B21 Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 I know we haven’t even had the parade yet but with the expansion draft looming (and now that we know that Fleury will be exposed) I thought it might be time to delve into what the Pens might do. Caveat 1: I am still not clear on the definition of “1st and 2nd year professionals” (who do not have to be protected as they are not eligible to be selected). I found multiple definitions online, comments from Bill Daley, etc. Pretty sure AHL time counts – specifically, any time played under an NHL contract. So a player under a two-way deal who doesn’t sniff the NHL could still need to be protected. Caveat 2: I only looked at players who – absent an expansion draft – would have a reasonable shot at a making the Pens’ opening night roster next year. I think the Pens definitely go the 7F/3D/1G route… Protected: F: Malkin, Crosby, Kessel, Hornqvist, Hagelin, Rust and Wilson D: Letang, Maatta & Dumoulin G: Murray Exposed (Under Contract or RFA) F: Kuhnhackl, Rowney, Archibald & Sundqvist D: Cole & Pouliot G: Fleury Exposed (UFA) F: Kunitz & Bonino (I think Cullen is retiring…) D: Daley & Schultz (Doubt the Pens have plans to bring back Hainsey or Streit – could see both retire…) Not Eligible F: Guentzel, Sprong & Sheary D: None G: Jarry I think Fleury is the most likely to get picked. I can’t see Vegas going after UFA’s like Kunitz, Bonino or Daley. Maybe Schultz. No idea how high they would be on Pouliot. Seems the Pens have soured on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 If they could come to some terms with Shultz, I would not mind them moving to the 8 skaters and protect Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist, Letang, Maatta, Shultz and take their chances with the rest figuring that Fleury would be the guy to go. You should also move Shultz up to the RFA list as I think he's still an RFA this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted June 14, 2017 Author Share Posted June 14, 2017 23 minutes ago, nossagog said: If they could come to some terms with Shultz, I would not mind them moving to the 8 skaters and protect Crosby, Malkin, Kessel, Hornqvist, Letang, Maatta, Shultz and take their chances with the rest figuring that Fleury would be the guy to go. You should also move Shultz up to the RFA list as I think he's still an RFA this season. Me bad. I though Schultz was UFA. That changes things. I think the chances are good that they hang on to him. If that were the case I'd think long and hard about the 8 skater option. Malkin, Crosby, Kessel, Hornqvist, Letang, Maatta, Schultz & Dumoulin. That exposes Rust, Wilson and Hagelin but I don't see Vegas taking any of those 3 over Fleury. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notfondajane Posted June 18, 2017 Share Posted June 18, 2017 If Fleury isn't taken do the Pens trade him? (I think Vegas takes him.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samifan Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 I also think Vegas will take Fleury. They will need a few "superstars" to be the face(s) of the franchise out of the gate and who better than a cup winning goalie to be one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 Well the Pens choose to protect four defenders and put Shultz in there. I'm hoping that this means they are going to make a big push to resign him. Would set the defense with a start of Letang, Dumo(RFA also), Shultz and Maatta. With Ian Cole still under contract, and more than likely not taken, they're almost set with the same defense as this season. Daley is probably going to look for his last contract, so I don't see the Pens going there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 12 hours ago, nossagog said: Well the Pens choose to protect four defenders and put Shultz in there. I'm hoping that this means they are going to make a big push to resign him. Would set the defense with a start of Letang, Dumo(RFA also), Shultz and Maatta. With Ian Cole still under contract, and more than likely not taken, they're almost set with the same defense as this season. Daley is probably going to look for his last contract, so I don't see the Pens going there. I think they almost have to considering the question marks with Letang's health. Even if he fully recovers (which is expected) he's now added herniated disk to a long list of injuries as well as a stroke. Schultz proved he can step in a fill that role. My guess is that Schultz gets 5 or 6 years and somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.5 - 6.0 million which I think is 1) fair and 2) certainly doable for the Pens. I think you are right about Daley, too. No hard feelings there. I hope he gets his somewhere. To think all he cost us was a rapidly declining Rob Scuderi who has played 38 NHL games since the trade and finished up 16-17 in the AHL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted June 19, 2017 Share Posted June 19, 2017 55 minutes ago, B21 said: I think they almost have to considering the question marks with Letang's health. Even if he fully recovers (which is expected) he's now added herniated disk to a long list of injuries as well as a stroke. Schultz proved he can step in a fill that role. My guess is that Schultz gets 5 or 6 years and somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.5 - 6.0 million which I think is 1) fair and 2) certainly doable for the Pens. I think you are right about Daley, too. No hard feelings there. I hope he gets his somewhere. To think all he cost us was a rapidly declining Rob Scuderi who has played 38 NHL games since the trade and finished up 16-17 in the AHL. With the slight increase in the cap and the subtraction of the Fleury contract, the Pens should have enough to put forth a defense with: Letang-Dumo Maata-Shultz Cole-Pouliot This would give them puck mover on each line. With the likes of Ruhwedel for backup and possibly a cheap free agent in the offseason. Heck, maybe Hainsey had so much fun in his first playoff year, he gives a deep discount for another run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted June 19, 2017 Author Share Posted June 19, 2017 20 minutes ago, nossagog said: With the slight increase in the cap and the subtraction of the Fleury contract, the Pens should have enough to put forth a defense with: Letang-Dumo Maata-Shultz Cole-Pouliot This would give them puck mover on each line. With the likes of Ruhwedel for backup and possibly a cheap free agent in the offseason. Heck, maybe Hainsey had so much fun in his first playoff year, he gives a deep discount for another run. I'd have no problem coming back with that D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted June 20, 2017 Share Posted June 20, 2017 23 hours ago, B21 said: I'd have no problem coming back with that D. By the way, this has to be the season for Pouliot. If he can't make the team this season, I think its time to move him. He's making close to $1M/year as a minor league player, time to put up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B21 Posted June 21, 2017 Author Share Posted June 21, 2017 On 6/20/2017 at 10:56 AM, nossagog said: By the way, this has to be the season for Pouliot. If he can't make the team this season, I think its time to move him. He's making close to $1M/year as a minor league player, time to put up. I could not agree more. All the more reason I think they lock up Schultz long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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