FLPensFan Offseason Mock Rosters

[FLPensFan]

Something else I have been working on for a week or two now is looking at potential options of what Dubas can do this summer in terms of creating an improved roster.

My Mock Roster #1 is simply a look at re-signing our RFAs plus Puustinen (who is a Group 6 UFA):
https://www.capfriendly.com/armchair-gm/team/5061850

DOC-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
Smith-Eller-Acciari
X-X-X

Graves-Letang
MP-Karlsson
POJ-St. Ivany

Jarry-Blomqvist

This roster leaves Gruden, Poulin, Puustinen, Puljujarvi, Ponomarev, Bemstrom, and Nieto fighting for the 4th line spots and 1 extra forward spot. In the end, I settled on Puustinen-Poulin-Puljujarvi as the 4th line, Gruden as the extra, and sent Nieto and Bemstrom to WBS...thinking Nieto may get picked up on waivers or just traded away. This also leaves little room for Yager, Pickering, Broz, or any other younger player to really play lights out and force his way onto the team.

On defense, I have Shea and Ludvig remaining as 7th & 8th d-men. That 23 man roster, even counting the 2.4M in dead cap space for Jack Johnson and Jeff Petry, has 7.7M in cap space left. Plenty of room at the deadline to make an acquisition or pickup some extra picks for retaining salary.

Do I think this is going to be what happens next next? 100% no. But it is a good look at what we have, what we could build from within, and how much cap space we have to work with. I still think/hope Dubas is able to, at a minimum, package Smith, a prospect, and a pick for a 23-25 year old forward who could play 3rd line minutes at most, still has some upside for top 6 duty, but maybe hasn't produced so far for his draft team or is on the outs for one reason or another.

Also, nobody on that roster above has waiver exemption. Poulin and Puustinen both lose waiver exemption at the beginning of next season.

[largegarlic]

I do kind of wonder if we won't see much change to the roster this offseason and end up with something pretty close to that. Not that that's what I'd want, but I can see Dubas thinking that:

1) The top 6 looked pretty good down the stretch once they got to that configuration. And the 3rd line of Smith-Eller-Puustinen looked good for a bit too, though I feel like they faded right at the end a bit. Then, he assumes an ok 4th line can be put together from all the spare parts mentioned.

2) Guys whom we might want to move like Graves, Jarry, or Rakell (maybe Karlsson too if you're down on him) just don't have very movable contracts. Maybe Smith has a short enough deal and enough cred from his time in Vegas to be tradable, but that might be about it.

3) There is cap space, but by definition, no UFA is going to make the team significantly younger. And almost by definition, you'll probably have to overpay in terms of cap hit and term, saddling the team with another guy with a substantial contract well into his 30s.

[KG]

I know KD played a lot of lip service and expects every player that had a bad year this season to bounce back next season, but there is no way we can keep the team that much status quo after they year they had.

To me they need to get a 1LW for Sid and Rust. OC is a perfect 3rd line winger and it makes the team that much deeper. Sign someone like Debrusk then you have a solid top 6. Not positive about where Puustinen fits in. Does he get the 3RW slot, or do we look to bring in someone who's more established. Say Domi.

Debrusk-Sid-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
DOC-Eller-Domi
Poulin-Ponomarev-Puustinen (WBS line)

Is a solid looking team with a good balance of vets and kids. KD should look to move Acciari if the plan is to play Poulin and Ponomarev next season.

I would not be excited about having Jarry mentor Blomqvist. I really hope KD tries to move Jarry and re-signs Ned.

[FLPensFan]

I don't think DeBrusk makes it to UFA, but we'll see. Bruins have 15 players under contract next year and 22M in cap space. 3 biggest decisions are on DeBrusk, Grzelcyk, and Swayman. Those 3 today make a little over 11M. I could see DeBrusk getting 6M, Grzelcyk making 5M, Swayman getting bumped to 5M and then Ulmark moved out. Or maybe they keep all 3 and find some other cheap fill in options like they did with Heinen and JVR this year.

