yes actually... this is a league of puck-luck... pens hit the cap early due to timing... shero kept the core together though the transition thank god. chitown about to find out what thats like. letang is a potential norris guy at best... a top 10 d-man in the league... no trade return would get that back. ever. pens lost not because letang... but due to goalie meltdowns, star injuries (including himself) and at times poor coaching. letang is the guy... keep railing against it and miss out. your loss
- ChrisMS

Doubtful. They have shown themselves to be 10000x better than Pitt at getting a return on expiring assets, and keeping the cupboard stocked in the process. That is a misery loves company attitude, and unfortunately when it doesnt play out Pitt will still look bad in comparison.

potential norris (pre nominee) d-men arnt good enough for spoiled pens fans?

walk that back. not spoiled. wrong word. over-expectant?
- ChrisMS

"Well, when you play with Malkin and Crosby, especially on the power play, Letang will have the point production to keep him in the Norris Trophy conversation".

Just as a thought experiment, replace 'Letang' in the preceding sentence as far as it goes with the people who vote on the Norris trophy:

Dan Boyle
Brent Burns
Andrei Markov

Supplant Letang with a few other players and you'll see how replaceable your argument is.

You're right hes played a little differently since his injury but you're so wrong about his point totals that it tells me you didn't even look.

09/10 32 pts in 50 gp
10/11 48 pts in 66 gp
11/12 61 pts in 82 gp
12/13 52 pts in 48 gp
13/14 68 pts in 78 gp

Right now hes scoring on pace for around 60 points so by the logic of some just because hes playing a little differently hes lost a step? I agree with being weary of his and Dupuis age but why delegate him to the third line, or trade him for far inferior pieces (I know, not your words, but this thinking is silly and leading to stupid trade proposals).

I'm sorry I havn't seen enough to write him off yet just because hes playing a little differently but still being effective.

Going to what others were saying on Kunitz, I agree that the top line should be Perron Crosby Hornqvist, I was one of the first calling for that line. But someone I can't recall who was just wondering where Kunitz would go. Really? Hes always played great with both Sid and Geno so I shouldn't need to spell this out, move him down to LW with Malkin, hell he even seemed to have more jump in his step when he was first moved to the second line this season.
- ImScore71

Sure did look. Saw the same thing you put up there. Thanks for posting it. You're, once again, making my argument for me without me having to copy/paste it.

What part of his 12/13 and 13/14 numbers don't you understand? 12/13 over 1 pt per game. 13/14 68 pts. On 60pt pace this year. I said in my post his numbers are slightly down plus he's less physical. Not as fast.

I'm done with the Kunitz arguments. For all of those who continue to think he hasn't lost anything, great.

"Well, when you play with Malkin and Crosby, especially on the power play, Letang will have the point production to keep him in the Norris Trophy conversation".

Just as a thought experiment, replace 'Letang' in the preceding sentence as far as it goes with the people who vote on the Norris trophy:

Dan Boyle
Brent Burns
Andrei Markov

Supplant Letang with a few other players and you'll see how replaceable your argument is.
- Johnny Wrath

i think i give letang more credit than you tend to, but i do see what you are saying. he is not one of the top 8 to 10 most valuable D men assets in the league.

i dont think there are 30 guys i would take over him, so i guess technically he makes the cut as a number one guy in name, but i think it is wrong to think he is some sort of uber stud, all situations horse.

that being said, i do think the team can win with him.

Doubtful. They have shown themselves to be 10000x better than Pitt at getting a return on expiring assets, and keeping the cupboard stocked in the process. That is a misery loves company attitude, and unfortunately when it doesnt play out Pitt will still look bad in comparison.
- Rawdog9755

Its gonna get interesting with them though.

Toews and Kane are gonna take up $8 mill more in cap space starting next season. So, not only do the Hawks have to shave that $8 mill off by ridding themselves of players on their roster now, they also have to find cheaper replacements for those players they drop. Say they drop 2 guys making $4 mill each and replace them with 2 guys making $1 mill each, they actually have to shave $10 million off their current roster.

That's not gonna be easy.

Very curious to see how all that turns out.

Doubtful. They have shown themselves to be 10000x better than Pitt at getting a return on expiring assets, and keeping the cupboard stocked in the process. That is a misery loves company attitude, and unfortunately when it doesnt play out Pitt will still look bad in comparison.
- Rawdog9755

we will see next couple years... I'd bet on them being the same mid-top tier team we are in that time frame. Your misery is us attitude is premature and unjustified

Sure did look. Saw the same thing you put up there. Thanks for posting it. You're, once again, making my argument for me without me having to copy/paste it.

What part of his 12/13 and 13/14 numbers don't you understand? 12/13 over 1 pt per game. 13/14 68 pts. On 60pt pace this year. I said in my post his numbers are slightly down plus he's less physical. Not as fast.

I'm done with the Kunitz arguments. For all of those who continue to think he hasn't lost anything, great.
- 87_71_11_29

He turned into Alex Tanguay when nobody was looking (but me, apparently), and now we're all looking. All that glitters is not gold.

"Well, when you play with Malkin and Crosby, especially on the power play, Letang will have the point production to keep him in the Norris Trophy conversation".

