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Created by: Boush
Team: 2019-20 Pittsburgh Penguins
Initial Creation Date: Apr. 18, 2019
Published: Apr. 18, 2019
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
Description
A Caps fans trying to fix the Pens. I want the rivalry to continue.

Philosophy is don't panic and at least get younger and cheaper on defense. The buyout stings, but it's the price paid for signing Johnson in the first place. Cut bait and don't go too crazy in free agency.

Horny could (probably should?) be moved, too, but the trade market for him likely won't get much worse by giving him a shot to bounce back at the start of next season. Best case, he starts hot and you flip him by Thanksgiving. Worst case, he falters or gets injured and you do what you can at the trade deadline.
Free Agent Signings
RFAYEARSCAP HIT
1$1,000,000
2$850,000
4$2,000,000
UFAYEARSCAP HIT
1$800,000
1$800,000
1$900,000
2$2,375,000
2$1,750,000
Trades
PIT
  1. 2019 2nd round pick (ANA)
ANA
  1. Gudbranson, Erik
  2. 2019 7th round pick (VGK)
  3. 2020 3rd round pick (PIT)
Buyouts
DraftRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4Round 5Round 6Round 7
2019
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2020
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2021
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ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
22$83,000,000$77,511,558$132,500$0$5,488,442
Left WingCentreRight Wing
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$1,250,000$1,250,000
C, LW
UFA - 1
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$8,700,000$8,700,000
C
NMC
UFA - 6
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$4,500,000$4,500,000
LW, RW
UFA - 5
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$3,500,000$3,500,000
RW, LW
UFA - 3
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$9,500,000$9,500,000
C
NMC
UFA - 3
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$6,800,000$6,800,000
RW
M-NTC, NMC
UFA - 3
Logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins
$750,000$750,000
RW, LW
UFA - 1
Logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins
$2,050,000$2,050,000
C, RW
UFA - 2
Logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins
$5,300,000$5,300,000
RW
NTC
UFA - 4
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$850,000$850,000
C, LW
UFA - 2
$1,750,000$1,750,000
LW, C
UFA
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$1,000,000$1,000,000
LW, RW
UFA - 2
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$800,000$800,000
RW
UFA
Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender
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$4,100,000$4,100,000
LD
M-NTC
UFA - 4
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$7,250,000$7,250,000
RD
M-NTC, NMC
UFA - 3
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$3,750,000$3,750,000
G
UFA - 1
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$3,333,225$3,333,225
LD
UFA - 3
Logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins
$5,500,000$5,500,000
RD
M-NTC
UFA - 1
Logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins
$1,250,000$1,250,000
G
UFA - 3
$2,375,000$2,375,000
LD
UFA - 1
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$2,000,000$2,000,000
LD
UFA - 1
Logo of the Pittsburgh Penguins
$800,000$800,000
RD
UFA - 2
ScratchesInjured Reserve (IR)Long Term IR (LTIR)
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$675,000$675,000
G
UFA - 1

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Apr. 18, 2019 at 5:42 p.m.
#1
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There is no need to buy JJ out. It's not like he has a NTC. He can be sent anywhere. And they will send him for nothing. People are always looking for defense in the NHL. It's the hardest position to fill because of all the injuries.
Apr. 18, 2019 at 5:58 p.m.
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GaudsWish
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Quoting: pharrow
There is no need to buy JJ out. It's not like he has a NTC. He can be sent anywhere. And they will send him for nothing. People are always looking for defense in the NHL. It's the hardest position to fill because of all the injuries.


I don't think anybody wants that contract, I bet if Pens retained it'd be okay. The true issue is that is 3 mil for 4 more years for a guy who has been a healthy scratch 2 straight playoffs, not easy to get rid of, we don't even have a scapegoat in Chiarelli as he's gone
Apr. 18, 2019 at 6:31 p.m.
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Quoting: gaudetster
I don't think anybody wants that contract, I bet if Pens retained it'd be okay. The true issue is that is 3 mil for 4 more years for a guy who has been a healthy scratch 2 straight playoffs, not easy to get rid of, we don't even have a scapegoat in Chiarelli as he's gone


