Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I'd probably say no to both. Orpik is older and not what he used to be. Letang will probably want too much and the pens can probably get some good pieces if they trade him. Plus the have some serious D depth thats close to ready.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Malkin and Crosby make just over one million dollars a year more than Perry and Getzlaf

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

too bad bylsma refused to give reasonable playing time to despres and bortuzzo, otherwise they would be ready as we speak

instead we had to watch engelland (who is ok in small doses), niskanen (regressed big time this year) and ancient eaton while they wastes away in wilkes-barre..or even worse, were healthy scratches

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Don't forget is mishandling of Bennett. Db is a dope

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Yeah, no doubt Tavares gets the 'C'. Well deserved, especially after the season he had and the growth he demonstrated.

Oh, and regarding Pens, I'm telling you... at least look into trading Malkin. My deal with Buffalo is still on the table...

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

That salary is too low for the Sabres. I mean they gave Leino 4.5mil so Malkin is worth at least 12mil a year.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol :thumbsup

They can always renegotiate!

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol i wouldn't go that far, but yea the whole bennett situation was terrible too

it's going to be a long off-season

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Horrible decision by the Pens.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

which one? i lost count

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

:lol Malkin. I mean...I don't know what they should or shouldn't have done with him, I'll be able to look more into it later (when the Cup Finals are over)...but between him and Crosby, that's an insane amount of money.

@russianmachine: The Penguins will spend 28.3% of their salary on two players that have missed 32.7% of the last four seasons

I mean, looking at the capgeek is scary. You need defenseman in this league, 4-5 quality defenseman...and the Pens situation at their blue line is terrifying. Having all that money tied up to 2 centers and ignoring your blue line is questionable in my mind.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

It's the same mistake Feaster made in TB after they won their Cup, and it's the same mistake the Avs are still recovering from. Scary. Hopefully Shero pulls something off.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Fucking Geno just got eleventy billion dollars to play hockey :lol:lol

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

well it's tough not to sign a player of Geno's skill level so i can't be too upset with the signing. And they definitely aren;t ignoring the blue line, they are just banking on their young depth and talent to get the job done, hopefully they can...it's just always scary going into a season with so many unknowns

but i will agree, their cap situation is fucked if they wanna sign letang, dupuis, cooke etc...another day in the life

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

This is spot on. But I think the Pens have the impression that they have drafted a good number of quality defensemen who should be ready to go in the not too distant future (but certainly not immediately, and Joe Morrow will likely be awesome elsewhere). Letang's skills at the blue are questionable at best. And the Pens likely believe they have good quality, young and affordable talent at the blue line forthcoming. To that end, Disco NEEDS to improve his handling of skilled younger players. His handling of Despres has been a travesty. He has a weakness for "try-hard" guys like Engellend and Tanner Glass who work their tails off but just aren't very good. He consistently plays them over skilled young players who may actually have, you know, more skill and ability despite their inexperience.

I don't completely dislike the decision because it's hard to let Malkin go. But yes, he and Sid need to stay healthy now because if the Pens have over a quarter of their salary in the press box, they are fucked.

^ H2P just said what I said more succinctly. And I really hope they keep Duper. He has expressed interest in staying for somewhat less than his true value, but we will see when the big figures start flying around. Letang and Cooke can go for all I care.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

yea, the lack of "readiness" in despres and bennett falls squarely on bylsma's shoulders, completely mishandled...disco also needs to learn how to make better in-game adjustments, their stubborness is their pitfall

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

His stubbornness is my biggest pet peeve. I kept thinking during the Boston series, "They are going to score sometime, right?!" Nope! And I kept thinking they would try a different strategy, but they never did. And the thing is, I think for a lot of the Boston series outside of game 2, the Pens played how Bylsma wanted them to, but Boston figured out how to prevent them scoring. And it never seemed to occur to Disco that what he wanted to do wasn't working. I mean, look at the game last night. For the first two periods, Boston seemed to be doing to Chicago what they did to Pittsburgh. Then the Hawks figured it out! Get more traffic in front of the net and get some bouncing picks past Rask.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

yep, exactly...the 2-line stretch pass really opens up the ice and the pens are better than any team in the league at running that type of breakout, but boston was better at stopping it

and even though the pens were the superior team phyically in the boston series, they refused to dump & chase and create traffic, rather they kept forcing the stretch passes, which in turn resulted in too many turnovers and a vulnerable defense (although letang was shit in that series, period)

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

The Pens have been paying Crosby and Malkin this same amount of money for the last 5 years now. They'll be fine.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

well the salary cap decreases before it increases, so that's more of a problem than the actual contract amounts

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I made my feelings known about this in the other thread but, you have home ice, use it! No line matching at all. You acquire a hof rw, and put him on the left? Then you take that same guy off the pp when its clicking at 33%. They didnt score again. Just bad coaching. Hope he improves.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I'd bet it increases again soon. And they paid them this amount when the caps been lower.

https://mobile.twitter.com/JSportsne...96912946855937

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I hope the Pens let Letang walk. I'd love him on the Flyers.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Yeah I'm not really sure why the Pens got Iggy. He's a RW who is used to 1st line minutes. You put him on the left of the 3rd line and not a lot of PP time. The guy can still play, although he's not the 2003/04 Iggy, and they seemed to mismanage him.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

letang is a good fit on any team, he's an all-world defensman, but is he worth $7 million per year? that's the question

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

I dunno if he's worth it but he's gonna get it.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

no doubt about it

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Funny thing is, he was a ppg player still, and when they did have him at rw for two games, he was great. He played the pp up until halfway through the ott series, as soon as he was off it, it took a nosedive.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

In hindsight, yes this makes perfect sense. But the idea of it sure was a good one. Get a weathered, experienced former captain on your team to show the young guys how to sacrifice. Play him with a player who he had success with at the Olympics. Should've been perfect.... on paper. But man, what a disaster.

Re: The NHL 2013-14 Thread
 

Probably not for you guys, but if Gonchar and Streit are going to get $5 mil, then yes.