If DeBrusk is available, I'd go after him for sure. I wouldn't mind having Trent Frederic either, but he's under contract.

[Antonio]

It's amazing to me that all signs are pointing to keeping jarry and letting ned go instead of trying to move jarry to free up space and get assets and go with Ned and blom/another cheap option if needed. I mean they're almost the same. Same age, same draft pedigree and his year, almost identical stats aside from wins and losses. Who seriously thinks Jarry is worth over 5 million a year? The experts I guess.

[Pens4Life]

I dont really know where Puustinen fits with this team, on 4th line for sure not.. If everyone stays and I mean also Smith and Rakell, I think we should go with some more physical guy for 3rd line RW, like Acciari, who can be 10-12 goal scorer for sure on that line..

About Jarry - Ned dilemma, odd I agree - I would assume Jarry would be on the move, but could there just isnt market for him.. If we could deal him for JUST a prospect to stash in AHL and pick, without taking back big salary thats a win..

as for now If nothing much changes, I would start season :

DOC - Crosby - Rust
Bunting - Malkin - Rakell
Smith - Eller - Acciari
Poulin - Ponomarev - Puljujarvi
x - Nieto (he, Noel, Pulju, Ponomarev switch a bit, depending on opponent and form)

POJ - Letang
MP - Karlsson
Graves - St.Ivany
X - Shea, Ludvig

Nedeljkovic
Blomquist

NEW coach, BUT thats VERY VERY UNLIKELY

Get Koivunen to AHL asap, Yager, Pickering, Broz as well to all play there..

[Wyopen]

So after reviewing everyone’s recommendations, we are keeping the same team and coaching staff as in 23-24, correct?

[Toke]

At the very least Smith has to go. Try to attain something of value, if not it's not a big deal as it will be addition by subtraction. I can't endure another season watching his pouty pus all over the ice. Attitude is everything.

[IntangibleBeer]

Yeah, along with Smith, I see little reason to keep Jarry. HCMS also needs to be on a very short leash. If the team isn’t playing .600 hockey and the PP at least middling by December 15, he should be gone.

[Daniel]

So after reviewing everyone’s recommendations, we are keeping the same team and coaching staff as in 23-24, correct?

Well you know, people have down years so ya know, not Sullivans fault.

If you think otherwise

[FLPensFan]

It's amazing to me that all signs are pointing to keeping jarry and letting ned go instead of trying to move jarry to free up space and get assets and go with Ned and blom/another cheap option if needed. I mean they're almost the same. Same age, same draft pedigree and his year, almost identical stats aside from wins and losses. Who seriously thinks Jarry is worth over 5 million a year? The experts I guess.

I think the problem is there are very few landing spots for Jarry, and with his contract and term, the return is probably going to be underwhelming (as it usually is for goalies). I don't think most posters here want to keep Jarry, but, kind of like Graves...1 year into a multi-year deal might be tough to move him.

Regarding Ned, I'd like to keep him because he'd be cheaper than Jarry, he battles a bit differently, owns up to a lot of his mistakes, and seems to make more big saves. But, Ned also isn't going to be a 50-60 game starter. He'd be a split starter, and I would say that is risky if you expect Blomqvist to come in and play 30-40 games without yet seeing him at the NHL level. The other caution I have on Ned is, his save percentage numbers were propped up a bit by having an outstanding medium range save %, like, best in the league. I'm not sure Ned is going to give us much more than we saw this year. That was at least on par with Jarry. Both goaltenders high danger (close range) save percentage was terrible, like, near worst in the league, and I'm convinced that is a by-product of Sullivan's d-man fronting tactic (playing in front of the opposing forward near the crease) instead of traditional crease clearing. I could be wrong.

So the question becomes, how is this roster constructed and is there a need to save 2-3M at the goaltending position. If you look at the mock roster I posted here, the answer to that in that roster layout (which I think is highly unlikely) would be no...there was plenty of cap space available without needing to move Jarry.

