Revamped defense and bottom 6

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Created by: Pensfan303

Team: 2023-24 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 1, 2023

Published: Jun. 1, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

Here is my ideal realistic offseason which is a mix of what I want the pens to do and what I believe will happen.

-- With Dubas now in the mix, I do believe we will see 1 or 2 FA signings from his old leafs team as there is familiarity there.

-- We take the L on Granlund and buy him out instead of spending assets to dump him. He only costs us 900k this season and 1.9 the following 3 which should not be an issue with the cap rising.

-- Buy out Carter. IDC if we have 3 mil less in cap space, Carter needs to go and retire. He cannot be on this team anymore. He does more harm than good.

-- Zucker walks as chances are he is going to look for 1 final pay day and with his age and injuring history, I think it's probably best to let him walk

-- After a up and down season, Jarry is re-signed on a 2 year prove you can be our guy deal. A low risk contract if it doesn't work out and if Jarry does pefrom, he gets a shot at 1 final pay day at age 30.

-- David Kampf comes in to Center the 4th line as he is very good on faceoffs, plays the PK and can chip in on offense.

-- Derek Ryan may not be a flashy name and may be old af, but with he is still a good veteran defensive foward and more importantly, a right shot center that isn't Jeff Carter and gets paid nothing. So if he sucks we can send him packing pretty easily. Every good team has at least 1 right shot center they can rely on for their strong side in the defensive zone on crucial faceoffs and as a 4th liner, he doesn't need to play much.

-- Conor Sheary is brought back to Pittsburgh because not only is he someone that Sully knows and trusts, he's also a pretty good middle 6 forward and would come at a low risk contract. Sheary isn't one of the Fancy names like Barbashev or Bertuzzi however, he's still a very solid option and a massive improvement over what we had last season.

-- Ryan Graves is brought in to bring size, a defensive presence to the defense and the ability to clear out the front of the net which was still a massive issue last season. I believe he could work really well with Letang which would leave Petterson to play with Petry. This also means one of POJ or Ty Smith would lose a spot which isn't ideal, but I believe Graves is an upgrade over both. Sully also gets the LD improvement that he wanted last season and that Hextall failed to do.

Free Agent Signings

RESERVE LIST		YEARS	CAP HIT
McCleary, Ryan		3	$800,000

RFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Gruden, Jonathan	2	$800,000
O'Connor, Drew	2	$950,000
Poehling, Ryan	2	$950,000
Puustinen, Valtteri	2	$850,000
Smith, Ty	2	$950,000
Stanley, Logan	3	$1,250,000
Anderson-Dolan, Jaret	2	$925,000

UFA	YEARS	CAP HIT
Jarry, Tristan	2	$4,000,000
Caggiula, Drake	2	$775,000
Kämpf, David	2	$2,000,000
Ryan, Derek	1	$1,000,000
Sheary, Conor	2	$2,500,000
Graves, Ryan	6	$5,500,000
Fucale, Zachary	1	$775,000
Lajoie, Maxime	1	$775,000
Highmore, Matthew	1	$775,000
Zohorna, Radim	1	$775,000
Hayden, John	1	$775,000
Bonino, Nick	1	$950,000

Trades

PIT

Stanley, Logan [RFA Rights]
2023 5th round pick (WPG)

Additional Details:

Logan Stanley has requested a trade out of Winnipeg and is poised to be dealt this offseason.

Stanley is a huge 6'6 dmen who is a good bottom pair defensive presence and would help the pens clear the front of the net more often which was still a big issue last season.

Not to mention that at only 25 years old, Stanley still has a little room to grow and with the right coaching, could excel in a 3rd pair role.

WPG

DeSmith, Casey
2023 3rd round pick (NJD)

Additional Details:

With the Penguins looking for a true 1B behind Jarry, they move on from Desmith who is a good backup, don't get me wrong however, that's all he will ever be and the penguins need someone that can step in and split starts with Jarry to insure he stays healthy.

