Penguins/NHL
TIOPS INSIDE BUZZ
— Many hockey fans, pundits and even General Manager’s have probably learned by now not to believe any salary cap projections. Around January and February, projections for the next season are always made with talk of a $4-$5 million increase.
Two years ago the salary cap was projected to already be in the $80 million range by 2016-2017.
As expected, none of that is going to happen.
Bill Daly said last week the salary cap ($71.4 million in 2015-2016) would stay “relatively flat”.
Larry Brooks of the New York reported over the weekend, the salary cap will be reduced to approximately $69.3 million unless the NHLPA triggers the 5% escalator. If the players trigger the 5% escalator, the cap will come in around $72.8 million.
The NHLPA’s leadership often recommends to the players to decline the 5% escalator but it has only happened once because when push comes to shove, agents and pending unrestricted free agents cause too much of a fuss.
So it’s going to be another summer where a lot of mid-tier free agents better be prepared to take significant pay cuts. Last summer Andrei Sekera received the biggest contract among UFA’s, 6 years, $33 million.
The largest contract dished out to a forward was Michael Frolik, 5 years – $21.5 million. Only six players received a contract with a total value over $10 million.
This summer it’s a much more impressive group but there’s going to a couple marquee players who will be forced to sign stunningly low contracts compared to their initial demands. They will probably be in for a shock like some UFA’s were last summer.
Steven Stamkos will get his $10 million and pick his destination, while the Edmonton Oilers or Vancouver Canucks will throw a big contract at Milan Lucic if he leaves Los Angeles. Kyle Okposo will be paid big, Devils plan to go hard after him, but someone like Andrew Ladd, who will be 31, is not going to get anywhere near the 6 year, $36 million contract the Jets offered him at somepoint this season.
Does Loui Eriksson have any chance of getting the 5 year, $30 million contract he’s been seeking from the Bruins? Probably not.
The key group of forwards in their 30’s, Andrew Ladd, David Backes, Troy Brouwer are a bit of a mystery on how the market will be in regards to getting one last big contract.
Lesser forwards in their 30’s like Jiri Hudler, Teddy Purcell will likely have to settle for contracts in the $2 million per range, if not lower.
Eric Staal is likely headed to at least a $5 million pay-cut.
There’s certainly going to be value out there and a couple Cody Franson’s again. Franson notoriously went into free agency in 2015 seeking a Matt Niskanen type contract and came out with a 2 year – $6.6 million contract two months later.
The New York Rangers will be the most fascinating team this summer in an attempt to reopen their championship window before it gets too late with Henrik Lundqvist getting up there in age. The bad contracts they dished out in previous years finally caught up to them. They plan to try to open cap space for a run at Steven Stamkos and other than Lundqvist , everyone is in play.
Chatter in league circles is the Rangers are going to attempt to do something big from signing Stamkos to even talk of trying to trade for PK Subban.
— The NHL is a copy cat league. Many contenders in the East that are close to being a Stanley Cup team will be trying to replicate the type of speed Pittsburgh attacks you with. NHL sources say Mikkel Boedker, a player interesting enough that the Penguins loved at the trade deadline, [hide] is going to be a popular target among Eastern Conference contenders. Perfect type of top-9 forward the Capitals are expected to look into.
— The Penguins have so much respect for Marc Andre Fleury, the team will be very cautious in what they say about his future after the season. Expect a lot of “we plan to have him back.” Fleury will get to drive the bus on whether he stays or not, multiple high ranking officials in the organization say.
— Through three games of the Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins continue to out-shoot the San Jose Sharks by a major margin.. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer is playing the quality versus quantity card.
“One, they [Pittsburgh] shoot from everywhere,” DeBoer said on Sunday. “They sling pucks from everywhere. You do have to look at quality versus quantity. I don’t think it’s as easy as looking at the shot clock and saying you’re getting dominated because they’ve got 40 shots and you’ve got 26. I don’t think the game is that simple,” DeBoer said.
“They get pucks to the net. We can probably do better job of limiting that, getting in some more lanes. Historically during the year, we’ve been one of the best shot-blocking teams in the league. But, they fire from everywhere, every angle, all over the place, then cause confusion around the net.”
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It is kinda funny how DePaoli basically had his article shitting on Malkin drafted while OT was still going on when they lost, and today, not a word about Game 4. They win Game 4 and Geno / Phil are their best players, and DePaoli turns in early.
Even though I wasn’t crazy about the goal against, great bounce back game from Murray and easily his 2nd best game of the playoffs. He was aggressive and finally used his size to his advantage. As for the Conn Smythe conversation I still don’t see it, he was very good last night but in no way did he steal the game, it was also the 1st game of the series in which he outplayed Jones, I just don’t see how you can deem him the MVP when he’s been outplayed by his counterpart in 3 of the 4 games, he… Read more »
Kessel is the MVP. Consistent start to finish. But i wouldn’t be surprised to see the idiots in the press give it to Sid as a lifetime achievement award, which would be a joke.
