Off Season Moves Thread

[meow]

Who knows, though? Malkin can make it work with ham and egg skaters. Sykora, Jokinen, Neal... none of them skated well, but they played to their strengths enough to have success with Malkin.

[Gaucho]

The plotnikov thickens...

[Gaucho]

Sounds terrible, but looks pretty good.

[llipgh2]

The plotnikov thickens...

[Avyran]

Yohe & Mackay confirmed it. Apparently the CBA says that, because he's under 27 & this is his first NHL contract, he has to sign a 1-year ELC worth no more than .925. If so, this is a pretty good low-risk move.

[Bioshock]

Yohe just said a team source confirmed the Pens plan to sign him July 1st

[TheHammer24]

Knowing nothing about this player and reading what those that do have said, I'm not ecstatic about the impact Plotknikov will have. But I'm pumped that we're taking a flier on a player that has never played in the NHL and is young instead of a veteran whose best days are clearly behind him. The best impact is that he will not cost more than $1 million. At worst, he will confirm to fans that Russians don't care, and his addition will some how drive Malkin out of town.

[thehockeyguru]

He will probably score more goals in 15-16 than Semin at 1/8th the cost.

[TheHammer24]

He will probably score more goals in 15-16 than Semin at 1/8th the cost.

If he scores 15 goals, this signing will be a gargantuan success.

[Dickie Dunn]

Sounds terrible, but looks pretty good.

As much as I enjoy the Mortal Kombat theme song and all its heavy metal iterations, color me disappointed that this highlight video didn't have the same music as Janne Pesonen's.

I like the look of him as a player though. Appears to be a big dude who plays who has pretty decent hands and plays with passion and intensity. Which is good, because I'm tired of lazy, soft Russians.

[cadams]

One good thing, the guy has been really consistent in goal scoring the last 4 years in the KHL. Another worst case is it's just an NHL contract which can be sent to WBS or mutually terminated if things don't pan out like Anderson.

Much rather see these moves than Ebbett or Adams back.

[columbia]

I'm score!

How much $$$?

[No Look Drop Pass]

Nobody is seeing the writing on the wall with this signing.

Plotnikov wears #16. Sutter wears #16. Clearly this means Sutter is gone! e4

[Factorial]

He will wear #61.

[meow]

I'm score!

How much $$$?

No more than 925k.

[Defence21]

I saw mention of Hertl as a target for the Pens on the other board. It was attributed to someone in the media, but I don't recall who. If this is true, and if Friedman's mention of Skinner is accurate, Rutherford is moving in the right direction. No need for guys like Sharp, Vrbata, or even Justin Williams (though he might be an exception due his playoff prowess and this team's complete lack of one).

I find it hard to believe SJ would part with Hertl given his early rookie season success prior to injury. Sure, he was far from impressive last season, but the kid is big, strong, and majorly talented. But if he could be pried away at a reasonable price, I think he'd be my first choice, followed by Skinner. I'd like to see some size added to this team while not sacrificing speed and skill. I think Hertl would do this. Meanwhile, I am not at all intrigued by the idea of Atkinson, who was rumored to come here at the deadline and whose name is popping up again. He's tiny, and I just haven't seen enough from him to get excited about the idea.

Between the recently signed defenseman and Plotnikov, Rutherford is adding some cheap depth -- potentially skilled depth -- that frees up some space to make a splash. And, if word that Kunitz is being pushed in essentially every trade talk is accurate, additional money and roster space will be freed up. Should be an exciting few weeks, I would presume.

[thehockeyguru]

Sutter and kunitz are both being shopped. I personally think Sutter being shopped is due to our lack of trade pieces more than our inability or unwillingness to sign him.

[FLPensFan]

I saw mention of Hertl as a target for the Pens on the other board. It was attributed to someone in the media, but I don't recall who. If this is true, and if Friedman's mention of Skinner is accurate, Rutherford is moving in the right direction. No need for guys like Sharp, Vrbata, or even Justin Williams (though he might be an exception due his playoff prowess and this team's complete lack of one).

I find it hard to believe SJ would part with Hertl given his early rookie season success prior to injury. Sure, he was far from impressive last season, but the kid is big, strong, and majorly talented. But if he could be pried away at a reasonable price, I think he'd be my first choice, followed by Skinner. I'd like to see some size added to this team while not sacrificing speed and skill. I think Hertl would do this. Meanwhile, I am not at all intrigued by the idea of Atkinson, who was rumored to come here at the deadline and whose name is popping up again. He's tiny, and I just haven't seen enough from him to get excited about the idea.

Between the recently signed defenseman and Plotnikov, Rutherford is adding some cheap depth -- potentially skilled depth -- that frees up some space to make a splash. And, if word that Kunitz is being pushed in essentially every trade talk is accurate, additional money and roster space will be freed up. Should be an exciting few weeks, I would presume.

I posted it on the other board, with Eamon Alexander as the source. Oddly enough, something happened overnight and both Eamon Alexander and PensReport deleted their Twitter accounts. Lots of speculation they were one person acting as multiple people, just as bad as Hockeyyy Insiderrrrr, etc. So, his already questionable credibility took a major hit. If PensReport and Eamon were the same person, then the dude had a pretty schizo twitter conversation with himself, where Eamon threatened to quit, and PensReport supposedly lured him back with $$ and as a featured writer for their site. At this point, he looks WORSE than TIOPS...a feat in itself.

I still think Skinner is a target. As I said before, other than the Friedman mention in his 30 thoughts, he's not getting a lot of rumor mentions in the media as being linked to Pittsburgh. Most of the moves that are made are never leaked.

[willeyeam]

pretty low risk move with decent upside. thumbs up emoji

[MalkinIsMyHomeboy]

signing Plotkinov sounds pretty good. We get a cheap, young player with some upside. Hopefully he'll be able to add some offense to our third line and fill in the top two lines if needed.

[large garlic]

I don't know. I enjoy all of the speculation about players like Hertl and Skinner, but I find it hard to believe that if these players really are on the block, the Pens have the pieces to put together the best package for them (unless they offer someone like Maatta or Pouliot, which I think we all agree would be inadvisable).

I take the signing of guys like Andersen and Plotnikov as an indication that management knows there's not much possible through normal free agency or trades, so they have to go outside the box and hope they hit on some long shots.

[The U]

I like the signing. