Ryan Wilson: Rickard Rakell day, to sign or not to sign Rickard Rakell day, to sign or not to sign

8 years @ 8 million.

Can a team trade cap space from a buyout? For the Pens, every penny will count if they want to stay competitive.

Can a team trade cap space from a buyout? For the Pens, every penny will count if they want to stay competitive.
- jmatchett383

No they cannot do that.

I wish they could. It would help the smaller spenders get more assets to build and allow good teams to build better teams. I guess the argument against would be that it would harm parity in the league.

I really like Rakell. He is a slick player with lots of talent. He could sign a 2-3 year deal, hope to play with Crosby, and cash out big one more time when he's in his early 30s.

Could also see him going back to Anaheim.

I wish they could. It would help the smaller spenders get more assets to build and allow good teams to build better teams. I guess the argument against would be that it would harm parity in the league.
- SuperHenderson13

Parity is gone.

Ek says Penguins arent resigning Letang.

So look for a Letang contract extension to be announced in the coming hours/days.

Ek says Penguins arent resigning Letang.

So look for a Letang contract extension to be announced in the coming hours/days.
- SuperHenderson13

Letang is going to Montreal.

Letang is going to Montreal.
- stackthepads

Yup...Ek didnt mention them as a potential landing place haha

Letang is going to Montreal.
- stackthepads

I can’t really see a guy with a lot left in the tank not wanting to spend most of his ice time with Crosby and Guentzel just so he can speak French on a poopty team. The problem is that Malkin was always held above Letang and Letang probably feels he needs to hold out until free agency to get his fair deal and not have Malkins deal determine his offer. Malkin should have always been held down a peg from Crosby and Letang. They are superior players.

I can’t really see a guy with a lot left in the tank not wanting to spend most of his ice time with Crosby and Guentzel just so he can speak French on a poopty team. The problem is that Malkin was always held above Letang and Letang probably feels he needs to hold out until free agency to get his fair deal and not have Malkins deal determine his offer. Malkin should have always been held down a peg from Crosby and Letang. They are superior players.
- Grinder47

Rent free.

I can’t really see a guy with a lot left in the tank not wanting to spend most of his ice time with Crosby and Guentzel just so he can speak French on a poopty team. The problem is that Malkin was always held above Letang and Letang probably feels he needs to hold out until free agency to get his fair deal and not have Malkins deal determine his offer. Malkin should have always been held down a peg from Crosby and Letang. They are superior players.
- Grinder47

You don’t see it because you don’t know French Canadians.

With Weber essentially retired (LTIR until contract is done) the Habs need a new captain. They have an opportunity to acquire a French Canadian (therefor French speaking) star player they can put infront of the cameras, that has 3 cups, and can help bring up a young team. They will back the truck up make him one of the highest paid dmen in the league and give him the C.

Letang will have the opportunity to captain the Montreal Canadiens, which is EVERY French Canadian kids dream.

Letang is going to Montreal.

I can’t really see a guy with a lot left in the tank not wanting to spend most of his ice time with Crosby and Guentzel just so he can speak French on a poopty team. The problem is that Malkin was always held above Letang and Letang probably feels he needs to hold out until free agency to get his fair deal and not have Malkins deal determine his offer. Malkin should have always been held down a peg from Crosby and Letang. They are superior players.
- Grinder47

Very weird you keep pointing at the guy who has openly talked about a pay cut multiple times as the reason why we can’t resign Letang.

Very weird you keep pointing at the guy who has openly talked about a pay cut multiple times as the reason why we can’t resign Letang.
- Victoro311

He’s also the only one that keeps bringing up Malkin.

He’s also the only one that keeps bringing up Malkin.
- Feds91Stammer

Still think it all gets done. Both Letang and Malkin’s reported asks sound pretty reasonable. The thing that’s in question is how much we can do afterwards. That answer has a really wide range depending on what the contracts end up being and if we can dump some salary.

Still absurdly pissed we didn’t just bury Johnson in the AHL and wait for his contract to run out or see if he terminated it himself. That $1.9 mil in dead cap is a (frank)ing poison pill right now and you could see it coming a mile away.

Very weird you keep pointing at the guy who has openly talked about a pay cut multiple times as the reason why we can’t resign Letang.
- Victoro311

As opposed to the regular non-weird sensible things he usually posts?

