So phrased another way - what would be your plan to replace Letang instead of paying him that $1.25M?
- SuperHenderson13

If he wants an amount they just can't handle, there is no plan to replace him; you can't. But it's not a question of replacing Letang, it's more a matter of "Just give him the extra $1.25M" when you don't even know what the offer was. What if they offered him $10M and he was $11.25M? Do you just pay him his asking price regardless of what it is? There has to be a point where you just say no, as a responsible GM.

There is no chance you compete next year without Letang. It's just a reality. You just got done paying Malkin $9.5M, you have plenty of cap room to sign Letang.
- SuperHenderson13

Agreed that you can't compete, or at least be as competitive, without him. However, if you use the money in UFA, (which is never a sure thing) you could build a deeper top 4 (assuming you trade Dumo) without having a #1. Or, you could just say that the rebuild is starting, which may be the right move given this team hasn't won a playoff series in 4 years, and lost in Round 2 the year before.

Also, when did Malkin sign his extension for $9.5M? I didn't see that report.

Letting your franchise dman, a guy who just finished 7th in the Norris voting, go over $1.25M is pretty stupid to me.
- SuperHenderson13

Again, I would likely give him his asking price, but there has to be a break point where you just can't.

If he wants an amount they just can't handle, there is no plan to replace him; you can't. But it's not a question of replacing Letang, it's more a matter of "Just give him the extra$1.25M" when you don't even know what the offer was. What if they offered him $10M and he was $11.25M? Do you just pay him his ask regardless of what it is? There has to be a point where you just say no, as a responsible GM.



Agreed that you can't compete, or at least be as competitive, without him. However, if you use the money in UFA, (which is never a sure thing) you could build a deeper top 4 (assuming you trade Dumo) without having a #1. Or, you could just say that the rebuild is starting, which may be the right move given this team hasn't won a playoff series in 4 years, and lost in Round 2 the year before.

Also, when did Malkin sign his extension for $9.5M? I didn't see that report.



Again, I would give him his ask, but there has to be a break point where you just can't.
- jmatchett383

I was referring to the $9.5M contract Malkin signed that just expired to show you have the cap space to pay Letang.

You cant rebuild with Crosby on your roster, especially with how well he played in the playoffs. If the decision is Letang or rebuild, I would give Letang a blank check. Rebuilds often arent clean and they can take a while, unless you get lucky in the lottery draft like the Rangers did.

I dont think $10M is a bridge too far for him. It's a lot of money, no doubt, but if you look at the cap hits of a lot of other defensemen, $10M is not far from reality IMO. I dont see us having to cave the full $1.25M, but we need to have that wiggle room to make it work.

If Letang walks, the most likely situation i see is us then overpaying for a guy like Petry.

So in your mind what are contracts for both that the Pens should absolutely match? If, of course, they are given the opportunity?
- stevens87

Well I dont know how this is all going to shake out or what the numbers would be if that hypothetically happens, but really do think what I said in the post youre replying to is a possible reality in all of this, especially if Tanger or Geno sour on the negotiations. In my mind Tanger is 8.5/9ish and Geno is 7ish. Now if Hex is stubbornly not going to go that high, for one of them or either, and they sign elsewhere around those numbers, or even a bit higher, it's head on a stake time for me hahah

I'm really surprised by the Malkin reports and while it makes me nervous, I still think they figure it out. I'll be even more surprised if they keep Letang and let Geno walk and if that happens, I think Marino becomes the big trade chip and the Pens need to figure out how to replace him.

So phrased another way - what would be your plan to replace Letang instead of paying him that $1.25M?

There is no chance you compete next year without Letang. It's just a reality. You just got done paying Malkin $9.5M, you have plenty of cap room to sign Letang.

Letting your franchise dman, a guy who just finished 7th in the Norris voting, go over $1.25M is pretty stupid to me.
- SuperHenderson13

Yeah 7th in Norris voting and 7th overall in d-man production. Can't be replaced this offseason...or even in near future for that matter. This is why I lean towards giving him 10...cautiously lean towards it hahaha

Where do the Pens look for scoring? How about right under their nose:

Radim Zahorna (NHL) 4 goals, 6 assists. 25 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 9 assists. 39 games.
Drew O'Connor (NHL) 3 goals, 2 assists, 22 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 20 assists, 33 games.
Alexander Nylander 22 goals, 20 assists. WBS.
Valterri Pustinen 20 goals, 22 assists. WBS.

It's time to play these guys or get rid of them. Place one with Blueger and Carter on the third line and use the other three to form a fourth line.