[DelPen]

The only way I would hope to see Bemstrom back is not qualifying his $925k but offer him a two year deal at the minimum. Even that little bit of difference helps with cap compliance. But this guy isn’t worth his qualifier.

[Daniel]

It's amazing to me that all signs are pointing to keeping jarry and letting ned go instead of trying to move jarry to free up space and get assets and go with Ned and blom/another cheap option if needed. I mean they're almost the same. Same age, same draft pedigree and his year, almost identical stats aside from wins and losses. Who seriously thinks Jarry is worth over 5 million a year? The experts I guess.

I think the problem is there are very few landing spots for Jarry, and with his contract and term, the return is probably going to be underwhelming (as it usually is for goalies). I don't think most posters here want to keep Jarry, but, kind of like Graves...1 year into a multi-year deal might be tough to move him.

Regarding Ned, I'd like to keep him because he'd be cheaper than Jarry, he battles a bit differently, owns up to a lot of his mistakes, and seems to make more big saves. But, Ned also isn't going to be a 50-60 game starter. He'd be a split starter, and I would say that is risky if you expect Blomqvist to come in and play 30-40 games without yet seeing him at the NHL level. The other caution I have on Ned is, his save percentage numbers were propped up a bit by having an outstanding medium range save %, like, best in the league. I'm not sure Ned is going to give us much more than we saw this year. That was at least on par with Jarry. Both goaltenders high danger (close range) save percentage was terrible, like, near worst in the league, and I'm convinced that is a by-product of Sullivan's d-man fronting tactic (playing in front of the opposing forward near the crease) instead of traditional crease clearing. I could be wrong.

So the question becomes, how is this roster constructed and is there a need to save 2-3M at the goaltending position. If you look at the mock roster I posted here, the answer to that in that roster layout (which I think is highly unlikely) would be no...there was plenty of cap space available without needing to move Jarry.

I'd like to see them sign Ned and go into next season with him and Jarry. Start Blomqvist begin next season at WBS and see about trade either Ned or Jarry midseason. I think midseason would be an easier time to trade Jarry since teams could become desperate with bad goalie play, injuries, etc. If you can't trade Jarry, at least you'd get something for Ned midseason.

If you let Blomqvist come into next season playing at WBS you get him more experience while at the same time getting an asset or two for trading a goalie midseason.

[FLPensFan]

When looking for some potential UFAs that normally may not hit the market, there are a few playoff quality teams that are going to have cap issues next season:

--Toronto, 16 players committed, 18.3M in space available. Bertuzzi (5.5M), Brodie (5M), Domi (3M), Edmundson (3.5M), Klingberg (4.15M), and Samsonov (3.5M) are all UFAs. That already is 24M+ with no raises. In addition, Muzzin, Murray, and Klingberg are all UFAs. Why does that matter? Because Toronto was using the 14M+ cap space from those 3 to greatly exceed the cap. They've also go Robertson and Liljegren as RFAs likely making over 1M (Liljegren is already at 1.4M). Toronto cannot resign all those guys. Klingberg won't be offered a contract. They likely will have to choose between Bertuzzi OR Domi, if they want either back.

--Tampa has a roster of 18 players and only 10.7M in cap space. They lose Seabrooks LTIR space next year, and Stamkos is an 8.5M UFA. Duclair is a 3M UFA. Dumba is a 3.9M UFA. Already accounted for, but Brandon Hagel jumps from 3M to 6M+ next season. Tampa may have to move a player or two in order to have space to bring Stamkos back and fill out the team. Could we swing something like Smith (50% retained), POJ, a pick and prospect for Hagel? Doubtful, but, I'd look into a few players on Tampa's roster.

--Vegas. They go into the season with 19 players and 6M of cap space available, when not counting Lehner's 5M on LTIR. Mantha (5.7M), Marchessault (5M), Martinez (5.25M), Stephenson (2.75M). I doubt Martinez @ 36 comes back at that price. They don't have any major RFAs to sign. But Mantha or Marchessault may be of interest.

