I like how hte NFL does it. If you suck you get cut. Only some money is guaranteed. When you sign a contract there are expectation on both sides. The owner expects a certain level of play, while the player expects to be paid for services rendered for a period of time. In the NHL, you can sign a deal then basically coast and still get paid. Sure they can put you on waivers but the team is still on the hook. I wish they could tell Scuds, you suck and not performing at a NHL level you're done. Make life easier on everyone.
- sammy87

That goes both ways. Less cost certainty and more flexibility means players will hold out a lot without guaranteed contracts. I'm sure the NFL system is far more challenging for the management teams to balance the books. Both leagues are much better than the MLB or NBA at least.

I think everyone should give this article a read. I think it really sums everything up properly.

http://penslabyrinth.com/...reasons-to-dress-scuderi/
- thickman1178

That was an amazing article. Kudos to the author for finding a creative way to beat a dead horse

You say that but how much talent actually makes it to the expansion draft since you can protect nine forwards, five d, and a goalie. Guys like Devonte Smith Pelly would be the upper echelon of desireable young talent in the expansion draft.
- Victoro311

Expansion teams will be able to pick up guys without taking on onerous long term contracts. Unless the management teams are very stupid, they can reach the cap floor with UFAs and overpaid players on short contracts like Scuderi/Bickell who won't be protected either.

I think everyone should give this article a read. I think it really sums everything up properly.

http://penslabyrinth.com/...reasons-to-dress-scuderi/
- thickman1178

I thought the article wasn't loading or something at first. Well played

That was an amazing article. Kudos to the author for finding a creative way to beat a dead horse
- Victoro311

The actual story isnt loading for me. But I glanced on that page and there was a story on the Kessel trade. The question was if you could do it over would you trade Kap or DP? I think I'd rather have Kap at this point.

I thought the article wasn't loading or something at first. Well played
- Pens_Burgh

annnnnnnd im an idiot.

annnnnnnd im an idiot.
- sammy87

LOL. All good man. I must have refreshed it about 5 times before I read the comments and figured it out myself.

The actual story isnt loading for me. But I glanced on that page and there was a story on the Kessel trade. The question was if you could do it over would you trade Kap or DP? I think I'd rather have Kap at this point.
- sammy87

I would make that same trade 10 out of 10 times. We got the better end of it all around if you think of the other moves that it allowed us to make.

The actual story isnt loading for me. But I glanced on that page and there was a story on the Kessel trade. The question was if you could do it over would you trade Kap or DP? I think I'd rather have Kap at this point.
- sammy87

Hahaha don't sell yourself short Sammy. Not everyone can catch onto high brow humor

Anyways...

Disagreed. One bad preseason does not a bust make. Pouliot is fine he just needs to develop. Not everyone can be a freak like Maatta or Ekblad and come in guns blazing out of the gates especially as a defenseman. No one is calling Nurse a bust yet so I see no reason to call Pouliot a bust. We're loaded at RW organizationally. D, not so much. Moving forward I'd much rather have a potential stud who's perfect for our system in a position of need than a guy who projects to be a standard top 6 RW when we've got Kessel, Hornqvist and Sprong already.

Rangers are fairly young around Lundqvist. McDonagh, Kreider, Stepan, Lindberg, Hayes, Miller, Fast, Zuccarello, Brassard, Skjei(imminently) and McIlrath are all in their early-late 20s. Yandle is only 30(assuming he re-signs) Staal the same and Klein is only 31 and looks strong.

Nash is 32, looks awful at the start, but is in solid shape and dosnes't have a huge laundry list of injuries. There's also a pretty solid winger, toiling in the KHL in Pavel Buchnevich, who is pretty long on potential and could be here at the end of this season or next season at the latest.

