So you can't name any? I don't care if they're "NHL teady". None of those guys can step in and replace Martin right now. And I'm not a true Pens fan because I'd rather have a proven top 2 in the league play over 4 guys that have 9 combined NHL games? Ok....
- cory7321

Harrington, Dumoulin, Pouliot, and Samuelsson are all NHL ready. Harrington and Pouliot both have the potential to be better than Martin. Will there be a drop off, yes, but it's not as catastrophic as you make it out to be.

Harrington, Dumoulin, Pouliot, and Samuelsson are all NHL ready. Harrington and Pouliot both have the potential to be better than Martin. Will there be a drop off, yes, but it's not as catastrophic as you make it out to be.
- cap1681

I'm a big fan of getting younger. If Scuds can be traded, i still see no reason to sign both Ehroff and Martin. No way they keep all 3 next year. That would put 1/2 your D roster above 33 yrs next year.

Harrington, Dumoulin, Pouliot, and Samuelsson are all NHL ready. Harrington and Pouliot both have the potential to be better than Martin. Will there be a drop off, yes, but it's not as catastrophic as you make it out to be.
- cap1681

I agree that Pouliot & Harrington are NHL ready. NH is saying that makes PM expendable which just isn't true. Stanley Cup contending teams don't do things like that. I'm all for those guys replacing a guy like Scuderi.

Harrington, Dumoulin, Pouliot, and Samuelsson are all NHL ready. Harrington and Pouliot both have the potential to be better than Martin. Will there be a drop off, yes, but it's not as catastrophic as you make it out to be.
- cap1681

Add chorney and roupp to that list... martin could be moved and top 4 are
Letang mattaa
Ehrhoff pouliot
Burtuzzo despres
Harrington doumolin
Chorney roupp
Sucderi

I agree that Pouliot & Harrington are NHL ready. NH is saying that makes PM expendable which just isn't true. Stanley Cup contending teams don't do things like that. I'm all for those guys replacing a guy like Scuderi.
- cory7321

I just don't see Martin as the key to being a Stanley Cup contending team. Yes, he is a big part of our defense, but he's not irreplaceable. Plus, the cap space made by trading Martin could be used to acquire a top 6 forward. Personally, i believe the lack of depth at the forward position has been the Achilles heel for the Penguins over the last few postseasons.

Add chorney and roupp to that list... martin could be moved and top 4 are
Letang mattaa
Ehrhoff pouliot
Burtuzzo despres
Harrington doumolin
Chorney roupp
Sucderi
- nh4442

A 27 year old journeyman and a guy playing in the ECHL. Can you just stop it?

Personally, i believe the lack of depth at the forward position has been the Achilles heel for the Penguins over the last few postseasons.
- cap1681

I agree, however I think that's also been one of the things they've already strengthened this year. Instead of a bunch of midgets that have AHL scoring talent but not NHL 3rd/4th line aptitude, they've actually found NHL grinders with scoring touch again for the 3rd/4th lines to provide forward depth. I mean, wit Bennett back and Comeau likely moving to the 4th line, we have 4 lines made up of actual NHL players for the first time in a few years.

If they find an upgrade/replacement for Adams, it's also a pretty solid bottom 6 as well with no glaring problems.

I agree that Pouliot & Harrington are NHL ready. NH is saying that makes PM expendable which just isn't true. Stanley Cup contending teams don't do things like that. I'm all for those guys replacing a guy like Scuderi.
- cory7321

Johnson and a 1st rounder for Carter, Whitney for Kunitz, Widemen for Horton, all cup contending teams trading top 4 D for top six forward help. They would all go on to win the cup that season they made those trades.

Horton was during the summer, so that is a bit different, but still. Contenders do what makes the team stronger. The gain at forward strength heavily outweighs the loss on D.

Add chorney and roupp to that list... martin could be moved and top 4 are
Letang mattaa
Ehrhoff pouliot
Burtuzzo despres
Harrington doumolin
Chorney roupp
Sucderi
- nh4442

Pump the brakes a bit...