D must still be looking for gif’s of Malkin bad plays from last night so he can make stuff up and trash him in an article talking about last night.
If Pens win Game 5 and hold The Sharks to 1 goal or less, I could see Murray winning the Conn Smythe. He currently is 14-5, 2.09 and .925.
My vote is Kessel. 21 points, leader in the locker room, major factor in them winning big games, coach admits they are not in the finals without Kessel. While Murray has been solid, I can’t say he stole the show and won any games and I can’t say they would not have made the finals with a different guy in net.
I still can’t see it. If the voters are like Yoda and just check the box score without actually watching the games then it would make sense but if the voters actually watch the games they would realize that he’s only been a main factor in 3-4 of those 14 wins and his overall numbers are more a factor of dominating team play and not individual effort. He’s been good most games and very good for others but his play just hasn’t been at the level of other CS winning goalies like Quick, Thomas and Roy.
RIP Kimbo Slice
All of Canada will riot if Kessel wins the Conn Smythe.
I loved hearing all their fans ecstatic over him being gone. They blamed everything wrong with their franchise on him. I guess the deal paid off though. Without him they were able to land Matthews.
I remember how badly I wanted the Pens to sign Fehr. Obviously still glad they did.
I think he’s been a disappointment given what I thought we were getting – that being said, he’s been an awesome role player. I just expected a little more.
I’m gonna laugh on Thursday when kessel wins the conn Smythe and Sam tries to explain not wanting him in lieu of a guy that retired.
Just to ruin Jay’s day Murray’s going to win the CS.
Hard for it not to be between those two.
Game winning goal #powerplaysmatter
Russian and Chubby traded yet?
Chubby.
lol thanks for the correction. I’ll fix.
Guess what will be making an appearance in Pittsburgh? *hint hint*
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Malkin best player on the ice for 60 minutes. Need one more effort like that. Play like its the last game of your life!
Why would they play likes it’s the last game of their life. Little extreme.
4-0 cup win would have been boring.
I wanna win at home and have the city go bonkers. Bars will be insane Thursday night.
Nice road win. And a nice bounce back from Murray and the Russian.
Fraud
Tear it down.
New goalie…and I loooooove it!
You’re a loser and don’t even watch the games. Trade sid, geno, letang, blow this muthafucka sky high!
Blow it up. Country club. This and that. 10 minutes on the pk. Nbc has pull. Fucking. Fraud.
Didn’t you write a three part essay on how shitty Malkin was like 48 hours ago?
Maatta and Dumo have been so so good
Dumo has the look of a real solid top four guy. More of a shutdown as the offence hasn’t really taken off but he has a decent first pass but solid, quick defender.
Funny. Many places ranked him lower than Morrow, Despres, Harrington and Pouliot. I liked his game in the few games vs thr Rangers last year. He’s progressed nicely.
Great win. Top to bottom.
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Pens out shooting opponent streak ends at 10 or 11 games in a row
Try again.
Npl not enjoying pens game lately because it’s low scoring and not enough entertainment for him and yoda
Trade fleury
Crosbys guy. You should write an article about it.
I was just going to give Letang some credit for not looking like complete dogshit tonight….then he whifs on the puck giving up a point blank scoring chance.
Spaling with the crossbar this Murray must eat horse shoe for breakfast every morning
D and Sam looking like fuxken assholes right about now lol.
Typical clown once again get exited with one malkin goal and will be vacation mode after this kinda reminds me when he had 4 points vs rags and Clowns here were all over me thank God it happens once every 10 games imagine if he played good every game would hear the end of it
Goal and an assist. In fairness I’ve only caught pieces of the game but from what I’ve seen Malkin has looked like he has brought it tonight. Because of him it 2-0 you fucken idiot
Best forward on the ice for either team.
Yep
“Geno the Goat Again as Pens Win Game 4” — Future DePaoli
The Kuhnhackl effect has been huge.
Is Malkin Canadian?
Thank God he scored he just realized series has started at game 4
Sid’s line doing all the little things is the differerence in this game.
When do you think Canada will know?
Thank God no
Stupid lazy one trick pony tricks. Taking an awesome pass from fatty and scoring.
Sam, you over NPL’s party?
No he is double shifting at the KFC
Someone remind me. What country is Cole from?
What countries were the assists from?
Exactly
1st goal in 100 games for Cole
44to 38 chances in favor of pens this series despite pens out shot easily the sharks I guess same was right again when he said sharks ha way more quality chances compare to pens with the amount of shots
Live at SAP hotel center when fans get confy and fall asleep
Fleury should ask management to trade Murray.
I wonder if DeBoer’s thinks the unscreened Joel Ward “slap shot” from the blue line was a high quality shot.
It’s funny hearing the people talk about how clutch he is.
“You don’t score on 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
you also dont score on 100% of the shots you take
More over Jay, why can’t people be focused on tonight and focused on the off season regardless? Most people are fixated on the playoffs the week before the regular season ends, what’s the difference?
