His defensive game has always been great but offensively he's taken off this year. He's cooled off the last few games...hit a post last game that would've tied it.
- RAGSareDANGERus

Some guys just have a year like that. He isn't a young guy either, so this really came out of nowhere.

Coburn, Schenn, MacDonald, Streit....

Crap, ran out of room. Can we make like 30 mill?
- usethe1-2-2

Some guys just have a year like that. He isn't a young guy either, so this really came out of nowhere.
- usethe1-2-2

He wasn't really allowed to run free in Nashville but AV's encourages all defensemen to join the offense. His shot is the hardest and most accurate out of any of our other defensemen so with his longer leash and confidence from netting a few it makes more sense. He provides great value fot 2.9 million.

He wasn't really allowed to run free in Nashville but AV's encourages all defensemen to join the offense. His shot is the hardest and most accurate out of any of our other defensemen so with his longer leash and confidence from netting a few it makes more sense. He provides great value fot 2.9 million.
- RAGSareDANGERus

I'll say. Signed for decent term too.

- Streit2ThePoint

Scuderi

sure thing

Erik Karlsson $6.5M
Paul Martin $5.0M
Codi Ceci $0.9M
Jared Cowen $3.1M
Eric Gryba $1.3M
Mark Boroweicki $1.1M
Patrick Wercioch $2.0M
=======
$19.9M

That's 7 for under $20M that is comparable to your 6.
- SensnRBs

Martin is not signing for 5 million per... if that was the case the Pens would resign him... try 5 years 35 million ... 7 million per

Pouliot-Letang
Maatta-Harrington (former successful OHL partners)
Ehrhoff-Despres
Bortuzzo (RFA)

This setup doesn't have a "bottom pairing". It has three solid pairings and is extremely cost effective for the near future. Find me a better defense corp. for ~20M.

uh, quite easily.

See, I think Erhoff is much better offensively (hands down) but I've watched Niskanen get better every year... U have an offensive team so pts would amount to any PP dman, like Niskanen had good numbers last year. if u get my point...
- Ur Not Me

Niskanen flourishes offensively on the PP, where he has more time and space to make his decisions. He's not as quick a thinker as a Ehrhoff, Carlson, Green, etc.

I have had no issues with Niskanen's play this year. That said, Ehrhoff was the defenseman i wanted most going into this season.

With Ehrhoff likely dressing tonight, who sits out of Pouliot or Harrington?

My pick is to sit Pouliot.
- rival22

Bortuzzo


I like the upside of those two far more and I think this time is more useful for them. They are the future. Unless there's another injury(although it's probably not popular with some of you) I don't think he should play.

http://hockeyhurts.com/21-podcasts/164-jagr-watch

Our latest podcast

Yes, Ehrhoff is a luxury at this point in time, but I think people need to realize that it is his presence that makes our prospects expendable. If he is not resigned, it would be stupid to trade Dumo, Harrington, or Pouliot because then we have no depth, and God knows the Penguins need depth to function because injuries are a female dog. If both Martin and Hoff are expected to walk after this season, that trade for top 6 help that everyone wants so badly won't happen.

Hoff for 5 & 5 or 5.5 & 4. 5 & 4 is ideal, but it won't happen.

Martin for Williams is also a pretty sweet deal. The need and the fit is there. The value is good. I would pull the trigger on that deal.

Yes, Ehrhoff is a luxury at this point in time, but I think people need to realize that it is his presence that makes our prospects expendable. If he is not resigned, it would be stupid to trade Dumo, Harrington, or Pouliot because then we have no depth, and God knows the Penguins need depth to function because injuries are a female dog. If both Martin and Hoff are expected to walk after this season, that trade for top 6 help that everyone wants so badly won't happen.

Hoff for 5 & 5 or 5.5 & 4. 5 & 4 is ideal, but it won't happen.
- Victoro311

IDK i dont have a whole lot of faith in 1/2 of the D roster being young kids with very little NHL experience and none of which have looked really amazing or ready for full time NHL duty. Throw in Maata who fizzled out last yr and got hurt. Then if Letang gets hurt, it will be a turkey shoot against MAF. Not the ideal situation for 87 and 71 with the little time left in their prime.