Where do the Pens look for scoring? How about right under their nose:

Radim Zahorna (NHL) 4 goals, 6 assists. 25 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 9 assists. 39 games.
Drew O'Connor (NHL) 3 goals, 2 assists, 22 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 20 assists, 33 games.
Alexander Nylander 22 goals, 20 assists. WBS.
Valterri Pustinen 20 goals, 22 assists. WBS.

It's time to play these guys or get rid of them. Place one with Blueger and Carter on the third line and use the other three to form a fourth line.
- Thunderbolt

If this was five years ago then you absolutely roll the dice and see what you have, but it's not five years ago. I definitely think one or two should get a shot, but time is not on the Pens side and they need proven players right now.

I was referring to the $9.5M contract Malkin signed that just expired to show you have the cap space to pay Letang.

You cant rebuild with Crosby on your roster, especially with how well he played in the playoffs. If the decision is Letang or rebuild, I would give Letang a blank check. Rebuilds often arent clean and they can take a while, unless you get lucky in the lottery draft like the Rangers did.

I dont think $10M is a bridge too far for him. It's a lot of money, no doubt, but if you look at the cap hits of a lot of other defensemen, $10M is not far from reality IMO. I dont see us having to cave the full $1.25M, but we need to have that wiggle room to make it work.

If Letang walks, the most likely situation i see is us then overpaying for a guy like Petry.
- SuperHenderson13

Yes, you CAN pay him $10M or $11M, but then what? You don't have much in the pipeline and guys like Rodriguez, Heinen, and Rakell would need raises if you want to keep them. Granted, you can't resign everyone, and Letang should be priority #1, but you also can't cave to him if it's to the detriment of the rest of the team.

This is where the Jeff Carter extension and the Jack Johnson buyout hurt, as you can't have any dead weight.

I have probably been on this blog (and the one before RW took over) longer than most Pens fans but...yeah, how dare I post on a non-Flyers blog!!!
- jmatchett383

Who said anything about posting on a non flyers board. Asked a simple question is all.

Who said anything about posting on a non flyers board. Asked a simple question is all.
- furio16

No, you trolled. At least own it.

Where do the Pens look for scoring? How about right under their nose:

Radim Zahorna (NHL) 4 goals, 6 assists. 25 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 9 assists. 39 games.
Drew O'Connor (NHL) 3 goals, 2 assists, 22 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 20 assists, 33 games.
Alexander Nylander 22 goals, 20 assists. WBS.
Valterri Pustinen 20 goals, 22 assists. WBS.

It's time to play these guys or get rid of them. Place one with Blueger and Carter on the third line and use the other three to form a fourth line.
- Thunderbolt

Zohan is a decent 4th line/13th forward option.
DOC should be a solid bottom 6 option.
Nylander is a soft finesse player that produces like a 4th liner (his DY+6 AHL P1/GP fell between ZAR and Lafferty.
Puustinen could be a 4th liner if he can be a PK specialist.

Where do the Pens look for scoring? How about right under their nose:

Radim Zahorna (NHL) 4 goals, 6 assists. 25 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 9 assists. 39 games.
Drew O'Connor (NHL) 3 goals, 2 assists, 22 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 20 assists, 33 games.
Alexander Nylander 22 goals, 20 assists. WBS.
Valterri Pustinen 20 goals, 22 assists. WBS.

It's time to play these guys or get rid of them. Place one with Blueger and Carter on the third line and use the other three to form a fourth line.
- Thunderbolt

If you can move McGinn, I think you take that cap savings and take a chance on some of these guys.

I think everyone selling Carter short after this past season are making a big mistake. Carter is no longer a 2C and he was forced to play a bigger and different role than he has in the past. He averaged 20 minutes for the first month of the season and 18 minutes in November and that is the time period where you would ideally have an older player taking more time to work themselves into the season.

Don't get me wrong, he was toast in the playoffs but he was a great positive impact for the team while Malkin and Crosby were out to start the season. Carter will deliver very good value at $3.1M this season, just wait and see.

If you think Carter's contract is bad, you have a serious lack in perspective.

I think everyone selling Carter short after this past season are making a big mistake. Carter is no longer a 2C and he was forced to play a bigger and different role than he has in the past. He averaged 20 minutes for the first month of the season and 18 minutes in November and that is the time period where you would ideally have an older player taking more time to work themselves into the season.

Don't get me wrong, he was toast in the playoffs but he was a great positive impact for the team while Malkin and Crosby were out to start the season. Carter will deliver very good value at $3.1M this season, just wait and see.

If you think Carter's contract is bad, you have a serious lack in perspective.
- MacPatty

I dont think Carter's contract is necessarily bad, I just think Hextall's priorities were way out of line. Im not signing a guy like Carter until I have my ducks in a row with some of the other players like Letang and Malkin.

