No one disputes that he's overpayed... Here are your choices Franson 6 years 36 million...the ridiculous contract Sekera received or Scuds at 3.3 million????... these guys are better then Scuds... are they 3 plus million per season better???? NO WAY!!! They re not entering the season with 2 rookie d men, 2nd year Maatta(last year is a wash),Cole, an injury question mark in Letang and Lovejoy as the d.... I agree let the kids play... but their kids... Pouliot and Dumo WILL HAVE growing pains!!!
- Brianandr1

Id take Franson > Scuds for the extra money. Then if we could upgrade the 3C, Id be a happy camper to start this year.

just a little upset for having a player with the worst contract in the nhl on your roster now??
- mauryballstein

Please. David Clarkson.

Classy P-Mart


- Danny_Devito[http://www.theplayerstribune.com/paul-martin-pittsburgh-penguins-letter/]

I read that yesterday. I know a lot of people think his tenure here was on the middling to bad side. I personally thought he was a solid player (never amazing) and was a good power play QB for us when we used him as such. Ill miss the guy.

im not including him bc i dont think he is going to play again due to injuries and age
- nh4442

If I were a betting man I bet he plays again. The guy is so motivated to get back (from what is reported), that I really think he will. He has been out for the most part of 2 years so he hasn't had that physical decline through contact, so he should realistically be physically younger than his hockey age.

This roster is pretty close to the roster with Neal. Just older and with a worse d.
- sammy87

How do you figure that? We have Hornqvist and Kessel. That's the same as Neal and Ju$$I?

You're just a pessimist to the end. We could sign Wayne Gretzky from the 80s to a cap friendly deal and you'd still find some way to be upset about it.

Do you think maybe a couple of those free agents out there could be waiting on the Penguins status regarding bad contracts and cap space?

I was Under the impression Santorelli could be One of those guys. Perhaps Fehr as well.
- Barnaby36

I think any free agent out there is just waiting for the best deal they can get. I doubt any of them are holding out for one particular team. If said deal fell apart and other teams signed someone else, that could put someone in a bad spot where their options would be further limited.

I hope so - I was thinking of posting a similar comment yesterday & throw Semin in that conversation.
- Aussiepenguin

If the money is right, Id still love to add Semin. But I think at this point, getting rid of Scuds and Sutter to upgrade the 3C and a D position should be more of a priority. I agree with most that its unlikely Scuds will go anywhere, but Pronger was traded this year. I think anything can happen.

If I were a betting man I bet he plays again. The guy is so motivated to get back (from what is reported), that I really think he will. He has been out for the most part of 2 years so he hasn't had that physical decline through contact, so he should realistically be physically younger than his hockey age.
- Aussiepenguin

He is coming back. NH has hated the guy for years now.

Kessel can play with AHLers and still get a ton of points.

Dude is an elite talent.

why in the world didnt they go for saad?? oh well hamburgular probably going to get slapped out by crosby for being lazy.
- mauryballstein

Because Phil Kessel is far better than Saad.

People think Kessel is horrible only because he played in Toronto. If he was in Nashville, none of this crap would have happened.

Let's see Saad get PPG for 3 and a half years with Tyler Bozak.

Kessel is already a 5 time 30 goal scorer and is 8th in overall points the last 5 years with a very average second line Centre.

But let me guess, Saad ois far better with his 1 20 goal season.

If the money is right, Id still love to add Semin. But I think at this point, getting rid of Scuds and Sutter to upgrade the 3C and a D position should be more of a priority. I agree with most that its unlikely Scuds will go anywhere, but Pronger was traded this year. I think anything can happen.
- thickman1178

I'm looking at what has been said & done by JR, & have to think he wasn't able to trade Scuds or didn't want to. He wants him on the D as the go to guy if anything goes wrong. Looking at that Martin letter, the guys got character & probably so much more than any of us will ever know. I also think they tried to trade Sutter but he is still here. Better to have him till trade deadline, blood Sundqvist & get a first for him (Sutter) unless he is extended. Get more for him then than now.

Pronger & Savard trades are an absolute disgrace.

He is coming back. NH has hated the guy for years now.
- thickman1178

I don't hate him, i just feel he is a 3rd line guy who had a good yr or two with sid and that was all, if he was the superstar everyone makes him out to be then putting him on the 3rd line would greatly enhance the 3rd line in production as well as defending top lines on other team.... and yes I feel they should have put him on the 3rd line when they got iggy, DB (frank)ed that up by trying to keep the kuni sid dupes line producing even tho they werent producing at a rate previous years.

I know duper is mentally inclined to come back and he will be pushing to come back, but he is a generational talent like jagr or teemu that can play at an old age and still put up numbers. Add that to age and injuries and I feel that he wont come back to what he used to be...

also I think it would be a big mistake to throw him on the top two lines when there are other guys more capable of playing there...

but i dont hate him

Id take Franson > Scuds for the extra money. Then if we could upgrade the 3C, Id be a happy camper to start this year.
- thickman1178

Cody franson is rob scuderi.... Just younger!!!! Have you seen him play other the the few times of year vs Pittsburgh? The majority of leafs fans say franson is ok at best!!!! Why does he remain unsigned if he so good? He s not a 6 million dollar a year d man.... Nor is boychuk, Petry or sekera.... Their terrible contracts.....It's like people on this thread did not watch the playoffs/ end of the season.... Scuderi was playing 20 -25 minutes per night and doing a solid job ( even though that was not his intended role) ... Scuderi is a penguin and has earned his spot