PIT

Anderson-Dolan, Jaret [RFA Rights]
Durzi, Sean

Additional Details:

With the Kings having a log jam on the right side of the defense and needing a young LD, I believe a swap like this could make a lot of sense in this scenario.

Jaret Anderson-Dolan could be a nice piece to the Bottom 6 as he looks to finally be a full time NHL player. Hes a versatile foward which Sully likes, good skater, plays bigger than his 5'11 frame might indicate.

LA also has a plethora of foward prospect so Anderson - Dolan could be moved? If not a foward like Rasmus Kupari would also interest me however I don't think LA would move Kupari.

LAK

Joseph, Pierre-Olivier
2024 3rd round pick (VGK)

Additional Details:

With the addition of Logan Stanley and with the plans to move on from Jan Rutta the pens Swap young OFD with the Kings.

PIT

Additional Details:

ARZ was reported to be willing to hear offers on Crouse a few times now and Crouse would fetch a great return.

Crouse is a big PWF who has come into his own the last 2 season by becoming a 20+ goal scorer. Hes also a very physical foward which the pens lineup lacks right espically if Jason Zucker walks in FA which I believe he will. Crouse is also the type of foward every teams wants come playoff time.

Vejmelka to me is perfect 1B to Tristan Jarry if the pens are to go that route instead of persuing one of the big 3 in Ulmark, Hellebuyck and Gibson. Vejmelka has been good on a pretty bad ARZ team and is capable of being a starter and in this case splitting games with Jarry as the pens look to reduce his load in order to help reduce his injury risks.

ARI

Murashov, Sergei [Reserve List]
Puustinen, Valtteri
2023 1st round pick (PIT)
2025 3rd round pick (PIT)

Additional Details:

Now I know many pens fans don't want to move our 1st round pick however, this team is in win now mode and when it will comes time to rebuild in 2-3 years, we can then flip Crouse for picks or prospect when that time comes as he will still be young and under contract. Hopefully his value only goes up in that time and not down haha.

Puustinen is a young foward who has dominated the AHL and simply never got a shot in Pittsburgh. In ARZ he would most likely get a shot in the top 6 where he could excel and potentially become a long term piece in ARZ.

With Joel Blomqvist poised to be the future in net for the pens, they move on from another solid Goaltender prospect in Sergei Murashov who dominated the MHL this past season and was lights out in his lone KHL start. Once ARZ satrts to be on the way up, Murashov will be ready to come over.

Now is this enough? Probably not however, this is a solid base to this trade I believe.

PIT

2023 4th round pick (BUF)

Additional Details:

ANY Team needing a veteran right shot dmen

BUF

Rutta, Jan

PIT

2023 2nd round pick (WPG)
2024 4th round pick (SEA)

Additional Details:

WIth Soucy on his way out, Seattle takes a chance on a different kind of dmen in Ty Smith would can play both the left and right side.

SEA

Smith, Ty

Additional Details:

With Graves and Stanley added to Help clear the front of the net, Pens move on from Ty smith for draft capital.

Buyouts

Jack Johnson: $916,667
Mikael Granlund: $833,333
Jeff Carter: $3,125,000

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2023
2024
2025

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
23	$83,500,000	$77,093,925	$0	$0	$6,406,075

Roster

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
Guentzel, Jake $4,500,000$4,500,000 LW, RW M-NTC UFA - 1	Crosby, Sidney $8,700,000$8,700,000 C NMC UFA - 2	Rakell, Rickard $5,000,000$5,000,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 5
Crouse, Lawson $4,300,000$4,300,000 LW, RW UFA - 4	Malkin, Evgeni $6,100,000$6,100,000 C NMC UFA - 3	Nylander, Alexander $775,000$775,000 RW, LW RFA - 1
Sheary, Conor $2,500,000$2,500,000 LW, RW UFA - 3	Anderson-Dolan, Jaret $925,000$925,000 C, LW, RW RFA - 1	Rust, Bryan $5,125,000$5,125,000 RW, LW NMC UFA - 5
Poehling, Ryan $950,000$950,000 C, LW UFA - 1	Kämpf, David $2,000,000$2,000,000 C UFA - 4	Ryan, Derek $1,000,000$1,000,000 C, RW UFA - 2