You have all the leverage with Carter. Is he going to pack up and go to free agency if you dont give him a mid-season contract offer?

I have no issue bringing him back, I just wish it had waited until we had more of our roster constructed.

Where do the Pens look for scoring? How about right under their nose:

Radim Zahorna (NHL) 4 goals, 6 assists. 25 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 9 assists. 39 games.
Drew O'Connor (NHL) 3 goals, 2 assists, 22 games.
(WBS) 12 goals, 20 assists, 33 games.
Alexander Nylander 22 goals, 20 assists. WBS.
Valterri Pustinen 20 goals, 22 assists. WBS.

It's time to play these guys or get rid of them. Place one with Blueger and Carter on the third line and use the other three to form a fourth line.
- Thunderbolt

I think they should find a roster spot for maybe one of those guys. They are all the type of player that should have a shot of making the team if they have an outstanding camp but I think it's better to fill the roster out with better players and have these guys as injury fill in options.

I also hope Sam Poulin right now is going to war in the gym to get ready for this season. He needs to take a big step forward if he is going to make it. He might not pan out as a top 6 option but if he could hop into the bottom six and contribute on an entry level contract that would be huge.

I dont think Carter's contract is necessarily bad, I just think Hextall's priorities were way out of line. Im not signing a guy like Carter until I have my ducks in a row with some of the other players like Letang and Malkin.

You have all the leverage with Carter. Is he going to pack up and go to free agency if you dont give him a mid-season contract offer?

I have no issue bringing him back, I just wish it had waited until we had more of our roster constructed.
- SuperHenderson13

I think that if he wasn't signed mid season he would have gone into free agency. A lot of teams would covet having a guy like Carter at 3C and that is a reasonable cost and term. The Pens have to sign someone to play 3C... with no-one in the system to step up can you think of anyone they could get for less than $4-5M that would be as good as Carter?

Point being, I think signing Carter is completely independent of what happens with Malkin and Letang. That said, I have been the one calling for Hextall to be fired for how badly he mismanaged this season so I am with you in saying he has his priorities (frank)ed.

I think everyone selling Carter short after this past season are making a big mistake. Carter is no longer a 2C and he was forced to play a bigger and different role than he has in the past. He averaged 20 minutes for the first month of the season and 18 minutes in November and that is the time period where you would ideally have an older player taking more time to work themselves into the season.

Don't get me wrong, he was toast in the playoffs but he was a great positive impact for the team while Malkin and Crosby were out to start the season. Carter will deliver very good value at $3.1M this season, just wait and see.

If you think Carter's contract is bad, you have a serious lack in perspective.
- MacPatty

Jeff Carter was dog poop all season anyway you slice it.

Personally, it will be very difficult as a fan if Malkin doesn't get re-signed.
- Rinosaur

Haha. Grow up. He’s not Lemieux or Crosby. Pro athletes change teams.

I think that if he wasn't signed mid season he would have gone into free agency. A lot of teams would covet having a guy like Carter at 3C and that is a reasonable cost and term. The Pens have to sign someone to play 3C... with no-one in the system to step up can you think of anyone they could get for less than $4-5M that would be as good as Carter?

Point being, I think signing Carter is completely independent of what happens with Malkin and Letang. That said, I have been the one calling for Hextall to be fired for how badly he mismanaged this season so I am with you in saying he has his priorities (frank)ed.
- MacPatty

Pens already have a better 3C that they keep forcing onto the 4th line.

I dont think Carter's contract is necessarily bad, I just think Hextall's priorities were way out of line. Im not signing a guy like Carter until I have my ducks in a row with some of the other players like Letang and Malkin.

You have all the leverage with Carter. Is he going to pack up and go to free agency if you dont give him a mid-season contract offer?

I have no issue bringing him back, I just wish it had waited until we had more of our roster constructed.
- SuperHenderson13

Maybe they were anticipating Malkin wanting way too much money for what he is and didn’t want to have to look for a 2c and 3c this summer.

Haha. Grow up. He’s not Lemieux or Crosby. Pro athletes change teams.
- Grinder47

He’s got more cups than Mario…

Maybe they were anticipating Malkin wanting way too much money for what he is and didn’t want to have to look for a 2c and 3c this summer.
- Grinder47

So they overpaid for a dogpoop center?

So they overpaid for a dogpoop center?
- Feds91Stammer

Did they sign Malkin for 8 million?

He’s got more cups than Mario…
- Feds91Stammer

Your point?

I 3 mill for a guy that puts up 6 in 7 games against the league’s best goalie is reasonable.