Pens keep Staal

[Chadd 916]

The Pittsburgh Penguins will keep 18-year-old centerman Jordan Staal on their NHL roster, it was announced today by General Manager Ray Shero.

Shero also said the Penguins will send 19-year-old defenseman Kris Letang back to his junior team, Val d'Or of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Staal, the second overall pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, has recorded four goals and one assist for five points in nine games. He is averaging 13:14 of ice time and played more than 17 minutes in the Penguins' 8-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night.

"Jordan has earned his spot on our roster and deserves to play at the National Hockey League level," Shero said. "We all knew about his skill level when we drafted him, but his work ethic, maturity and consistent effort have enabled him to make what is normally a difficult transition for a teen-ager."

[mack 44]

'08 and '09 will be very cruel years for this team.

[Cavs019 708]

......contingent on whether or not Staal develops that quickly. If he turns into Eric before '09, they're going to be hit with two max contracts, if not they should be able to handle Staal and Malkin in the same year.

[Chadd 916]

......contingent on whether or not Staal develops that quickly. If he turns into Eric before '09, they're going to be hit with two max contracts, if not they should be able to handle Staal and Malkin in the same year.

Plus Sid's max contract from the year before.

[kosydar 0]

......contingent on whether or not Staal develops that quickly. If he turns into Eric before '09, they're going to be hit with two max contracts, if not they should be able to handle Staal and Malkin in the same year.

Plus Sid's max contract from the year before.

Plus whatever MAF is signed for. They might have to sign him to a long contract to avoid him becoming a UFA when he is 29.

[Chadd 916]

......contingent on whether or not Staal develops that quickly. If he turns into Eric before '09, they're going to be hit with two max contracts, if not they should be able to handle Staal and Malkin in the same year.

Plus Sid's max contract from the year before.

Plus whatever MAF is signed for. They might have to sign him to a long contract to avoid him becoming a UFA when he is 29.

So 3 guys around $7M each and MAF at $4M-$5M, that leaves $20M for the other 18 or so on the roster.

[kosydar 0]

Plus guys like Ouellet, Armstrong, and Whitney won't come cheap either. Its going to be like Buffalo this season, only a hell of a lot worse. It'll be interesting to see how many pro-salary cap people change their minds when this situation comes around.

[mack 44]

They need to alter it to be more like the NBA's.

[DarkStar50 679]

Everyone is forgetting the salary cap number will likely rise, not go down or even remain the same. There will be more $ for the rest of the roster. Each player will have to ask himself the ultimate question: do I play for less money and the very good chance to win a Cup or do I leave the Pens for money? What would you do?

[Chadd 916]

Everyone is forgetting the salary cap number will likely rise, not go down or even remain the same. There will be more $ for the rest of the roster. Each player will have to ask himself the ultimate question: do I play for less money and the very good chance to win a Cup or do I leave the Pens for money? What would you do?

It's not always going to rise like it did this year, most estimates are $1m-$2M annually. It will be up to Fluery and Staal to take less money to stay in whatever city they are in at that time.

[Eazy_b97 1]

Everyone is forgetting the salary cap number will likely rise, not go down or even remain the same. There will be more $ for the rest of the roster. Each player will have to ask himself the ultimate question: do I play for less money and the very good chance to win a Cup or do I leave the Pens for money? What would you do?

It's not like Pitts is a large market team though, they may not even be able to pay the $40 mill let alone the actual cap number. Plus they likely pissed off MAF in his rookie season sending him to junior, so they may not get the "hometown discounts" they are looking for.

[Chadd 916]

Everyone is forgetting the salary cap number will likely rise, not go down or even remain the same. There will be more $ for the rest of the roster. Each player will have to ask himself the ultimate question: do I play for less money and the very good chance to win a Cup or do I leave the Pens for money? What would you do?

It's not like Pitts is a large market team though, they may not even be able to pay the $40 mill let alone the actual cap number. Plus they likely pissed off MAF in his rookie season sending him to junior, so they may not get the "hometown discounts" they are looking for.

Pitt does have one of the best ($$$) TV deals in the league. Last time I heard it was $9M US per year.

[43%burnt 0]

at least i'll get two or three years of exciting pens action. hopefully they'll at least keep sid, malkin, and fleury. maybe sucker some team into taking t-suck's contract.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

MA Fleury will never take a Brodeur type home team discount. Hes been screwed around so much by the Pens during his first contract I imagine he'll be looking for $5-$6 mill a season and deservedly so.

[DarkStar50 679]

Let him walk. He has no "deservedly so" to stand on at the moment.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Let him walk. He has no "deservedly so" to stand on at the moment.

The 1st overall pick who was sent to the minors at various times just to void any possible bonuses he would recieve. The Pens owe the kid alot, they've screwed him over in the past and thats not exactly a good way to lock up a player for many years.

