Running 2008 NHL Playoffs Thread

I, for one, get all my Penguins free-agent news from the Boston Herald.

 

I also don't mean to shit on the idea of Hossa leaving. Shero might very well decide he can't afford to keep him.

But, from every site I've seen, the Pens have $9M of cap space this year. They've also got $2.5M from Roberts and $1.6M from Eaton coming off the books. I've also seen suggestions that the Pens are banking north of $1.5M for every home playoff game.

So the cash, IMO, will be there IF Shero decides he wants to keep Hossa. What will be very interesting, I think, is what he does with Fleury (a RFA) this offseason.

 

The cash is there for next year it's the years after when he has to sign Malkin and Staal where it becomes difficult.

 

I think it goes back to the discussion a page or two back, debating whether the Pens go all in for Hossa or spread the money around to Malkin, Staal and Fleury.

Also, it's dependent on Hossa's goals. Does he want to win Cups? Does he want to cash in? Both?

 

Yes, this is a shameless attempt to get this off 68 pages before the Pens play tonight.

I'm not sure he can't keep them all. There will be another big batch of contracts (Gonchar at $5M and Sydor at $2.5M off the top of my head) coming off when Malkin and Staal hit their free agency. And if Staal is going to be pigeonholed into being a third-line center and PK specialist, I'm not sure the bank gets broken for him.

 

Still, if it means keeping Malkin, Staal and Fleury, I have absolutely no problem with letting Hossa go.

 

What Pittsburgh needs to gauge - ASAP - is whether Malkin and/or his agent will ask for Alex Ovechkin-type money. If it's true, then let him go and use those millions to lock up everyone else.

If not, then it gets interesting. But if this isn't analyzed quickly by Penguins management, then it risks letting Marian Hossa walk, followed by Malkin when he asks for a bunch more than Sidney Crosby will get.

 

I think I read somewhere that Malkin wasn't prepared to give a home team discount.

 

Will Ovechkin's mom also be Malkin's agent ?

 

If that's the case, let him walk. Ovechkin money was somewhere north of $13 million per season. Sidney Crosby just signed a long-term extension worth less than $9 million per.

No way Pittsburgh would pay someone else, even if it's Malkin, more than its captain and future, would it?

 

For what it's worth, I believe Crosby and Malkin have the same agent, J.P. Berry. I don't know if that means Malkin would simply want to be in Crosby's ballpark because, after all, the agent works for the athlete. But here's hoping that's what it might mean.