--Colorado. If Landeskog is ready to return, Colorado has only 9.7M in cap space and 15 players under contract. No huge $$$ UFAs, but a lot of holes to fill. Likely they re-sign Sean Walker, but, bottom 6ers Brandon Duhaime and/or Yakov Trenin would look good on the Penguins 4th line. Big, physical guys. Duhaime is a bit of a Tanev type of player. Casey Middlestadt is main RFA who should be looking for around 4M on a new deal.

There's 4 playoff teams that aren't going to be able to keep all their players. Vancouver is another. Boston will be tight on cap space with Grzelcyk, DeBrusk, and Swayman needing new deals.

There are some good players that may be available. Maybe not 25 year olds we really need, but at least a few that haven't hit 30 just yet.

[Badger Bob]

DOC-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
Smith-Eller-Acciari
X-X-X

Graves-Letang
MP-Karlsson
POJ-St. Ivany

Jarry-Blomqvist

4th Line:



I believe we will be doing plenty of slugging from a jug next season.

[stonewizard51]

Then, for me anyhow, next season will be no different from this season.

[FLPensFan]

Here is my Mock Roster #2. This is closer to what I would LIKE to see happen, and closer to realistic. This roster was built using some of my ideas, some of the board's ideas, and some of what I think Dubas will do. Two trades, 2 signings, 4 re-signs:

DeBrusk-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
DOC-Pinto-Puustinen
Duhaime-Eller-Acciari
x-Puljujarvi

Graves-Letang
MP-Karlsson
POJ-St. Ivany
x-Ludvig, Shea

Jarry
Blomqvist

Pinto was acquired for Reilly Smith and Sam Poulin. If Smith doesn't agree, then we'd swap in another resource. Pouiln falls victim to bad timing and a strong need for a RH centerman after the departure of Jeff Carter. Pinto adds the RH centerman, is 3 months older than Poulin, has 140 NHL games and a 20 goal season under his belt. So, we aren't losing youth here by moving out Poulin. I then signed Pinto to a 2 year, 2.5M AAV contract.

DeBrusk was signed as a UFA for 5.75M AAV for 5 years. We have room to go higher if necessary. DeBrusk adds another dirty area style player to the top 6. DeBrusk is also used on the PK. If he were unavailable, I'd then take a look at Tyler Bertuzzi in his place. DeBrusk will turn 28 a few weeks into the season.

Brandon Duhaime was signed for 2 years, 1.75M. He turns 27 at the end of May. He's a good 4th line player who can skate, hit, and add some offense. He PKs, and he's a bit in the mold of a Brandon Tanev type.

Matt Nieto was traded to Colorado for Anaheim's 5th round pick in 2024. Nieto has played the bulk of his career there, and after losing Duhaime to us in UFA, they could use a 4th liner like him.

POJ re-signed for 2 years, 1M AAV
Puustinen re-signed for 2 years, 800K
Shea re-signed for 2 years, 800K
St. Ivany re-signed for 2 years, 800K

The 23 man roster above has 4.35M in cap space remaining. No worries about recalling players. Plenty of room to pivot and make additions at the trade deadline. DOC at 26 would be the oldest player on that 3rd line. DeBrusk and Duhaime both under 30, Puljujarvi in the extra spot, swapping in and out for Acciari due to injury or Puustinen due to cold streak will be 26. We've added some youth to the lineup.

With 4.35M remaining in cap space, I really wanted to re-sign Ned in the 2.5-3M range. The problem I see isn't the money...but the term. Ned is likely looking for a 2-3 year contract. He may have to take less money, but I would think the job security would be a little more important. With Blomqvist ready or pushing, handing out a 2 or more year term to Ned just doesn't make sense.

The defense is hard to touch without knowing what we get in Ryan Graves next year. Have to go into the season with him as Letang's partner again, and see what happens. But we have enough cap space to pivot if Graves continues his abysmal play.