Funny considering he wasn't the problem on the ice in the playoffs. He played well. As a whole the defense played well. All of those games were close. The league average is giving up 3 goals a night. They never gave up more than that, a lot of the goals were empty net goals. The last game was 2-1 neither goal on Johnson. He didn't play the 1st game. The second game was 1-1 JJ wasn't on the ice, The goal he was on the ice for, was the result of a turn over, which left him basically 2 on 1 with Brazel and eberly. I'm not sure what you expect from him there. It was 2-1 till the third when they started pressing. Hornqvist took the penalty and that was it. The third game was 3-1 with an empty net goal. The first goal JJ was on the ice for he was left out to dry by Shultz pinching and it resulted in a 2 on 1. The second goal Schultz was all the way on the top of the circle leaving JJ as the only Defense man by the goal, and he again was tasked with covering 2 players. The last game one was a power play the other was a break away which was on Letang.
The problem was they couldn't score. They had opportunity after opportunity the puck just didn't go in the net. At some point you have to put the puck in the net. What it wasn't was the fault of JJ. Who played fairly well, but was left out to dry.
Apr. 18, 2019 at 6:42 p.m.
#4
GaudsWish
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Quoting: pharrow
Funny considering he wasn't the problem on the ice in the playoffs. He played well. As a whole the defense played well. All of those games were close. The league average is giving up 3 goals a night. They never gave up more than that, a lot of the goals were empty net goals. The last game was 2-1 neither goal on Johnson. He didn't play the 1st game. The second game was 1-1 JJ wasn't on the ice, The goal he was on the ice for, was the result of a turn over, which left him basically 2 on 1 with Brazel and eberly. I'm not sure what you expect from him there. It was 2-1 till the third when they started pressing. Hornqvist took the penalty and that was it. The third game was 3-1 with an empty net goal. The first goal JJ was on the ice for he was left out to dry by Shultz pinching and it resulted in a 2 on 1. The second goal Schultz was all the way on the top of the circle leaving JJ as the only Defense man by the goal, and he again was tasked with covering 2 players. The last game one was a power play the other was a break away which was on Letang.
The problem was they couldn't score. They had opportunity after opportunity the puck just didn't go in the net. At some point you have to put the puck in the net. What it wasn't was the fault of JJ. Who played fairly well, but was left out to dry.


No offence but I could care less about certain games whether or not it was his fault. I look at statistical numbers that lead me to believe he is one of the worst in the league at both suppressing shot or generating them. If he sucks at offence and defence what is it that he does good?
Apr. 18, 2019 at 6:47 p.m.
#5
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Quoting: gaudetster
No offence but I could care less about certain games whether or not it was his fault. I look at statistical numbers that lead me to believe he is one of the worst in the league at both suppressing shot or generating them. If he sucks at offence and defence what is it that he does good?


great so you take statistics from a year he spent playing mostly on his off side to jiudge him instead of his actual play. I'm sure that works well.
Apr. 19, 2019 at 10:07 a.m.
#6
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Boush
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Quoting: pharrow
There is no need to buy JJ out. It's not like he has a NTC. He can be sent anywhere. And they will send him for nothing. People are always looking for defense in the NHL. It's the hardest position to fill because of all the injuries.


If you're the other GM, then yeah, they can trade him. Otherwise, a buyout is the best thing for the present and future, since the Pens would have to package better assets than they'd receive to offload him to some other team that will bury him in the minors. He is and has been one of the league's worst defensemen, and most people have caught on to it by now.
Apr. 19, 2019 at 10:08 a.m.
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Quoting: pharrow
great so you take statistics from a year he spent playing mostly on his off side to jiudge him instead of his actual play. I'm sure that works well.


While I will agree that these playoffs were far from his fault, he really didn't contribute anything to help them win either. He was consistently hemmed in his own zone and had several failed clearing attempts and for the entire year he was seemingly incapable of making a good outlet pass to start the transition game. Even if you throw out this years stats since you're saying he played mostly on his off side, the rest of his career is telling the same story. He is objectively just a bad player when compared to his peers.
Apr. 19, 2019 at 2:41 p.m.
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Quoting: Pipinghotgatorade
While I will agree that these playoffs were far from his fault, he really didn't contribute anything to help them win either. He was consistently hemmed in his own zone and had several failed clearing attempts and for the entire year he was seemingly incapable of making a good outlet pass to start the transition game. Even if you throw out this years stats since you're saying he played mostly on his off side, the rest of his career is telling the same story. He is objectively just a bad player when compared to his peers.


Dumo and Letang are mostly paired with the top line. Which leaves the 2nd pairing with Malkin and Kessel. Two guys who don't really play defense. So I'm not sure how you can put it all on him. Those are just some facts. On top of it, his partner was recovering from a broken ankle and was never right, not that I would expect him to be such a short time after a fracture.

Quoting: Boush
If you're the other GM, then yeah, they can trade him. Otherwise, a buyout is the best thing for the present and future, since the Pens would have to package better assets than they'd receive to offload him to some other team that will bury him in the minors. He is and has been one of the league's worst defensemen, and most people have caught on to it by now.


IF there is one thing that is true in the NHL. Someone is always looking for defense. ALways. It won't cost anything of any real value to unload him.
Apr. 19, 2019 at 3:12 p.m.
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Quoting: pharrow
Dumo and Letang are mostly paired with the top line. Which leaves the 2nd pairing with Malkin and Kessel. Two guys who don't really play defense. So I'm not sure how you can put it all on him. Those are just some facts. On top of it, his partner was recovering from a broken ankle and was never right, not that I would expect him to be such a short time after a fracture.



IF there is one thing that is true in the NHL. Someone is always looking for defense. ALways. It won't cost anything of any real value to unload him.


I'm not trying to put it all on Johnson, but by every measure available to evaluate a player Johnson was making almost every one of his teammates worse when they were on the ice together. He also had roughly the same 5on5 TOI with both Crosby and Malkin (~371 minutes with Crosby; ~365 minutes with Malkin) in the regular season. Both of them had significantly better numbers away from Johnson. I agree that Schultz should harbor some of the blame, understandably as you said with the poo ankle, but if you look at the numbers all season while Schultz was out and Johnson was tried with just about every other Dman on the team their numbers drop with him. There is just no way to convince me that Jack Johnson isn't a terrible hockey player. He doesn't pass the eye test or the stat test.
Apr. 19, 2019 at 3:19 p.m.
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Quoting: Pipinghotgatorade
I'm not trying to put it all on Johnson, but by every measure available to evaluate a player Johnson was making almost every one of his teammates worse when they were on the ice together. He also had roughly the same 5on5 TOI with both Crosby and Malkin (~371 minutes with Crosby; ~365 minutes with Malkin) in the regular season. Both of them had significantly better numbers away from Johnson. I agree that Schultz should harbor some of the blame, understandably as you said with the poo ankle, but if you look at the numbers all season while Schultz was out and Johnson was tried with just about every other Dman on the team their numbers drop with him. There is just no way to convince me that Jack Johnson isn't a terrible hockey player. He doesn't pass the eye test or the stat test.


Yeah becauase JJ was playing on his right side, when he's left handed. You have any idea how hard it is to backhand a point to point pass. You know how hard it is to look like a competent defenseman when you can't make the simplest of passes because you are on your off side.

There is way more to this story than just, he was bad, me think he bad.

There are a whole lot of reasons that it looked bad. Many of them have little if nothing to do with JJ. That's the point you don't seem to want to accept.

Things did not go the penguins way this year. You could see that by game 4 when shultz left with a broken ankle. It all went down hill from there. They never recovered.
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Apr. 19, 2019 at 3:42 p.m.
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Quoting: pharrow
Yeah becauase JJ was playing on his right side, when he's left handed. You have any idea how hard it is to backhand a point to point pass. You know how hard it is to look like a competent defenseman when you can't make the simplest of passes because you are on your off side.

There is way more to this story than just, he was bad, me think he bad.

There are a whole lot of reasons that it looked bad. Many of them have little if nothing to do with JJ. That's the point you don't seem to want to accept.

Things did not go the penguins way this year. You could see that by game 4 when shultz left with a broken ankle. It all went down hill from there. They never recovered.
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Has he played on his offside his entire career? Because his numbers this year are only slightly worse than the rest of his career. I'm not entirely basing my statement of him being a bad player off of this year where the team as a whole was off. I am aware that playing your off side will have a negative effect, but the fact is nothing in his career is pointing to this season being an anomaly.
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Apr. 19, 2019 at 4:04 p.m.
#12
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Quoting: Pipinghotgatorade
Has he played on his offside his entire career? Because his numbers this year are only slightly worse than the rest of his career. I'm not entirely basing my statement of him being a bad player off of this year where the team as a whole was off. I am aware that playing your off side will have a negative effect, but the fact is nothing in his career is pointing to this season being an anomaly.


