top of Bennet when he comes back to plug up there, but as things stand, I think Martin is more important to this cup run than a top 6. Over summer I kept saying I would hesitate to trade Martin, now I'm almost 100% against it.