Still think it all gets done. Both Letang and Malkin’s reported asks sound pretty reasonable. The thing that’s in question is how much we can do afterwards. That answer has a really wide range depending on what the contracts end up being and if we can dump some salary.

Still absurdly pissed we didn’t just bury Johnson in the AHL and wait for his contract to run out or see if he terminated it himself. That $1.9 mil in dead cap is a (frank)ing poison pill right now and you could see it coming a mile away.
- Victoro311

Pretty impressive how poorly that entire thing was handled.

JJ never deserved that deal in the first place and then you double down on accepting the dead cap from the buyout.

I have this sick feeling Jeff Petry will be a Penguin and Letang will not.

Pretty impressive how poorly that entire thing was handled.

JJ never deserved that deal in the first place and then you double down on accepting the dead cap from the buyout.
- Feds91Stammer

It was only a win because we needed to stop playing Johnson full stop. Maybe with Martin getting canned it would have happened, but if we would have just press boxed him or better yet sent him down that would have been much better than a buy out. Buy outs are almost never the best path forward.

You don’t see it because you don’t know French Canadians.

With Weber essentially retired (LTIR until contract is done) the Habs need a new captain. They have an opportunity to acquire a French Canadian (therefor French speaking) star player they can put infront of the cameras, that has 3 cups, and can help bring up a young team. They will back the truck up make him one of the highest paid dmen in the league and give him the C.

Letang will have the opportunity to captain the Montreal Canadiens, which is EVERY French Canadian kids dream.

Letang is going to Montreal.
- stackthepads

That's a viewpoint I dont understand too well. With how quiet and reserved Letang is, do you really think he'd want to be put into the mess of French Canadiens hockey? I dont see him wanting that at all. Also, Montreal is not exactly expected to jump into the playoff picture. They will be a lot better with Letang and Wright will be a good rookie, but I would've expected Letang to want to join a contender that can pay him a lot of money. No reason that shouldnt be the Penguins.

And it isnt every French Canadiens dream to play for Montreal. I dont see Bergeron rushing to sign. I think he even said it'll be Boston or no one next year. Not every guy wants to play for their hometown team.

And if this was the case, and Im not dismissing it, because it could be 100% possible... but why go through this dog and pony show? Both the Penguins and Letang should just say, hey im not resigning here, im going home. I think everyone would accept that. So I cant imagine they'd fake all of this contract talk.

If Letang leaves, and its probably a bigger chance than any of us are willing to accept, I see him getting a huge payday the Penguins are unwilling to match. He said the Penguins will have the right to match any offer he gets. I see a team throwing $10M at him and the Penguins say no. Or, a very front loaded contract that the Penguins are unwilling to meet.

I have this sick feeling Jeff Petry will be a Penguin and Letang will not.
- Rinosaur

I have a sick feeling we are going to panic and make a stupid trade.

If the Penguins dont get Letang, they need to go after Klingberg. I dont think hes a great fit, but at least hed be free. If you cant find a #1 defenseman, tank for Bedard and lets try this again next year.

You don’t see it because you don’t know French Canadians.

With Weber essentially retired (LTIR until contract is done) the Habs need a new captain. They have an opportunity to acquire a French Canadian (therefor French speaking) star player they can put infront of the cameras, that has 3 cups, and can help bring up a young team. They will back the truck up make him one of the highest paid dmen in the league and give him the C.

Letang will have the opportunity to captain the Montreal Canadiens, which is EVERY French Canadian kids dream.

Letang is going to Montreal.
- stackthepads

Name the last French Canadian Captain of the Habs...heck name the last FC Assistant Captain.

Name the last French Canadian Captain of the Habs...heck name the last FC Assistant Captain.
- AdamFrench

Habs have definitely had a long run of non-French captains lately. 4 captains and 20+ years. But historically, they have a lot more French Canadian Cs than non-French Canadians

Very weird you keep pointing at the guy who has openly talked about a pay cut multiple times as the reason why we can’t resign Letang.
- Victoro311

8.6 is a pay cut. I don’t believe the 6.8 rumor because I think Hextall would have jumped on it. 4.8 would be more realistic for a power play only guy that has flashes of brilliance when up by 5 goals, with physics defying back hands and all.