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Pettersson, Marcus $4,025,175$4,025,175 LD M-NTC UFA - 2	Letang, Kris $6,100,000$6,100,000 RD NMC UFA - 5	Jarry, Tristan $4,000,000$4,000,000 G UFA - 5
Graves, Ryan $5,500,000$5,500,000 LD UFA - 6	Petry, Jeff $2,343,750$2,343,750 RD M-NTC, NMC UFA - 2	Vejmelka, Karel $2,725,000$2,725,000 G UFA - 2
Stanley, Logan $1,250,000$1,250,000 LD RFA - 1	Durzi, Sean $1,700,000$1,700,000 LD/RD RFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Bonino, Nick $950,000$950,000 C, LW UFA - 1
O'Connor, Drew $950,000$950,000 LW UFA - 2
Ruhwedel, Chad $800,000$800,000 RD UFA - 1

Taxi Squad
Friedman, Mark $775,000$775,000 ($0$0$0$0) LD/RD UFA - 1

Special Teams

Power Play 1
Rakell, R.		Crosby, S.		Crouse, L.
	Letang, K.		Malkin, E.

Power Play 2
Rust, B.		Anderson-Dolan, J.		Guentzel, J.
	Petry, J.		Sheary, C.

Penalty Kill 1
	Kämpf, D.	Rust, B.
	Graves, R.	Letang, K.

Penalty Kill 2
	Ryan, D.	Poehling, R.
	Pettersson, M.	Durzi, S.

Jun. 1, 2023 at 11:45 p.m.

Oiler_fan88

Oiler_fan60

Joined: Sep. 2022

Posts: 669

Likes: 178

Derek Ryan will be an oiler very very slim chance that he doesn't come back

Jun. 1, 2023 at 11:49 p.m.

OldNYIfan

Once a Kings Fan Too

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 40,951

Likes: 25,747

If you want both Anderson-Dolan and Durzi, you'll have to make that 2024 pick your own second.

Jun. 1, 2023 at 11:54 p.m.

Pensfan303

Thread Starter

Joined: Jun. 2022

Posts: 1,466

Likes: 620

Quoting: OldNYIfan

If you want both Anderson-Dolan and Durzi, you'll have to make that 2024 pick your own second.

That's fair, I would still do that, Just wasn't to sure how Anderson-Dolan is valued

Jun. 1, 2023 at 11:55 p.m.

Pensfan303

Thread Starter

Joined: Jun. 2022

Posts: 1,466

Likes: 620

Quoting: Oiler_fan88

Derek Ryan will be an oiler very very slim chance that he doesn't come back

Fair enough and if that does happen, pens could sign a Luke Glendening to fill the same role.

Jun. 1, 2023 at 11:56 p.m.

Dan10900

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 7,261

Likes: 2,706

I would not complain about that goaltending duo, I quite like Vej. Small sample size but he's been extremely good, much better than a guy like John Gibson for cheaper. However I have zero interest in Crouse, esp if he's gonna be in the top 6. If we're gonna play a big guy who's best trait is beeg, and can't skate that well just play Poulin there, but I'd much rather just play Puustinen there bc he can actually skate!!! (Or get someone else for the top 6, Garland or Boeser maybe). I like that 4th line asw. However zero interest in Stanley, he's been horrid in WPG, he's beeg but terrible defensively (and offensively) would much rather trade for Gawanke if we're trading for a jets d man who asked for a trade lol

Jun. 2, 2023 at 12:04 a.m.