Chorney isn't an everyday NHL'er, Ruopp isn't even an everyday AHL'er.

I think Pouliot is going to be good, but he's not a top 4 now. Best case he is a bottom pairing guy who can play on 2nd PP unit like Letang in 2008-09.

I agree, however I think that's also been one of the things they've already strengthened this year. Instead of a bunch of midgets that have AHL scoring talent but not NHL 3rd/4th line aptitude, they've actually found NHL grinders with scoring touch again for the 3rd/4th lines to provide forward depth. I mean, wit Bennett back and Comeau likely moving to the 4th line, we have 4 lines made up of actual NHL players for the first time in a few years.

If they find an upgrade/replacement for Adams, it's also a pretty solid bottom 6 as well with no glaring problems.
- ScienceJesus

I agree that they have strengthened the depth, but what scares me is they are one top 6 injury away from having a huge hole there. Bringing in another top 6 winger pushes Bennett or Dupuis down to the 3rd line, making it that much stronger, and giving you flexibility in case of injury

Add chorney and roupp to that list... martin could be moved and top 4 are
Letang mattaa
Ehrhoff pouliot
Burtuzzo despres
Harrington doumolin
Chorney roupp
Sucderi
- nh4442

Don't even say that. Ruopp is a healthy scratch and Chorney is borderline at best, and thats at the AHL level.

I agree that they have strengthened the depth, but what scares me is they are one top 6 injury away from having a huge hole there. Bringing in another top 6 winger pushes Bennett or Dupuis down to the 3rd line, making it that much stronger, and giving you flexibility in case of injury
- cap1681

Fair enough. I'm not discarding the idea of getting better at forward. And one top-6 injury (excluding Sid/Geno) leaves them pretty much in the same spot they are now. With Comeau back in the top 6. Can you improve on that? Absolutely. But it obviously works in a "get by" capacity. I'd just seriously wait until the last minute before making any changes there if possible.

I'd let Martin walk and keep ehrhoff. He seems he will be the cheaper option. No use in keeping Martin 4-5 more years when Harrington, pouliot, and dumoulin will be regulars in 2 years. People are also forgetting Harrington is very underrated offensively. Very good at that first pass to get out of the zone. Maatta easily replaces martin's 2nd PP spot and with how bortuzzo has been stepping up, he could be really good next to ehrhoff for an extended amount of time. They NEED to somehow trade scuderi, not for the salary cap, but to let the kids play

A Kunitz or Hornqvist injury would devastate the top 6

We likely can't move Martin for a decent Top 6, but we need to move his cap hit to make room for one

I'd move Martin for a 1st, then take that 1st and couple it with one of our D Prospects that isn't playing and trade it to a rebuilding team for a young winger with term left on his contract

Fine I'll take chorney and roupp off the list... that's still doesn't hurt my case saying martin is expendable right now

Where's everyone at that wanted to trade letang in the offseason?

Thinking on Gonchar, the dude was awesome during the cup years. By the time he was in the Habs series, he was done at 36 yrs old. He has been a shadow of himself since then. We all like Martin, but there is no guarantee he can maintain this and he doesnt play physical either similar to Gonchar. I would move on, he will be 34 next season, rather see younger guys in.

Where's everyone at that wanted to trade letang in the offseason?
- znagle

Would consider it if the right trade came along.

Where's everyone at that wanted to trade letang in the offseason?
- znagle

Happy he is getting the chance to use his skill set to its full potential.

Would consider it if the right trade came along.
- cap1681

That would have to be a monster trade

Would consider it if the right trade came along.
- cap1681

I just think that as penguins fans, we have become wayyy to accustom to trades with the last regime. Of course we had the Neal one already, but that was bound to happen and was needed to head in the right direction. Look where we are now. I only think martin becomes expendable near the deadline IF pouliot and harrington prove their worth. I would rather see scuds go and use that cap to resign martin for what he's making now (maybe 5.5). or just let him walk after we take the cup. We have a solid team as is. True that an injury to the top 6 would hurt, but we can survive it. I mean.. look at last year, we still finished top of the division... We can always slide sill/megna to the fourth line and bump some guys up until whoever is hurt is healthy