I think this is a fairly solid roster. You'll have Ponomarev and Broz, maybe Koivunen as potential callups. Add back a Hinostroza, Zohorna, Gruden as more expensive bottom lineup fillers, and I think this Mock Roster #2 is better on paper than what we had this year.

Thoughts?

[KG]

I would love to get Pinto. I think it would cost a lot more than Smith and Poulin though. Not sure what Ottawa would want for Pinto but they could do a lot better. I agree we could use a young 3C. Kotkaniemi in Carolina has been a dud there, but is only 23 and they need cap space to sign their own free agents. We could probably get him for a song. Maybe Ross Colton in Colorado could be available too.

If we clear out Smith with minimal to zero retention, we could be players to acquire players from teams that are in a cap crunch. We should be in good shape cap wise this off-season to be active. Hopefully smartly!

[Sams_Dog]

Here is my Mock Roster #2. This is closer to what I would LIKE to see happen, and closer to realistic. This roster was built using some of my ideas, some of the board's ideas, and some of what I think Dubas will do. Two trades, 2 signings, 4 re-signs:

DeBrusk-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
DOC-Pinto-Puustinen
Duhaime-Eller-Acciari
x-Puljujarvi

Graves-Letang
MP-Karlsson
POJ-St. Ivany
x-Ludvig, Shea

Jarry
Blomqvist

Pinto was acquired for Reilly Smith and Sam Poulin. If Smith doesn't agree, then we'd swap in another resource. Pouiln falls victim to bad timing and a strong need for a RH centerman after the departure of Jeff Carter. Pinto adds the RH centerman, is 3 months older than Poulin, has 140 NHL games and a 20 goal season under his belt. So, we aren't losing youth here by moving out Poulin. I then signed Pinto to a 2 year, 2.5M AAV contract.

DeBrusk was signed as a UFA for 5.75M AAV for 5 years. We have room to go higher if necessary. DeBrusk adds another dirty area style player to the top 6. DeBrusk is also used on the PK. If he were unavailable, I'd then take a look at Tyler Bertuzzi in his place. DeBrusk will turn 28 a few weeks into the season.

Brandon Duhaime was signed for 2 years, 1.75M. He turns 27 at the end of May. He's a good 4th line player who can skate, hit, and add some offense. He PKs, and he's a bit in the mold of a Brandon Tanev type.

Matt Nieto was traded to Colorado for Anaheim's 5th round pick in 2024. Nieto has played the bulk of his career there, and after losing Duhaime to us in UFA, they could use a 4th liner like him.

POJ re-signed for 2 years, 1M AAV
Puustinen re-signed for 2 years, 800K
Shea re-signed for 2 years, 800K
St. Ivany re-signed for 2 years, 800K

The 23 man roster above has 4.35M in cap space remaining. No worries about recalling players. Plenty of room to pivot and make additions at the trade deadline. DOC at 26 would be the oldest player on that 3rd line. DeBrusk and Duhaime both under 30, Puljujarvi in the extra spot, swapping in and out for Acciari due to injury or Puustinen due to cold streak will be 26. We've added some youth to the lineup.

With 4.35M remaining in cap space, I really wanted to re-sign Ned in the 2.5-3M range. The problem I see isn't the money...but the term. Ned is likely looking for a 2-3 year contract. He may have to take less money, but I would think the job security would be a little more important. With Blomqvist ready or pushing, handing out a 2 or more year term to Ned just doesn't make sense.

The defense is hard to touch without knowing what we get in Ryan Graves next year. Have to go into the season with him as Letang's partner again, and see what happens. But we have enough cap space to pivot if Graves continues his abysmal play.

I think this is a fairly solid roster. You'll have Ponomarev and Broz, maybe Koivunen as potential callups. Add back a Hinostroza, Zohorna, Gruden as more expensive bottom lineup fillers, and I think this Mock Roster #2 is better on paper than what we had this year.

Thoughts?

I like how this looks, but of course you have to remember that UFAs always get signed for one year more and 1 million more per year than they deserve because GMs lose their minds on July 1.