[Cavs019 708]

Give Daigle 7.8 million a year while were at it.

[DarkStar50 679]

The present GM has nothing to do with how Fleury was handled by Craig Patrick. If Fleury wants to carry a grudge against the team for his first years in the system, he may be screwing himself in the long run. I can understand him being pissed but this is a business he is in. The Pens didn't have a lot of dough to throw around before the lock-out anyway.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

The present GM has nothing to do with how Fleury was handled by Craig Patrick. If Fleury wants to carry a grudge against the team for his first years in the system, he may be screwing himself in the long run. I can understand him being pissed but this is a business he is in. The Pens didn't have a lot of dough to throw around before the lock-out anyway.

Thats up for debate. They both agreed to a contract in good faith, the Penguins found a loophole (The minors) in order to screw Fleury out of the bonues they signed him to. Now the cards are in the other hand... MAF along with Kovalchuk, Phaneuf and Ovechkin are some of the very few players that a GM may be tempted to sign to a offer sheet.

[Chadd 916]

The present GM has nothing to do with how Fleury was handled by Craig Patrick. If Fleury wants to carry a grudge against the team for his first years in the system, he may be screwing himself in the long run. I can understand him being pissed but this is a business he is in. The Pens didn't have a lot of dough to throw around before the lock-out anyway.

Thats up for debate. They both agreed to a contract in good faith, the Penguins found a loophole (The minors) in order to screw Fleury out of the bonues they signed him to. Now the cards are in the other hand... MAF along with Kovalchuk, Phaneuf and Ovechkin are some of the very few players that a GM may be tempted to sign to a offer sheet.

Patrick was painted into a corner on that, it's not like it was his decision to send MAF down. I really wouldn't be surprised to see the better young RFAs getting offers from other teams.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

The present GM has nothing to do with how Fleury was handled by Craig Patrick. If Fleury wants to carry a grudge against the team for his first years in the system, he may be screwing himself in the long run. I can understand him being pissed but this is a business he is in. The Pens didn't have a lot of dough to throw around before the lock-out anyway.

Thats up for debate. They both agreed to a contract in good faith, the Penguins found a loophole (The minors) in order to screw Fleury out of the bonues they signed him to. Now the cards are in the other hand... MAF along with Kovalchuk, Phaneuf and Ovechkin are some of the very few players that a GM may be tempted to sign to a offer sheet.

Patrick was painted into a corner on that, it's not like it was his decision to send MAF down. I really wouldn't be surprised to see the better young RFAs getting offers from other teams.

Sure it wasn't completely his fault. That happens when you have a player owner, trying to make his team look like a NHL welfare case. Im not a Penguins fan by a long shot(obviously) but I think MAF could have a Calder trophy on his mantle right now if the Pens actually allowed him to play without the worry of being sent down every other day.

[DarkStar50 679]

Please check your NHL Guide book before nominating Fleury for the Calder in 03-04. He played 22 games with a record of 4-14-2, 3.64 GAA. With that Pens defence, Patrick Roy would not have been an MVP. Fleury wasn't winning any trophies that season behind that defence, no matter how many games he played in Pittsburgh.

[TBLfan 25]

I think that if they build up team moral and start winning they might be able to get all these guys to sign for less than the deserve(instead of 6 maybe 5 million). They know the money will come but you're not going to get too many opprotunities to play with a team like that very often. In the next few years they will be incredible, a possible dyNASTY Much emphasis on nasty! With how good they are now, in another year or two they will be SICK.

We all know that money rules the world but if they play their cards right and don't start dishing out money and they get the team thinking about winning instead of money they just might be able to keep the team together. Or they can overpay a couple of guys and end up overpaying a few guys and not having enough money for the rest of the team ala the Lightning :(

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Please check your NHL Guide book before nominating Fleury for the Calder in 03-04. He played 22 games with a record of 4-14-2, 3.64 GAA. With that Pens defence, Patrick Roy would not have been an MVP.

On any other team a goalie of that calibure would have had a decent defense in front of him. The team would actually attempt to provide a decent defense/offense for MAF.

Instead the Pens tanked four years in a row and look at them now... <_<

[Chadd 916]

I think that if they build up team moral and start winning they might be able to get all these guys to sign for less than the deserve(instead of 6 maybe 5 million). They know the money will come but you're not going to get too many opprotunities to play with a team like that very often. In the next few years they will be incredible, a possible dyNASTY Much emphasis on nasty! With how good they are now, in another year or two they will be SICK.

We all know that money rules the world but if they play their cards right and don't start dishing out money and they get the team thinking about winning instead of money they just might be able to keep the team together. Or they can overpay a couple of guys and end up overpaying a few guys and not having enough money for the rest of the team ala the Lightning :(

Let's compare the marketing and endorsement opportunities for Crosby in Pittsburgh and in Montreal. He could take a lower salary in Montreal and still make more money there.