So lets judge a player based on what he did elsewhere and not on the team. That makes sense. I'm sure Gudbranson is horrible in your mind too. I mean that was going to be a train wreck trade right. And I mean hell, Schultz we should have never traded for him, he is an awful player did you see how bad he was for Edmonton.

Honestly, your expectations on a player are unreal.
Lets judge you by how you played elsewhere. Lets put you on your off side. When you are on your handed side, we give you a partner who is just coming back with a broken ankle. By the way, we will pair you a Lot with Phil Kessel who is known for his amazing defensive abilities and Malkin who is right behind him on the ALL defense team.

Sure thing, get out there and have a +60 corsi and be a +100 on the year.

You realize there are guys who finished the year in the -40 and -30s right. Most of which were in better spots than JJ was all year.

This is why you aren't a GM.
Apr. 19, 2019 at 4:18 p.m.
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Quoting: pharrow
So lets judge a player based on what he did elsewhere and not on the team. That makes sense. I'm sure Gudbranson is horrible in your mind too. I mean that was going to be a train wreck trade right. And I mean hell, Schultz we should have never traded for him, he is an awful player did you see how bad he was for Edmonton.

Honestly, your expectations on a player are unreal.
Lets judge you by how you played elsewhere. Lets put you on your off side. When you are on your handed side, we give you a partner who is just coming back with a broken ankle. By the way, we will pair you a Lot with Phil Kessel who is known for his amazing defensive abilities and Malkin who is right behind him on the ALL defense team.

Sure thing, get out there and have a +60 corsi and be a +100 on the year.

You realize there are guys who finished the year in the -40 and -30s right. Most of which were in better spots than JJ was all year.

This is why you aren't a GM.


I'd say you sound like Jack Johnson's mom or dad with how much you're defending him but we all know how that relationship is. But jokes aside, how are you supposed to evaluate a player aside from how he's played elsewhere? He's been in multiple systems on multiple teams and he's never been good. Schultz clearly had some skill and was just played in a position well above where he was at the time. You also seemed to glance over the fact that he had more 5 on 5 ice time with Crosby than Malkin or Kessel this year. And Malkin and Phil will never win any Selke's that's for sure, but they also have a proven track record of generating offense. When Johnson was on the ice with them, they were constantly hemmed in their own zone and a lot of that was from Johnson not being able to make a good first pass to exit the zone. You're blaming good players for the failures of bad players.
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Apr. 19, 2019 at 4:20 p.m.
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if you are a caps fan you know contracts for overpaid defenseman can be dumped without a buyout(Orpik). But even if it couldn't, they could send him to the minors and save 1m that way.

Also Gudbranson was actually pretty decent after getting to the pneguins.
Apr. 20, 2019 at 1:46 a.m.
#15
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Quoting: Pipinghotgatorade
I'd say you sound like Jack Johnson's mom or dad with how much you're defending him but we all know how that relationship is. But jokes aside, how are you supposed to evaluate a player aside from how he's played elsewhere? He's been in multiple systems on multiple teams and he's never been good. Schultz clearly had some skill and was just played in a position well above where he was at the time. You also seemed to glance over the fact that he had more 5 on 5 ice time with Crosby than Malkin or Kessel this year. And Malkin and Phil will never win any Selke's that's for sure, but they also have a proven track record of generating offense. When Johnson was on the ice with them, they were constantly hemmed in their own zone and a lot of that was from Johnson not being able to make a good first pass to exit the zone. You're blaming good players for the failures of bad players.


You continuously want to pile the whole fault of things onto JJ. There are 4 other players on the ice there.
The fact of the matter is when he played his natural side he went from a -20 to a -4. That's a +16. That means more goals were going in the opponents net than his. I don't know what you want from him.
But that part is pretty clear. You will never know what the season should have looked like because at game 4 on it was him playing the offside, him playing with a partner with a broken ankle healing. What they asked him to do all year was not easy. Most players would fair no better playing their off side. You saw what you were going to get out of him in the playoffs. None of those goals against were his fault. I broke it down for you. And he's been dealing with crap like that ALL year. Players pinching when they shouldn't leaving him on 2 on 1s. Which frankly is one of the biggest issues on this team and one you fail to address. Forwards not helping the defense out when they should be.