[FLPensFan]

Here is my Mock Roster #2. This is closer to what I would LIKE to see happen, and closer to realistic. This roster was built using some of my ideas, some of the board's ideas, and some of what I think Dubas will do. Two trades, 2 signings, 4 re-signs:

DeBrusk-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
DOC-Pinto-Puustinen
Duhaime-Eller-Acciari
x-Puljujarvi

Graves-Letang
MP-Karlsson
POJ-St. Ivany
x-Ludvig, Shea

Jarry
Blomqvist

Pinto was acquired for Reilly Smith and Sam Poulin. If Smith doesn't agree, then we'd swap in another resource. Pouiln falls victim to bad timing and a strong need for a RH centerman after the departure of Jeff Carter. Pinto adds the RH centerman, is 3 months older than Poulin, has 140 NHL games and a 20 goal season under his belt. So, we aren't losing youth here by moving out Poulin. I then signed Pinto to a 2 year, 2.5M AAV contract.

DeBrusk was signed as a UFA for 5.75M AAV for 5 years. We have room to go higher if necessary. DeBrusk adds another dirty area style player to the top 6. DeBrusk is also used on the PK. If he were unavailable, I'd then take a look at Tyler Bertuzzi in his place. DeBrusk will turn 28 a few weeks into the season.

Brandon Duhaime was signed for 2 years, 1.75M. He turns 27 at the end of May. He's a good 4th line player who can skate, hit, and add some offense. He PKs, and he's a bit in the mold of a Brandon Tanev type.

Matt Nieto was traded to Colorado for Anaheim's 5th round pick in 2024. Nieto has played the bulk of his career there, and after losing Duhaime to us in UFA, they could use a 4th liner like him.

POJ re-signed for 2 years, 1M AAV
Puustinen re-signed for 2 years, 800K
Shea re-signed for 2 years, 800K
St. Ivany re-signed for 2 years, 800K

The 23 man roster above has 4.35M in cap space remaining. No worries about recalling players. Plenty of room to pivot and make additions at the trade deadline. DOC at 26 would be the oldest player on that 3rd line. DeBrusk and Duhaime both under 30, Puljujarvi in the extra spot, swapping in and out for Acciari due to injury or Puustinen due to cold streak will be 26. We've added some youth to the lineup.

With 4.35M remaining in cap space, I really wanted to re-sign Ned in the 2.5-3M range. The problem I see isn't the money...but the term. Ned is likely looking for a 2-3 year contract. He may have to take less money, but I would think the job security would be a little more important. With Blomqvist ready or pushing, handing out a 2 or more year term to Ned just doesn't make sense.

The defense is hard to touch without knowing what we get in Ryan Graves next year. Have to go into the season with him as Letang's partner again, and see what happens. But we have enough cap space to pivot if Graves continues his abysmal play.

I think this is a fairly solid roster. You'll have Ponomarev and Broz, maybe Koivunen as potential callups. Add back a Hinostroza, Zohorna, Gruden as more expensive bottom lineup fillers, and I think this Mock Roster #2 is better on paper than what we had this year.

Thoughts?

I like how this looks, but of course you have to remember that UFAs always get signed for one year more and 1 million more per year than they deserve because GMs lose their minds on July 1.

Which is fine, since we had an extra 4.35M in cap space with the roster shown above. I also agree with KG that Pinto would cost us a bit more to acquire.

[praxitas]

Carolina is another team that might be tight against the cap(especially if they take a run at resigning Jake). They have over 27m of cap space next season, but they have quite a few players to resign -

UFA's
Teravainen
Guentzel
Martinook
Noesen
Skjei
Pesce
Deangelo

RFA
Necas
Jarvis
Drury

Also, concerning Jarry, if either Edmonton or Toronto do not make a deep run I could definitely see them trying to work out a way to trade for him.