A Kunitz or Hornqvist injury would devastate the top 6

We likely can't move Martin for a decent Top 6, but we need to move his cap hit to make room for one

I'd move Martin for a 1st, then take that 1st and couple it with one of our D Prospects that isn't playing and trade it to a rebuilding team for a young winger with term left on his contract
- TheGame316

This is true... but what team would not be devastated by the loss of a top line player??
Deadline is 4 months away... patience

dalls defense is its biggest issue, did they move gonch to try and make room for a D man, maybe they are looking at martin???

as we previously spoke, nichkuninsisksnkin is most likely not the guy to be traded for martin...not sure anyone else on that team really fits, sure vernon fiddler or erik cole could potentially help...i just dont know...maybe a 3 team trade? that would be rare and pretty sweet

re: Jagr breaking 894

Jagr currently has 708 goals, meaning he'd need 186 more goals to catch Gretzky. Let's say he scores 25 goals this year (he's on pace for 16 and hasn't scored 25 since before the lockout) for a total of 730. That leaves him 164 goals short. In his 3 seasons preceding the lockout, he scored 54, 30, and 25 goals, respecitvely. If we take that average (round up to 36) for the next 3 seasons, that puts him at 838.

If we prorate his numbers for 82 games for 94/95, he was on pace for 55 goals, adding 23 to his tally (861). Similarly, he played 45 of 48 games in 2012/13 and scored 16 goals. If he played in the remaining 34 games, he was on pace for 12 more goals, bringing his total to 873.

This brings us to the big question mark, the 04/05 season. If we use these numbers, he would have needed 22 goals to eclipse Gretzky's mark. Let's take and average of the 3 years preceding the lockout (36, 16, 15) and the 3 years following the lockout (54, 30, 25). I know he was injured in the preceding years, but there's no guarantee that he'd have been healthier in the 04/05 season (in fact, a year away from the NHL may have helped him in later years). Anyway, taking a straight 6-year total average from those years gives us 29 goals, for a career total of 902.

I think this is a best-case secario, as averaging 36 goals for the KHL years is lofty, as the average I used was inflated by the 54 goal year, and he actually scored below that average in the preceding 2 years, and has not hit that number since. He could have made a serious run, and would definitely get into second place.

I don't think it's insane to think that if not for lockouts and three years in the KHL that Jagr could have made a serious run at 894.

Jagr currently has 708 goals, meaning he'd need 186 more goals to catch Gretzky. Let's say he scores 25 goals this year (he's on pace for 16 and hasn't scored 25 since before the lockout) for a total of 730. That leaves him 164 goals short. In his 3 seasons preceding the lockout, he scored 54, 30, and 25 goals, respecitvely. If we take that average (round up to 36) for the next 3 seasons, that puts him at 838.

If we prorate his numbers for 82 games for 94/95, he was on pace for 55 goals, adding 23 to his tally (861). Similarly, he played 45 of 48 games in 2012/13 and scored 16 goals. If he played in the remaining 34 games, he was on pace for 12 more goals, bringing his total to 873.

This brings us to the big question mark, the 04/05 season. If we use these numbers, he would have needed 22 goals to eclipse Gretzky's mark. Let's take and average of the 3 years preceding the lockout (36, 16, 15) and the 3 years following the lockout (54, 30, 25). I know he was injured in the preceding years, but there's no guarantee that he'd have been healthier in the 04/05 season (in fact, a year away from the NHL may have helped him in later years). Anyway, taking a straight 6-year total average from those years gives us 29 goals, for a career total of 902.

I think this is a best-case secario, as averaging 36 goals for the KHL years is lofty, as the average I used was inflated by the 54 goal year, and he actually scored below that average in the preceding 2 years, and has not hit that number since. He could have made a serious run, and would definitely get into second place.
- jmatchett383

well, he chose to go play in the KHL bc its much easier, and probably to be closer to home, so id say he didnt care to much about trying to break that record...