Just as a thought experiment, replace 'Letang' in the preceding sentence as far as it goes with the people who vote on the Norris trophy:

Dan Boyle
Brent Burns
Andrei Markov

Supplant Letang with a few other players and you'll see how replaceable your argument is.
- Johnny Wrath

all the above are suspicious defensively. letang is not. You can agrue till your blue in the face... Letang is a top 10 d-man in the league and easily worth the money he is paid. was it a gamble giving him the contract... yes. Did it pay off HELL yes.. so far.

Its gonna get interesting with them though.

Toews and Kane are gonna take up $8 mill more in cap space starting next season. So, not only do the Hawks have to shave that $8 mill off by ridding themselves of players on their roster now, they also have to find cheaper replacements for those players they drop. Say they drop 2 guys making $4 mill each and replace them with 2 guys making $1 mill each, they actually have to shave $10 million off their current roster.

That's not gonna be easy.

Very curious to see how all that turns out.
- 87_71_11_29

It will certainly be interesting. I just have more faith in them than us. That team shed some serious pieces post 2010 only to reload and look just as good. I cant think of a series where Chicago has looked as outmatch as we did against Philly 2012 and Boston 2013, all while Chicago played in a tougher conference.

He turned into Alex Tanguay when nobody was looking (but me, apparently), and now we're all looking. All that glitters is not gold.
- Johnny Wrath

alex tanguay is almost on pace for 20 goals and 50 points this year at the age of 35'ish. I guess your not actually looking.

He turned into Alex Tanguay when nobody was looking (but me, apparently), and now we're all looking. All that glitters is not gold.
- Johnny Wrath

30 goal scorer for less than 4 mill? What is wrong with that?
We currently pay Sutter close to that much for a lot less. Scuderi is making almost the same amount and he is god awful.

Kunitz is far from what is wrong with this current roster.

we will see next couple years... I'd bet on them being the same mid-top tier team we are in that time frame. Your misery is us attitude is premature and unjustified
- ChrisMS

Chicago's FO seems to get less enamored with role players than ours. They also draft better to fill their needs internally. That is a better recipe for sustained success with superstars counting against the cap than our model. I dont see how that is even debatable.

Not a huge fan of bringing Jagr on board but it's a well written and conceived blog. I'm not saying he wouldn't help, he would. Just not wanting to mortgage the future on him.

Is there any conceivable way we could trade Martin for Jagr ? I'm Not sure about cap space or trade clauses just curious ? I know he won't want to go there but if we work out a deal that they'd sign him for X amount?

Chicago's FO seems to get less enamored with role players than ours. They also draft better to fill their needs internally. That is a better recipe for sustained success with superstars counting against the cap than our model. I dont see how that is even debatable.
- Rawdog9755

drafts often come down to luck. no doubt the have been luckier then us on that. no debate. their front office has offered role players mego bucks i.e. bickell, and it will cost them. what i our model anyway... seeings how we are the trail blazers in the cap era dealing with superstars. there is no comparison yet. we were the first team to have to deal with this due to the cap are starting coinciding with crsoby malkins contract years. ther eisnt a team yet to compare us too.

The blog started out decent, then copy and paste other peoples boring ass charts. This guy sucks.

The blog started out decent, then copy and paste other peoples boring ass charts. This guy sucks.
- Grinder47

Where is your blog?

How about a Kunitz for Glencross swap? Very similar players and CG is 3 years younger.

Totally against giving up the the cap space and assets it would take to get Jagr.

If Dumoulin or Harrington are traded , it should be for a guy like Rattie or Jurco...or at least not a rental.

A couple trades I would do...

Sutter + Harrington + 2nd for Hanzal

Sutter for Vermette

2016 3rd and 2015 5th for Winnik (edit:need to figure out the cap somehow)

Spaling for Bergenheim

How about a Kunitz for Glencross swap? Very similar players and CG is 3 years younger.
- PensMalkin71

I doubt the Flames would accept that as a straight across deal.

What about a deal where the Penguins trade a kind of bad contract, like Kunitz or Scuderi, as part of a packkage to L.A. for a very bad contract in Mike Richards and one of Pearson or Tiffoli?

No Jagr, No Jagr, No jagr!!!!!!! It's not worth giving up assets for a player who has this year and next year at the very most left in him. What are we going to trade Beau Bennet for him, Beau was benched today is this why?

The chart's sample size is 2012-13 to the present.


- Ryan_Wilson

This is late, but any chance this can be scaled to just this year.

Gomez' production this year has been surprising good in respect to last years. It seems like he's very comfortable and fits in well on the Devils.

Its gonna get interesting with them though.

Toews and Kane are gonna take up $8 mill more in cap space starting next season. So, not only do the Hawks have to shave that $8 mill off by ridding themselves of players on their roster now, they also have to find cheaper replacements for those players they drop. Say they drop 2 guys making $4 mill each and replace them with 2 guys making $1 mill each, they actually have to shave $10 million off their current roster.

That's not gonna be easy.

Very curious to see how all that turns out.
- 87_71_11_29

Toews and Kane will both be making 10.5 million next year

Not sure if this was discussed today but did you guys see the Arizona GM say everything is on the table (except Doan).

Boedker, Hanzal, and Vermette are very intriguing.