[dark_forces]

Here is my Mock Roster #2. This is closer to what I would LIKE to see happen, and closer to realistic. This roster was built using some of my ideas, some of the board's ideas, and some of what I think Dubas will do. Two trades, 2 signings, 4 re-signs:

DeBrusk-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-Rakell
DOC-Pinto-Puustinen
Duhaime-Eller-Acciari
x-Puljujarvi

Graves-Letang
MP-Karlsson
POJ-St. Ivany
x-Ludvig, Shea

Jarry
Blomqvist

Pinto was acquired for Reilly Smith and Sam Poulin. If Smith doesn't agree, then we'd swap in another resource. Pouiln falls victim to bad timing and a strong need for a RH centerman after the departure of Jeff Carter. Pinto adds the RH centerman, is 3 months older than Poulin, has 140 NHL games and a 20 goal season under his belt. So, we aren't losing youth here by moving out Poulin. I then signed Pinto to a 2 year, 2.5M AAV contract.

DeBrusk was signed as a UFA for 5.75M AAV for 5 years. We have room to go higher if necessary. DeBrusk adds another dirty area style player to the top 6. DeBrusk is also used on the PK. If he were unavailable, I'd then take a look at Tyler Bertuzzi in his place. DeBrusk will turn 28 a few weeks into the season.

Brandon Duhaime was signed for 2 years, 1.75M. He turns 27 at the end of May. He's a good 4th line player who can skate, hit, and add some offense. He PKs, and he's a bit in the mold of a Brandon Tanev type.

Matt Nieto was traded to Colorado for Anaheim's 5th round pick in 2024. Nieto has played the bulk of his career there, and after losing Duhaime to us in UFA, they could use a 4th liner like him.

POJ re-signed for 2 years, 1M AAV
Puustinen re-signed for 2 years, 800K
Shea re-signed for 2 years, 800K
St. Ivany re-signed for 2 years, 800K

The 23 man roster above has 4.35M in cap space remaining. No worries about recalling players. Plenty of room to pivot and make additions at the trade deadline. DOC at 26 would be the oldest player on that 3rd line. DeBrusk and Duhaime both under 30, Puljujarvi in the extra spot, swapping in and out for Acciari due to injury or Puustinen due to cold streak will be 26. We've added some youth to the lineup.

With 4.35M remaining in cap space, I really wanted to re-sign Ned in the 2.5-3M range. The problem I see isn't the money...but the term. Ned is likely looking for a 2-3 year contract. He may have to take less money, but I would think the job security would be a little more important. With Blomqvist ready or pushing, handing out a 2 or more year term to Ned just doesn't make sense.

The defense is hard to touch without knowing what we get in Ryan Graves next year. Have to go into the season with him as Letang's partner again, and see what happens. But we have enough cap space to pivot if Graves continues his abysmal play.

I think this is a fairly solid roster. You'll have Ponomarev and Broz, maybe Koivunen as potential callups. Add back a Hinostroza, Zohorna, Gruden as more expensive bottom lineup fillers, and I think this Mock Roster #2 is better on paper than what we had this year.

Thoughts?

I like how this looks, but of course you have to remember that UFAs always get signed for one year more and 1 million more per year than they deserve because GMs lose their minds on July 1.

Which is fine, since we had an extra 4.35M in cap space with the roster shown above. I also agree with KG that Pinto would cost us a bit more to acquire.

I love what you did here. My main focus this offseason would be to acquire another centerman who's good enough to push Malkin and contribute consistent offense. Pinto can do that, pushing Eller to the 4th line center spot. That's a real key to this team's success next season. Teravainen would also be someone I would consider signing as a UFA who could slot into the top 6, or down and strengthen the third line. Of course, I expect Smith to be dealt. That may be the closest to a sure thing we see.

[FLPensFan]

Not a full roster mock up here, but, one of the top issues I see heading into next seasons.

