What's happening with Necas though? How are they going to make room?
- Rinosaur

beats me.

I think they figure they can squeeze him in at around $2.75 on a bridge deal then give up a pick of some variety for someone to take on Martinook's contract.

unless they think Gardiner is going to fail his physical.

beats me.

I think they figure they can squeeze him in at around $2.75 on a bridge deal then give up a pick of some variety for someone to take on Martinook's contract.

unless they think Gardiner is going to fail his physical.
- BINGO!

It will be interesting to see it pan out. I looked at the capfriendly and to keep Necas, they obviously have to move a body out, but then they'd be left with a 20 man roster. I'd imagine they want at least 21, no? Any chance you think they pay for a team to take Gardiner and use that space to keep Necas and sign someone else?

It will be interesting to see it pan out. I looked at the capfriendly and to keep Necas, they obviously have to move a body out, but then they'd be left with a 20 man roster. I'd imagine they want at least 21, no? Any chance you think they pay for a team to take Gardiner and use that space to keep Necas and sign someone else?
- Rinosaur

word from a guy who works for the team is that prices to move out money are still too high. Everybody wants a first to take on anything at this point.

word from a guy who works for the team is that prices to move out money are still too high. Everybody wants a first to take on anything at this point.
- BINGO!

This is why complaints of Hextall not moving Zucker, McGinn, Pettersson, etc fall flat for me. He handcuffed himself a bit with Ruuta, and to a smaller extent Kapanen and Carter. (I say smaller extent because he believes in him for those roles and if they succeed he looks good, even though most of us would have gone in a different direction).

He could have done something like Milano and maybe kept ERod instead of Ruuta though so there's that.

word from a guy who works for the team is that prices to move out money are still too high. Everybody wants a first to take on anything at this point.
- BINGO!

It's been such a whacky off-season. Teams are hurting for cap space, but guys like Gudbranson and Chiarot still get $4M.

This is why complaints of Hextall not moving Zucker, McGinn, Pettersson, etc fall flat for me. He handcuffed himself a bit with Ruuta, and to a smaller extent Kapanen and Carter. (I say smaller extent because he believes in him for those roles and if they succeed he looks good, even though most of us would have gone in a different direction).

He could have done something like Milano and maybe kept ERod instead of Ruuta though so there's that.
- Tojo.

This.

He could have done something like Milano and maybe kept ERod instead of Ruuta though so there's that.
- Tojo.

Could have gone even bigger, no Rutta or Kap and it's possible we could have had Nino, Marchment or Mikheyev on Geno's wing.

To be fair, Hex isn't the only GM who didn't do all that well. I think a lot of them misjudged the market early and were blind sided by the severe inflation on moving cap space out, as well as the prices dropping out on bottom half players. Any other year, Heinen easily gets offers of 2-3 per based on last season. I don't think anyone would have predicted him actually taking a paycut. Just been a bizarre offseason so far.

This is why complaints of Hextall not moving Zucker, McGinn, Pettersson, etc fall flat for me. He handcuffed himself a bit with Ruuta, and to a smaller extent Kapanen and Carter. (I say smaller extent because he believes in him for those roles and if they succeed he looks good, even though most of us would have gone in a different direction).

He could have done something like Milano and maybe kept ERod instead of Ruuta though so there's that.
- Tojo.

He spent poorly.

He spent poorly.
- Rinosaur

On Rutta and Kap for sure.

On Rutta and Kap for sure.
- 668710

I mean that’s close to $6 mil. This team could have had a serious face lift with $6 mil. Not enough to be a high end contender but enough to be an “anything can happen team”.

I mean that’s close to $6 mil. This team could have had a serious face lift with $6 mil. Not enough to be a high end contender but enough to be an “anything can happen team”.
- Victoro311

$4 to Nino and $2M to Milano instead of Kap and Rutta.

Jake-Sid-Rust
Nino-Geno-Rak
Milano-Carter-Zucker
McGinn-Blueger-DOC/Nylander/Puustinen/Poehling

Or Milano-Blueger-Carter
Zucker-DOC/Poehling-McGinn

That's as good of a top-six as anyone in the league and a competitive bottom six. The defense is arguably upgraded without Rutta, especially if Dumo rebounds.

That to me is more than just an "anything can happen" team. Unfortunately that's now how the money was spent.

I mean that’s close to $6 mil. This team could have had a serious face lift with $6 mil. Not enough to be a high end contender but enough to be an “anything can happen team”.
- Victoro311

Oh yea it's nuts how it went down

$4 to Nino and $2M to Milano instead of Kap and Rutta.

Jake-Sid-Rust
Nino-Geno-Rak
Milano-Carter-Zucker
McGinn-Blueger-DOC/Nylander/Puustinen/Poehling

Or Milano-Blueger-Carter
Zucker-DOC/Poehling-McGinn

That's as good of a top-six as anyone in the league and a competitive bottom six. The defense is arguably upgraded without Rutta, especially if Dumo rebounds.

That to me is more than just an "anything can happen" team. Unfortunately that's now how the money was spent.
- Rinosaur

Even having:
Guentz -Sid-Rust
Milano-Geno-Rak
Nino-Cart-Zuck
Mcginn-Blue-Someone

Could have gone even bigger, no Rutta or Kap and it's possible we could have had Nino, Marchment or Mikheyev on Geno's wing.

To be fair, Hex isn't the only GM who didn't do all that well. I think a lot of them misjudged the market early and were blind sided by the severe inflation on moving cap space out, as well as the prices dropping out on bottom half players. Any other year, Heinen easily gets offers of 2-3 per based on last season. I don't think anyone would have predicted him actually taking a paycut. Just been a bizarre offseason so far.
- Pags

Maybe could have turned Kapanen into a 4.25-4.5 M wing. But I think they overspent and didn't have the money for Ruuta.