Long story short(too late), longevity-wise, I don't think the Rangers are as aged as you think they are.
- MidnightMarauder

You have 1 elite player in those you mentioned & then a couple of very good players. Other than that young untested unknown or waiting to see (Kreider, who I really like). That's not cup contending nor ever will be especially if Nash continues to be Nash (although this year no new baby so his motivation isn't quite there). That's middle of the road playoffs. I would say Detroit has a better squad than you guys along with Tampa, Habs, Isles, Caps & us with our untried/tested young group of D. That's with Pouliot in the A. Even Florida are coming, & if the BJ's get their D together they could blow you guys out of the water along with a few others.

Did anyone read the article today about how Crosby looks like he is stressed out and it seems like a lot of it comes from the top of the Pens organization. How long does HCMJ last, if Crosby has a handful of points and the pens are hovering around 500 15 games in?

You say that but how much talent actually makes it to the expansion draft since you can protect nine forwards, five d, and a goalie. Guys like Devonte Smith Pelly would be the upper echelon of desireable young talent in the expansion draft.
- Victoro311

Am I the only one excited for the NHL expansion? Yes it'll suck losing a few guys to the expansion draft but everyone will lose a few guys. Also there is an option to protect less forwards to protect two goalies (or at least there have beeen in the past). I'd expect the pens to do that if murray is the back up when the expansion draft happens. Or they surprise people by only protecting him and not flower. Since the earliest the new teams can join is the 2017/2018 season I see that as a decent option.

As it applies to Orpik though, he has no NMC/NTC.

In fact, no Capital has a NMC.
- Blackstrom2

Nicklas Backstrom (full)
Jason Chimera (limited; details unknown)
Matt Niskanen (limited; details unknown)
Alex Ovechkin (limited; can list up to 10 teams he will not accept a trade to)

From http://www.thefourthperiod.com/no_trade_list.html

Nicklas Backstrom (full)
Jason Chimera (limited; details unknown)
Matt Niskanen (limited; details unknown)
Alex Ovechkin (limited; can list up to 10 teams he will not accept a trade to)

From http://www.thefourthperiod.com/no_trade_list.html
- PensFan1103

Edit: Nevermind, I see you said nobody has NMC, which is correct.

Am I the only one excited for the NHL expansion? Yes it'll suck losing a few guys to the expansion draft but everyone will lose a few guys. Also there is an option to protect less forwards to protect two goalies (or at least there have beeen in the past). I'd expect the pens to do that if murray is the back up when the expansion draft happens. Or they surprise people by only protecting him and not flower. Since the earliest the new teams can join is the 2017/2018 season I see that as a decent option.
- Zac_O

I'm really not stoked about it. I don't like the prospect of losing guys when we're set up to not have any bad contracts by the time the draft happens, and I think there are plenty of garbage markets in the league right now that should move before new teams are let in. Having franchises that can't spend to the cap because they don't make enough revenue like Carolina and Arizona is bad for the league. No need to dilute when we can improve with what we've got.

I'm really not stoked about it. I don't like the prospect of losing guys when we're set up to not have any bad contracts by the time the draft happens, and I think there are plenty of garbage markets in the league right now that should move before new teams are let in. Having franchises that can't spend to the cap because they don't make enough revenue like Carolina and Arizona is bad for the league. No need to dilute when we can improve with what we've got.
- Victoro311

By the time the expansion draft happens a different player (probably kuni) will be the one with a bad contract. Also the league is set up to have 32 teams not 30. So if the owners in bad markets are willing to keep losing money then why not expand?

By the time the expansion draft happens a different player (probably kuni) will be the one with a bad contract. Also the league is set up to have 32 teams not 30. So if the owners in bad markets are willing to keep losing money then why not expand?
- Zac_O

No, actually. Unless the expansion draft happens this offseason, even if no trades/buy outs occur, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Scuderi will all be off the books. The only player who could potentially turn into a bad contract is MAF. We're really set up well and I can almost guarantee whoever we lose in the draft will be someone we will miss.

No, actually. Unless the expansion draft happens this offseason, even if no trades/buy outs occur, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Scuderi will all be off the books. The only player who could potentially turn into a bad contract is MAF. We're really set up well and I can almost guarantee whoever we lose in the draft will be someone we will miss.
- Victoro311

They could keep someone cheap for a few years just in hopes he gets picked in that draft. Lovejoy would be perfect for that.