They need a quality depth veteran d man ... Who do you propose instead of scuds? And where is scuds going? ( don't say buyout because it's not happening) and what will that cost? Not only are they stuck with scuds ...they need him
- Brianandr1

if you want a quality veteran dman, sign gonchar to a league minimum contract and consistently scratch him. The simple fact is that scuderi's cap hit is getting in the way from adding quality depth players

Cody franson is rob scuderi.... Just younger!!!! Have you seen him play other the the few times of year vs Pittsburgh? The majority of leafs fans say franson is ok at best!!!! Why does he remain unsigned if he so good? He s not a 6 million dollar a year d man.... Nor is boychuk, Petry or sekera.... Their terrible contracts.....It's like people on this thread did not watch the playoffs/ end of the season.... Scuderi was playing 20 -25 minutes per night and doing a solid job ( even though that was not his intended role) ... Scuderi is a penguin and has earned his spot
- Brianandr1

Scuderi's terrible. He's not worth anything on the Pens roster. He can't play in Johnston's system. He's the ultimate misfit. Franson isn't a top pairing guy, but he could be solid on the 2nd pairing. I don't want him largely because I don't want money locked up when Maatta and Pouliot need to be signed. But he is a hell of a lot better than Scuderi.

I think Scuds is here for the year, as much as I hate to say it. There was no reason to buy him out, and unless some team is willing to give a decent offer for him, he will stay. Scuds played average hockey, then everyone got hurt and GMJR screwed up bad. He put the players in a position they were not suited for. Scuds was getting waaaaaaay too many minutes, thus his play dropped a ton. I think you will see Scuds be our 6th dmen and a PK guy. The thing that scares me about our D is, where is the hitting coming from? Looking at what they have now, its scary soft.

Letang OM
Cole Rev
Doum DP

Scuds

This roster is pretty close to the roster with Neal. Just older and with a worse d.
- sammy87

kessel is better than neal. we also did not have a hornqvist. perron could still come around too.

Kessel Sutter Scuderi

Would be a nice line.

Scuderi's terrible. He's not worth anything on the Pens roster. He can't play in Johnston's system. He's the ultimate misfit. Franson isn't a top pairing guy, but he could be solid on the 2nd pairing. I don't want him largely because I don't want money locked up when Maatta and Pouliot need to be signed. But he is a hell of a lot better than Scuderi.
- jfkst1

Saying the same thing over and over again despite the evidence won't make it true... Scuds is here to stay (atleast for this year) as a 5-7 d man

Franson at 6 years 36 million is worse then the Sekera deal and on par with the Boychuk contract... Your worried about signing Maatta and Pouliot???? (Pouliot won't be RFA TILL AFTER SCUDS DEAL IS UP) You don't want money locked up in Scuds but you want to give Franson 6 million per???????? Makes zero sense...

Saying the same thing over and over again despite the evidence won't make it true... Scuds is here to stay (atleast for this year) as a 5-7 d man

Franson at 6 years 36 million is worse then the Sekera deal and on par with the Boychuk contract... Your worried about signing Maatta and Pouliot???? (Pouliot won't be RFA TILL AFTER SCUDS DEAL IS UP) You don't want money locked up in Scuds but you want to give Franson 6 million per???????? Makes zero sense...
- Brianandr1

Every shred of evidence is that Scuderi is terrible. And I explicitly said I didn't want to sign Franson because it would potentially compromise signing Maatta and Pouliot. But he is at least a useful dman, whereas Scuderi is 100% worthless in a team system predicated on dmen moving the puck in close support.

Every shred of evidence is that Scuderi is terrible. And I explicitly said I didn't want to sign Franson because it would potentially compromise signing Maatta and Pouliot. But he is at least a useful dman, whereas Scuderi is 100% worthless in a team system predicated on dmen moving the puck in close support.
- jfkst1

Ryan has made plenty of blogs showing how useless scuderi is. I also saw a nice little chart somewhere showing that scuderi is the worst PKer in the league

Every shred of evidence is that Scuderi is terrible. And I explicitly said I didn't want to sign Franson because it would potentially compromise signing Maatta and Pouliot. But he is at least a useful dman, whereas Scuderi is 100% worthless in a team system predicated on dmen moving the puck in close support.
- jfkst1

The Playoffs, the end of the regular season, the coach, the Gm and the organization as a whole disagree with you... You and Ryan can look at a few fancy charts and make all the conclusions you like (According to Ryan the Pens were the second best possession team in the league last year after the sharks!!!) There charts!!!! Scuderi was a top pairing d man (a role he has no business being in) on a team that lost 4 games 2-1 last year in the playoffs.... He's already been acknowledged by the young d as a solid veteran presence and a mentor....Scuds is a solid 5-6 d man... be it overpaid

Ryan has made plenty of blogs showing how useless scuderi is. I also saw a nice little chart somewhere showing that scuderi is the worst PKer in the league
- drummer829

EXACTLY!!!!! The same blogger who shows charts saying all kinds off base erroneous conclusions at times..... 4 2-1 loses with Scuds playing 20-25 minutes a night.... THAT means 1000x more then a possession chart

EXACTLY!!!!! The same blogger who shows charts saying all kinds off base erroneous conclusions at times.... I enjoy reading Ryan's blog but it does not mean I agree with everything he says!!! He's been dead wrong on any number of occasions (as we all have).... 4 2-1 loses with Scuds playing 20-25 minutes a night.... THAT means 1000x more then a possession chart
- Brianandr1

How much cap room do the Pens have? Cody Franson is an option. I hated him at times for the Leafs. Has trouble holding the puck in at the blue line, that and mental lapses. But as a 3-4 man, I dunno what his price is, and what the penguins wiggle room is