Pensfan303

Thread Starter

Joined: Jun. 2022

Posts: 1,466

Likes: 620

Edited Jun. 2, 2023 at 12:10 a.m.

Quoting: Dan10900

Lawson Crouse can also put the puck in the net which is why hes an interesting target to me while also being a physical presence. Another option I thought about was to just go out and sign Bunting or play Pustinen like you mentioned. I just think Sully would rather a left shot on the left since that's been his way so far.

Jun. 2, 2023 at 12:43 a.m.

MisstheWhalers

Joined: Jan. 2019

Posts: 23,813

Likes: 12,458

Does Gonchar still work for the Pens?

Jun. 2, 2023 at 1:31 a.m.

HulkVader

Joined: Jun. 2018

Posts: 1,305

Likes: 373

That AZ trade is a disaster for the Pens.

Jun. 2, 2023 at 7:12 a.m.

BUFF36

Joined: Apr. 2020

Posts: 5,715

Likes: 4,783

Quoting: Dan10900

Crouse is actually a pretty good skater for his Size and he can score now to. If he is available with Vejmelka I would expect Buffalo to be all over that.

Jun. 2, 2023 at 9:36 a.m.

#10

JSEB93

Joined: May 2022

Posts: 3,421

Likes: 1,027

I'll personally pass on that Arizona trade. I like Crouse, but giving up a first, third, and two prospects for a 45-50 point scorer when you can sign one of Barbashev/Zucker/Bunting etc for a similar price in free agency doesn't seem like a good move to me. Vejmelka isn't good - I still don't understand why Pens fans love him so much. He's not even better than Desmith.

Jun. 2, 2023 at 2:33 p.m.

#11

Pensfan303

Thread Starter

Joined: Jun. 2022

Posts: 1,466

Likes: 620

Quoting: JSEB93

WIth those 3 being the main Winger options in free agency, Im be willing to bet most of them get paid too much. Zucker is probably going to get more term than id be comfortable with at like 5 AAV which is eh, Bunting same and I don't see barbashev leaving Vegas TBH, I think they will do everything in their power to keep him. Vejmelka is a good goalie, he isn't elite but hes a much better 1B than Desmith and was pretty good on a god awful ARZ team.

Jun. 2, 2023 at 2:42 p.m.

#12

JSEB93

Joined: May 2022

Posts: 3,421

Likes: 1,027

Quoting: Pensfan303

There's a good amount of winger options though. There's also guys like Kane, Tarasenko, Domi, Killorn, Bertuzzi, etc. Scooping up one of Barbashev, Zucker, or Bunting, at a fair rate should be pretty easy. Like I said, I like Crouse, but he's not worth the 14th overall pick plus 2 prospects. Not when you can easily get comparable production on the open market.

Vejmelka isn't a good goalie. He's a serviceable backup. Not only is he not much better than Desmith but I wouldn't say he's better at all. Desmith is also cheaper and already on the roster. He wasn't pretty good though - he had an .899 sv% and a -8 GSAA this past season. And Desmith had just as bad if not worse defensive play in front of him.

Jun. 2, 2023 at 5:17 p.m.

#13

Pensfan303

Thread Starter

Joined: Jun. 2022

Posts: 1,466

Likes: 620

Quoting: JSEB93

Only foward I could see us getting from that group is Bunting, also by that logic, Desmith is also a better goaltender than Gibson which everyone knows is false

Jun. 2, 2023 at 8:05 p.m.

#14

JSEB93

Joined: May 2022

Posts: 3,421

Likes: 1,027

Quoting: Pensfan303

Only foward I could see us getting from that group is Bunting, also by that logic, Desmith is also a better goaltender than Gibson which everyone knows is false

I can definitely see Zucker, Barbashev, Bertuzzi and Domi as equally possible as Bunting.

Gibson gets a slight benefit because he has a history of being elite. Vejmelka does not.

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