IDK i dont have a whole lot of faith in 1/2 of the D roster being young kids with very little NHL experience and none of which have looked really amazing or ready for full time NHL duty. Throw in Maata who fizzled out last yr and got hurt. Then if Letang gets hurt, it will be a turkey shoot against MAF. Not the ideal situation for 87 and 71 with the little time left in their prime.
- sammy87

I think they bring back Ehrhoff. Just a matter of how soon after the 1st. As far as the kids go, you'll have to deal with that. That's how they grow. Harrington and Pouliot both have looked good. Not great, yet. Dumoulin concerns me though because he's had the longest in the system and he said himself that he was comfortable in DB's system. Mistakes and growing pains happen though. That's to be expected. It takes adjusting. I'd rather have charged youth than old dogs like Scuderi. This is the time to let them do it. Despres has been given time and opportunity. How's that working?

I think they bring back Ehrhoff. Just a matter of how soon after the 1st. As far as the kids go, you'll have to deal with that. That's how they grow. Harrington and Pouliot both have looked good. Not great, yet. Dumoulin concerns me though because he's had the longest in the system and he said himself that he was comfortable in DB's system. Mistakes and growing pains happen though. That's to be expected. It takes adjusting. I'd rather have charged youth than old dogs like Scuderi. This is the time to let them do it. Despres has been given time and opportunity. How's that working?
- HopintheCordoba

And Johnston continues to rant and rave about this kid and how much he loves coming to the rink. Maybe he didn't have a lazy work ethic, maybe his life sucked because some wiener with a hard on for him beat him down and bad mouthed him to every media outlet around.
Sorry, ranting on Despres again.

had brunch with my friend from the penguins today. nothing exciting but he gave me some interesting stuff.

1. Johnston wants Pouliot to stay in the NHL. He thinks he is NHL capable and would do well playing full time. he didnt know who johnston would knock out of the lineup. considering how much he's loving despres, it wont be him. i guess that could mean scuderi.

2. martin being traded is at 50-50 right now. some think it would be good asset management to trade him for a forward but others speculate that with the injuries the penguins have had, holding on to a big time defense corps is more important.

3. maatta should play at some point this season, but my friend heard that his injury isnt as black and white as a lot of people have let on. the problem wasnt the medical staff, they did their job for the offseason surgery. the problem is that the shoulder didnt heal the way everyone expected.

4. jagr could come back to pittsburgh. a lot of penguins front office guys were watching the penguins-devils game and were impressed with what jagr's been doing on a below average devils team. they arent going to overpay for him though.

thats all i got out of him. nothing too exciting, but thought i'd pass it along.

double post.

Bennett threw another veiled dart at the old coaching regime this morning.

He was asked about it being comfortable with Sutter and how MJ likes to keep pairs of forwards together.

"I think that's something we really haven't had the last couple years, just try to have chemistry between a couple guys and just to have that as a fallback when you get to the playoffs.

In the playoffs, we kind of, I don't want to say we panicked against the Rangers, but we started changing things up we hadn't done all year and it's a little different when you get into panic mode like that."

One of the big problems with "getting to our game" and playing the same way with barely any adjustments for 82 games, is when you do try to make them in the middle of a playoff series, is that it can create chaos.

Bennett threw another veiled dart at the old coaching regime this morning.

He was asked about it being comfortable with Sutter and how MJ likes to keep pairs of forwards together.

"I think that's something we really haven't had the last couple years, just try to have chemistry between a couple guys and just to have that as a fallback when you get to the playoffs.
In the playoffs, we kind of, I don't want to say we panicked against the Rangers, but we started changing things up we hadn't done all year and it's a little different when you get into panic mode like that."

One of the big problems with "getting to our game" and playing the same way with barely any adjustments for 82 games, is when you do try to make them in the middle of a playoff series, is that it can create chaos.
- rival22

Veiled dart? He did all but say names...which he might as well have.

