Neal is on fire.

Ex-Pens are leading the Golden Knights to victory early on - Neal with 5 goals through 3 games, and Fleury with a 3-0-0 record and .963 SV%.

are incentive contracts a thing really in the NHL? I don't hear about it much for his next contract I would try to pay him less base but give him large bonuses if he plays over a certain amount of reg season and playoff games per season. Probably not realistic to do though They only exist for ELCs ...

Didn't Whitney sign a 4m 6 year deal way back when? Yup. But the Whitney would be more akin to Schultz than Dumoulin. He signed for 6 years @ $4,000,000 per year after a 59-point season in 2006-07. He followed that up with a 40-point season in 2007-08, then was traded mid-way through the 2008-09 se...

Erik Gudbranson, Cody Hodgson, Rostislav Olesz...good examples of players getting a decent sized contract early and then it not panning out for various reasons...seemed smart at the time...backfired... The odd thing about Gudbranson is that even though his contract is almost unanimously considered ...

Excellent points. But don't hide behind the ice time/line combo. Just say how it is...because covering it up with a broad term like "top pairing defenseman"...use the term "complementary"...Kunitz didn't have top-line winger skills, neither did Dupuis...characterizing them as such in this context i...

Not contract related, but Dumoulin related...

https://twitter.com/JMackeyPG/status/889572204165423104

Haha, I'm just trying to pose the scenario that this guy isn't the top pairing d-man that his ice time would indicate...combined with the dangers of going long-term on a bit player... I mean, technically he's a top pairing d-man in that he's playing on the Pens' top pairing for two consecutive play...

Yeah, Maatta is still the breadwinner given the cap at the time and the fewer UFA years that were bought...which is right... The UFA years are really the difference maker. Maatta absolutely gets more value out of his contract than Dumo. Dumo is signed through basically his prime UFA years and below...

Yeah, Maatta is still the breadwinner given the cap at the time and the fewer UFA years that were bought...which is right... The UFA years are really the difference maker. Maatta absolutely gets more value out of his contract than Dumo. Dumo is signed through basically his prime UFA years and below...

I also believe that he will continue to improve. Playing D in the NHL is no simple task.

To me, Dumo seems like a very low risk signing. As is the case with most defensive defensemen -- they're pretty safe bets until about their mid-30s when the skating starts to go.

I really thought he was going to come in around $3.5-3.75m, but I guess the Pens figured that they'd rather lock him up long-term for a few bucks more. This makes me a little worried about what Sheary will get, though (I know the two aren't comparable, but still). I guess the way to look at it is t...

To be clear, no one is arguing with you - at least not readily...I think the lot of us want to keep Dumo around and we almost certainly will...there's the potential for a long-term potential mistake here...that's the crux of the issue...arbitration is arbitration, that will resolve any issue, guara...

Eh. I think he is an average to below average defenseman. For what it's worth, there was a statistical breakdown of Dumoulin's play posted on reddit yesterday. See: https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/6ovcro/brian_dumoulin_pit_offer_195m_player_ask_is_435m/dkknnme/ Here are the highlights: Tim...

That is a definite low ball. I wouldn't accept less than 3 as Dumo

I hope the Penguins walk away for anything over 3.

They can't. With the rise in the salary cap, the "walk away" line is somewhere around 4mil now. They can't walk away from anything under that.

That's poor logic, as Dumo is a tier worse than Maatta...maybe more... I'm sure it will be resolved, Dumo has little on his side if this goes to arbitration...he is exercising his collectively negotiated right as a player, that's fine...we'll see what happens... What makes you feel that Dumo, today...

https://twitter.com/GlobeKPD/status/862489165719642112

Shots fired!... and Fleury with the save

Woah, hey tfrizz.

I've wanted a marshmallow man goalie for a while. A guy who doesn't make the flashy saves fleury does, but uses his size to offset an occasional loss of mojo. I THINK that I still want that, but Murray concerns me. I too am concerned about the goalie who's career numbers thus far are: 21-5/1.97/.93...

wake up, find out one of the greatest young pitchers is dead

late at night, find out one of the greatest golfers is dead

Yeah... great day, huh?

Looking for the positive out of this -- what a fitting send off for Arnie with the way the TOUR Championship ended.

Hmm, Anderson or Gibson from the Ducks. Without diving into contract situations... Anaheim - Anderson / Gibson Dallas - Lehtonen / Niemi Detroit - Howard / Mrazek Los Angeles - Enroth / Quick New Jersey - Kinkaid / Schneider NY Islanders - Greiss / Halak NY Rangers - Lundqvist / Raanta Philadelphia...

IIRC, Mike Rupp said MAF was the best teammate he's ever had.

Tested or not - and he really was not - it just doesn't build any case for Fleury to play...Murray gives up two or less, and honestly, you don't even need to count the late one as it was irrelevant to the game, and the Pens win...get that baseball cap ready for Fleury, he's gonna need it Friday nig...

@tfrizz nice to see you

Thanks. I figured I'd pop in and join in on the discussion for a bit... needed some time away from Pens boards for a little while

Our second unit might not have better layers but they don't give up 3 on 1s

This is true.

There's a 50-50 shot chris Boyle is a complete hack fraud so take that article with a grain of salt @mikey @fistofcaufield FWIW, I first came across the article when a friend of mine, who's an assistant/goalie/video coach in the QMJHL, shared it on Twitter & Facebook. He commented on it being a gre...