Right now, they have to send someone, probably Friedman, through waivers just to get cap compliant with a 22 man roster. Honestly I think they overspent by at least 850k. Unless they drop a salary, that's going to keep them from bringing up any waiver exempt players that might deserve a spot.

Easy for us to say just cut Archibald and eventually maybe they do, but I kind of doubt they brought him in thinking that. Even harder at D where after they waive Friedman, who would be next to waive if Smith (probably the most talented guy currently slated for WBS) earns a spot?

That's why they should have room for a 23rd player on a healthy roster. And just shouldn't have signed a guy in Ruuta's range.

Also going to say Hextall at least created the space he misspent with the value contracts he got Malkin, Letang, and Rust to sign to, so I have to give him a little leeway. And if Carter and Kapanen perform as serviceable 3rd liners and Zucker plays like a 2nd line wing, none of which are beyond their capabilities, he comes out looking good up front.

Also going to say Hextall at least created the space he misspent with the value contracts he got Malkin, Letang, and Rust to sign to, so I have to give him a little leeway. And if Carter and Kapanen perform as serviceable 3rd liners and Zucker plays like a 2nd line wing, none of which are beyond their capabilities, he comes out looking good up front.
- Tojo.

For a team like the Pens, the margin for error is much smaller. As Sid, Geno and Letang age, who they're surrounded with becomes much more important. Yes, he pulled of some mastery with Geno, Rak, Rust and Letang. Moving from Matheson to Petry was also a solid move.

But he knowingly extended mediocrity in Kap. It would have been one thing to do one year, but two? Also, he arguably overpaid for him. He also signed a player in Rutta that they didn't need. While Rutta may wind being good in a 3rd pairing role for the Pens, Ruhwedel at $800K was outstanding and Rutta is almost $3M to play the same role.

He pissed money away. There is no leeway anymore for a quickly aging team like the pens.

Maybe could have turned Kapanen into a 4.25-4.5 M wing. But I think they overspent and didn't have the money for Ruuta.

Right now, they have to send someone, probably Friedman, through waivers just to get cap compliant with a 22 man roster. Honestly I think they overspent by at least 850k. Unless they drop a salary, that's going to keep them from bringing up any waiver exempt players that might deserve a spot.

Easy for us to say just cut Archibald and eventually maybe they do, but I kind of doubt they brought him in thinking that. Even harder at D where after they waive Friedman, who would be next to waive if Smith (probably the most talented guy currently slated for WBS) earns a spot?

That's why they should have room for a 23rd player on a healthy roster. And just shouldn't have signed a guy in Ruuta's range.
- Tojo.

They could send Archibald down. I bet they didn't expect to get Heinen back.

Also going to say Hextall at least created the space he misspent with the value contracts he got Malkin, Letang, and Rust to sign to, so I have to give him a little leeway. And if Carter and Kapanen perform as serviceable 3rd liners and Zucker plays like a 2nd line wing, none of which are beyond their capabilities, he comes out looking good up front.
- Tojo.

I agree the internal signings minus Kapanen were great. We shouldn’t have had as much cap space to play with to begin with.

Maybe could have turned Kapanen into a 4.25-4.5 M wing. But I think they overspent and didn't have the money for Ruuta.

Right now, they have to send someone, probably Friedman, through waivers just to get cap compliant with a 22 man roster. Honestly I think they overspent by at least 850k. Unless they drop a salary, that's going to keep them from bringing up any waiver exempt players that might deserve a spot.

Easy for us to say just cut Archibald and eventually maybe they do, but I kind of doubt they brought him in thinking that. Even harder at D where after they waive Friedman, who would be next to waive if Smith (probably the most talented guy currently slated for WBS) earns a spot?

That's why they should have room for a 23rd player on a healthy roster. And just shouldn't have signed a guy in Ruuta's range.
- Tojo.

Impossible to know if this was the plan or if there was supposed to be more to it.

Like you said, he did an amazing job locking up the must haves while still opening some space. Face value the Rutta signing was an unnecessary expense when we had a perfectly fine 3RD in Ruh, but possibly the plan was to try Rutta at 2LD and move Petts, and he got caught with his pants down when he realized the cost of moving cap this year is beyond ridiculous.

I agree the internal signings minus Kapanen were great. We shouldn’t have had as much cap space to play with to begin with.
- Victoro311

Freeing up the space and using it the way he did pretty much negates that space IMO.

The one thing I'll say is at the very least, this forward core is almost exactly the same, so aside from ERod not getting re-signed, the forward group is no worse. I'll also say the defense as a whole is probably better.

Freeing up the space and using it the way he did pretty much negates that space IMO.

The one thing I'll say is at the very least, this forward core is almost exactly the same, so aside from ERod not getting re-signed, the forward group is no worse. I'll also say the defense as a whole is probably better.
- Rinosaur

The defense is like preparation H, it does feel good on the whole.

The defense is like preparation H, it does feel good on the whole.
- 668710

Lol...so then the Kap signing would be the hemorrhoid?

Lol...so then the Kap signing would be the hemorrhoid?
- Pags

The KapaRuttaroid

Sadly Kap is that player where they are valuing his potential over what he is as a player. He shows flashes that he put it all together, he also shows potential that he could be an unstoppable player on the ice. Sadly the flashes come once every month, if not less. They are hoping he can at least do better than he has. Which I think he will definitely play better than last season, but I agree with all of you. We should have traded him off earlier or let him walk and used that money for players who show they can live up to their potential.

The defense is like preparation H, it does feel good on the whole.
- 668710

Lol