I'm all in favor of re-signing Ehrhoff, Comeau, & Downie.

Done with a $73M Cap. Scuderi buy-out (ie, $1.2M in dead money) & Dumoulin traded as part of package for Perron. All RFA's re-signed and UFA's given raises to varying degrees. $900K left in Cap Space.

FORWARDS
David Perron ($3.813m) / Sidney Crosby ($8.700m) / Patric Hornqvist ($4.250m)
Chris Kunitz ($3.850m) / Evgeni Malkin ($9.500m) / Jiri Tlusty ($3.250m)
Beau Bennett ($1.000m) / Brandon Sutter ($3.300m) / Pascal Dupuis ($3.750m)
Blake Comeau ($1.400m) / Nick Spaling ($2.200m) / Steve Downie ($1.250m)
Oskar Sundqvist ($0.701m) /

DEFENSEMEN
Kris Letang ($7.250m) / Olli Maatta ($0.894m)
Simon Despres ($0.900m) / Christian Ehrhoff ($5.500m)
Derrick Pouliot ($0.863m) / Scott Harrington ($0.589m)
Robert Bortuzzo ($0.850m) /

GOALTENDERS
Marc-Andre Fleury ($5.750m)
Thomas Greiss ($1.250m)

BUYOUTS
Rob Scuderi ($1.292m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$0
------
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2015-16)
SALARY CAP: $73,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $72,101,667; BONUSES: $956,667
CAP SPACE (22-man roster): $898,333

Bennett threw another veiled dart at the old coaching regime this morning.

He was asked about it being comfortable with Sutter and how MJ likes to keep pairs of forwards together.



One of the big problems with "getting to our game" and playing the same way with barely any adjustments for 82 games, is when you do try to make them in the middle of a playoff series, is that it can create chaos.
- rival22

Beau is the man. He might as well just call Dan a jackhole and get it over with

I'm all in favor of re-signing Ehrhoff, Comeau, & Downie.

Done with a $73M Cap. Scuderi buy-out (ie, $1.2M in dead money) & Dumoulin traded as part of package for Perron. All RFA's re-signed and UFA's given raises to varying degrees. $900K left in Cap Space.
- s0rcerer1984

Comeau's injury will hurt his numbers, but if he comes back and produces like he did to start the season and has a decent playoff, he's likely getting $2.5 mil on his next deal.

Veiled dart? He did all but say names...which he might as well have.

- HopintheCordoba

its interesting that the players still in the organization have been quoted about how the changes are good, but players that left have been quoted about how they thought the whole firing situation was bologna. I wonder if its a case of those in the organization towing the line or if they really feel that way. I also wonder if its the case of the plaers being free to speak their minds now that they dont play for the pens or if they are just bitter. it might get to be real telling when we hear what players like martin / kunitz / duper etc have to say when they arnt on the team any more

its interesting that the players still in the organization have been quoted about how the changes are good, but players that left have been quoted about how they thought the whole firing situation was bologna. I wonder if its a case of those in the organization towing the line or if they really feel that way. I also wonder if its the case of the plaers being free to speak their minds now that they dont play for the pens or if they are just bitter. it might get to be real telling when we hear what players like martin / kunitz / duper etc have to say when they arnt on the team any more
- ChrisMS

I don't give a flying frank about what Niskanen or Kunitz have to say about the coaching change. Their job is to produce and work how their boss tells them to, just like the rest of us. If they wan't to say it was bologna then let them say that. I don't see the young talent here complaining. I see older overpaid guys getting bitter.

I'm all in favor of re-signing Ehrhoff, Comeau, & Downie.

Done with a $73M Cap. Scuderi buy-out (ie, $1.2M in dead money) & Dumoulin traded as part of package for Perron. All RFA's re-signed and UFA's given raises to varying degrees. $900K left in Cap Space.
- s0rcerer1984

I did the same exact thing earlier except I didn't sign Tlusty, but I would. I gave nice raises and Dumoulin and a pick for perron