But go on keep thinking if it wasn't for JJ they'd still be in the playoffs. Because that's some epic BS and we both know it.
Apr. 20, 2019 at 10:26 p.m.
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Quoting: pharrow
You continuously want to pile the whole fault of things onto JJ. There are 4 other players on the ice there.
The fact of the matter is when he played his natural side he went from a -20 to a -4. That's a +16. That means more goals were going in the opponents net than his. I don't know what you want from him.
But that part is pretty clear. You will never know what the season should have looked like because at game 4 on it was him playing the offside, him playing with a partner with a broken ankle healing. What they asked him to do all year was not easy. Most players would fair no better playing their off side. You saw what you were going to get out of him in the playoffs. None of those goals against were his fault. I broke it down for you. And he's been dealing with crap like that ALL year. Players pinching when they shouldn't leaving him on 2 on 1s. Which frankly is one of the biggest issues on this team and one you fail to address. Forwards not helping the defense out when they should be.

But go on keep thinking if it wasn't for JJ they'd still be in the playoffs. Because that's some epic BS and we both know it.


The first thing I said was that I agree it wasn't all on him. All I'm doing is pointing out that he wasn't good all year, or any other year in his career. I know there were reasons this year that didn't help him. I never said he was the reason they were out, or even implied it. I said the team as a whole was off. You're the one trying to make excuses for him and act like he's anything more than a 3rd pairing d man who has never had good numbers relative to his teammates aside from maybe 1 season. There is nothing in his career that points to him being good.
Apr. 21, 2019 at 3:51 a.m.
#17
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Quoting: Pipinghotgatorade
The first thing I said was that I agree it wasn't all on him. All I'm doing is pointing out that he wasn't good all year, or any other year in his career. I know there were reasons this year that didn't help him. I never said he was the reason they were out, or even implied it. I said the team as a whole was off. You're the one trying to make excuses for him and act like he's anything more than a 3rd pairing d man who has never had good numbers relative to his teammates aside from maybe 1 season. There is nothing in his career that points to him being good.


I think JJ played better when the games counted than Letang and Schultz. Those are some facts.

He wasn't the one leaving his man hanging.

I could care less about the regular season or what he did on other teams. Just like I don't care What Gudbranson did on other teams. Every time you go to a new team you have to start from scratch and make the best of it. Players do and should have a short memory. So should fans.

Reality is we never really got to see a full season of JJ here. I'm not saying he's a norris level player, but I think he constantly gets a bad rap and it's not justified.
From the day he got to the penguins people ragged on him. I am even guilty of it to some extent. But he wasn't as bad as most people try to blame him for being and the truth is he was one of the 6 best on the roster. The reality is the team would have been worse off with him out of the lineup as much as people don't want to admit it.

Either way, he has value as a player he's better than a lot of other players out there. People have this idea that they want to cast him away and think they can just bring anyone else in and it will be better. It won't. Especially when the other defense men are leaving players hanging by pinching down allowing 2 on 1s all the time. Matter of fact it could be worse.
Apr. 22, 2019 at 12:13 p.m.
#18
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Boush
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Quoting: awesome
if you are a caps fan you know contracts for overpaid defenseman can be dumped without a buyout(Orpik). But even if it couldn't, they could send him to the minors and save 1m that way.

Also Gudbranson was actually pretty decent after getting to the pneguins.


The Caps gave the Avs their new starting goaltender and Orpik for a 2nd round pick, and Orpik was immediately bought out. General wisdom had Grubi going for a 1st - so Orpik depressed the value of the other piece in the trade and still ended up being bought out immediately because he was unwanted (or more likely there was collusion in getting him back to the Caps on a cheaper deal without the Caps having to be the ones buying him out).
Apr. 22, 2019 at 2:56 p.m.
#19
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Quoting: Boush
The Caps gave the Avs their new starting goaltender and Orpik for a 2nd round pick, and Orpik was immediately bought out. General wisdom had Grubi going for a 1st - so Orpik depressed the value of the other piece in the trade and still ended up being bought out immediately because he was unwanted (or more likely there was collusion in getting him back to the Caps on a cheaper deal without the Caps having to be the ones buying him out).


I find it tough to believe there wasn't any type of collusion going on, idk how the league allowed it. But yeah Orpik brought down the value of the return somewhat(but not a ton), in exchange the caps saved I think it was 4million of cap space. That is more than Johnsons aav. So in theory it would be even easier to get rid of Johnson that the orpik trade since it is less money for the other team to take on.
 
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