It’s not that they can’t be focused on both, it’s how they are focusing on both, we haven’t even finish this Cup run and the majority of the people talking about the offseason are already dismantling the team. I could even understand if they were in a similar situation to what Chicago has been during a few of their runs, where they had a bunch of tough decisions coming in the off season but honestly have nothing more than a few minor decisions like Cullen, Lovejoy and Shultz and will probably be able to return the roster intact if they… Read more »
Well that’s not entirely true. Fleury is an impact decision, not because the arivial of Murray but because of the expansion draft. I can get that there should be no reason to dismantle the team yet.
He fits in fine under the cap and is protected in the draft. What’s the decision.
The draft is at minimum a full season away so it really doesn’t impact this off season because there is no urgency to move him now.
bleury truely is a saint. why would the organization give him the choice of staying or leaving? who cares how nice he is. he is a 5.75 cap hit who lost his job in the playoffs again.
Ramblings of a clueless fool.
pens treat it like a country club. st.bleury is their buddy so he can do whatever he wants. that is a silly way to run a business. you don’t fall in love with your employees like they are your children. that’s a bad way of managing.
Remember you said they need to blow out up? You said it was a country club and the team wouldn’t even make the playoffs. Well, in your “country club”, they are two wins away from a cup. Somehow you and seem become more foolish with age.
new coach, new goalie, several AHL call ups, virtually an all new look from the beginning of the season.
So then explain why you still guaranteed a 9th or 10th place finish well after they had the new coach, new goalie and AHL callups. Please explain why your reasoning was that they were too small and too soft yet they’ve managed to get to this point without adding any size or grit. The only truth in it all is that your a dishonest liar which is about the lowest type of person anyone can be.
This guy is still pushing this crap eh? Lol
You made the same comment in March. With all of those new players. With that new goalie. With the new coach. For the 1,265th time.
Rutherford has done anything but treat this team like it was part of a country club. But it’s just like watching the games. Youd’ have to pay attention to know that, and you just…don’t.
He’s a fraud, is what he is.
He never lost his job in the playoffs..he lost his job to injury
they gave him the net back in game 5 last series and he lost his job. how quickly the brainwashed and st.bleury cultists spin reality.
Agreed with that Cole, wish we could’ve used same excuse for malkin too but not quite same case if he lost his 2nd line center job due to injury. Still needs approval from Stan on that one
Is it just me or does anyone else think all this talk about the offseason the day of Game 4 of the SCF really absurd? I went to HB to see if it was any better but it was 9 pages of off season moves the Pens should make. Are Pens fans really that pathethic that they can’t even enjoy the Cup run before talking about how to dismantle the team after the series ends.
To many fans are awaiting a choke job and have no confidence the Pens will win the cup. They go back to familiar behavior as if the team has already been eliminated.
Stan and yoda are one of them they watch the game and are here the most when team gets a lost
and apparently they go watch the games the most one with his limo and the other one being a season ticket holder
If we all asked really nice and said please, would you leave and never come back?
I’d settle for him just attempting to insult me in a coherent fashion for a change. I don’t even know what half of that jumbled mess meant. Me and Yoda are one of them? Aren’t we two of them?
pens in 5!!!!!
Pens in 5
I kinda think so too. I don’t expect them to lose two in a row, and if that holds true, I don’t see them squandering a chance to win it on home ice on Thursday.
I don’t think it’s that. I mean it depends what kind of moves you’re talking about, MAF is very much on the front burner. It’s healthy to think about a very realistic move. Talking about trading Malkin or other players under contract is a little absurd though.
There are plenty of realistic moves that can be made in the off season but why are people talking about them on a gameday in the SCF? The only focus should be on tonight’s game and closing out this series, there’s really no reason to discuss anything else at this point.
Because I’m a fan, and I’m not playing the game. I don’t have to be focused on just playing the game.
Its great listening to NHL pundits stating this is a new series since the Sharks won 1 game. If I recall the series up until tonight is 2-1 Pens, its a new series if they tie it. But the Pens are going home up 3-1 and then closing the series on home ice.
That’s how I’m seeing it too. Sharks were lucky to even get last game.
they might have low shots but even in game 2 they hit 6 times the posts
few of those shots goes in and its a different series the media is really making sharks look bad based on stupid shot stats
yes pens had more shots but sharks had better quality chances just didnt finish it
They hit four posts. And Pittsburgh hit 3 posts. So San Jose’s posts count, but Pittsburgh’s do not? or did you just not watch the game again….
I agree to an extent but there’s a big difference between going into Game 4 2-1 as opposed to 3-0, hence the new series mindset, if the Pens would have won Game 3 and gone up 3-0 the series would be considered over going into Game 4 so in a way the fact that it’s 2-1 and the Sharks still have a chance kinda makes it a new series.
Hertl is out again tonight
Bennett is out again Tonight
Carey Price has been out since November.
More importantly is how much $ Marty St. Louis is going to command on the market. He’ll set the value for all.
Still time to dump Kessel for him. Not too late.
No shit it’s tough to know what the market for players will be in June when we don’t even know what players will be available.
Holy shit I got shit in without it being edited. I can’t believe this shit.