They could keep someone cheap for a few years just in hopes he gets picked in that draft. Lovejoy would be perfect for that.
- Zac_O

Or Bennett.

Or Bennett.
- Zac_O

Why would we keep someone just so that they could get taken in the draft? It's not like it protects someone else. Keeping Lovejoy around and telling the expansion teams: "Look over there, a distraction!" won't keep them from picking whoever we decided not to protect between Dumoulin, Clendening, and Cole.

And Bennett is precisely my point. Say his latest injury isn't serious, he comes back, and continues to break out as part of the third line. We would be very pissed off to lose that kind of middle six. cost-controlled production.

No, actually. Unless the expansion draft happens this offseason, even if no trades/buy outs occur, Kunitz, Dupuis, and Scuderi will all be off the books. The only player who could potentially turn into a bad contract is MAF. We're really set up well and I can almost guarantee whoever we lose in the draft will be someone we will miss.
- Victoro311

I think Pens will be one of the teams adamantly against NMC players being eligible for the expansion draft for that reason; they're setup relativey comfortably with the cap.

Why would we keep someone just so that they could get taken in the draft? It's not like it protects someone else. Keeping Lovejoy around and telling the expansion teams: "Look over there, a distraction!" won't keep them from picking whoever we decided not to protect between Dumoulin, Clendening, and Cole.

And Bennett is precisely my point. Say his latest injury isn't serious, he comes back, and continues to break out as part of the third line. We would be very pissed off to lose that kind of middle six. cost-controlled production.
- Victoro311

Ya it would suck to lose someone like that. But every team is losing someone like that. Its fair in its unfairness.

Keeping lovejoy is more than just to give them an option for picking him, I believe he should be considered for resigning anyways to be a decent bottom pairing veteran if he can be signed cheap. What he makes right now would not be bad for 3-4 years to keep him as that role.

With past expansion rules it doesn't leave many players unprotected. 1 goalie 5 defensemen 9 forwards to protect. Right now that'd probably leave Lovejoy, scuds, Zatkoff, Fehr. Farnham, Cullen, Porter, and Rust unprotected. Yes the roster will be different by the time it actually happens but to think there wont be players like these guys on the team is an overly optimistic view. More than likely it'll be just as many people drafted this time as last time (52) since it'll be two teams again. 52 players from 30 teams isn't that bad.

F expansion. Already enough Megna, Gibbons and Rusts in the league.i

I don't agree with you. The whole point of this offseason was to expand our window and I think it worked. Barring a career ender to Letang, since we managed to keep both Maatta and Pouliot our defense will only get better from here. We're gonna get a ton of cap space that we'll receive from departing, over the hill vets like Kunitz, Scuderi, Lovejoy, and Dupuis in the very near future (some may even come off the books this offseason) which we can use to extend our younger players who may make up the core of the future. Replaceable depth players like Bonino, Fehr, and Cullen are on manageable contracts and we can continue to cycle through them as Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, and Letang age in order to keep the cap at bay. As for goaltending, it's very plauseable that we can transition from Fleury to either Murray or Jarry seamlessly. With an elite core right now and promising up and comers like Sprong, Maatta, Pouliot, and M.J.-Ray with no bad long term contracts, we could pull a red wings if we don't make any bonehead UFA signings and continue to draft well like we've recently started doing.
- Victoro311

As Jero would say;

100% Bubba.

Why don't we talk about something more relevant...like will Crosby ever be a great player again?

My vote is no.

He is burned out.

The game is boring to him
- icedog97

Respect your opinion, but for a guy that's bored of his livelihood he sure did spend a lot of his 'off' time on the ice. If he was bored he wouldn't be training most days of the offseason which is something I believe is the problem with his start. He needs to get away from hockey for a period to reboot & start again.

Also those saying that he needs a lesser line mate, he didn't do to badly in the world champs with high end line mates??