With Jeff Carter retiring, the Penguins are going to have a large need for a RH centerman in their lineup. Acciari is RH, and will be good to have out there when needed, but he should be playing RW 90% of the time. Crosby, Malkin, and Eller are all LH. So are Poulin and Zohorna. Ideally, as mentioned before, I'd like to see Eller and Acciari on the 4th line, with someone like Puljujarvi or a UFA forward on the LW. That would be a strong defensive line that should get more ice time than a normal 4th line.

Who are the top 5 options for RH 3rd line centers?

1. Ryan Hartman
2. Elias Lindholm
3. Colton Sissons
4. Jack Roslovic
5. Shane Pinto

That's really the acceptable list. There aren't many RH centers in that 30-45 point range. In fact, there are only 9 total RH centers in the league between 28-45 points. The 4 that I didn't mention are Morgan Geekie, Nicolas Roy, JG Pageau, and Jake Evans. Evans has never cracked 30 points. Boston isn't trading Geekie. Pageau makes 5M and is too expensive. And Roy doesn't win enough draws to hold down 3rd line duty.

I don't think Hartman is moving. Minnesota just signed him to an extension worth 4M AAV.
I don't think Lindholm is going to be in our price range. Too expensive to be 3rd line center.

That leaves Sissons, Roslovic, and Pinto as the options. 2 would need to be acquired via trade, and the other signed as a UFA.

Sissons is the vet. He's a fairly consistent 12-15 goal scorer, 30 point player. He's a 52-54% faceoff guy. He can play all 3 forward positions, and he has some jam to his game. His 137 hits this season was 8th for Nashville...he'd be tied with Letang for 1st on th Penguins. He'd be an older, slightly less productive ERod. He turns 31 in November. This would be the safe trade, with 2 year remaining at 2.857M AAV and no trade protection.

Pinto would be the prize. He's only 23 (turns 24 in November). He has size at 6'3" but doesn't play a gritty game for the most part. 20 goals and 35 points in 22-23, he had 9 goals, 27 points in 41 games this season (suspended for gambling for half the season). He has room to continue growing into an eventual 2nd line center. Agree or disagree, this is the type of player the Penguins should considering moving Yager, if they had to in order to acquire him. He's young and has upside, PK, PP, faceoffs, size. Pinto is an RFA, and the Penguins can probably get away with a 2 year bridge deal in the 2-3M AAV range, which would be great for their cap. Dubas would win major points with me if he could find a way to acquire Pinto.

The total gamble in this list would be Roslovic. If he moves on from the Rangers (almost a guarantee), he'll be on his 4th NHL team at just 27 years old. He had 2 40+ point seasons with Columbus, one of which he had 20 goals. The problem is, he was a late 1st round pick who was thought to have more upside, and I think Roslovic sometimes thinks he is better than he is. He's a PP2, PK3 type of guy, but, he's horrible on faceoffs...closer to 40%. He's coming off a 2 year, 4M AAV deal which will likely see him taking a paycut. He'd be a last resort for me, but one worth taking a risk on for 2M or so.

Offer Reilly Smith for Colton Sissons and see what happens.
Offer Ponomarev and a 2nd/3rd for Pinto...and if they are only willing to consider Yager for Pinto straight up, you gotta listen and consider.

Or, Dubas and Sullivan could say, Eller is good enough, and we'll find a dime a dozen 4th line RH center to add to the team. Because, you know, improving the roster and REALLY improving the roster are two different things. This team would be 10x better if Eller starts the season as the 4C, and can move up to 3C if there are injuries. My fear is Dubas and Sullivan see Eller as just fine last year, and good enough to continue as the 3C this year.

[Dynasty1970]

Will any of this matter if Sully remains coach?

[Antonio]

Will any of this matter if Sully remains coach?

Exactly. Honestly, as I have said before, for the first time really in 37 years or so of watching this team religiously, my give a **** meter is about 0 until he is gone. After almost a decade, I just don't care anymore until he is gone because I already know 100% what is going to happen and until they change the coach, this organization is telling me, as a fan, expect the same. We have changed the roster over what, 6 times already? What difference does another mock roster make? THIS one will be the magic sauce? Not as long as our head chef has hepatitis.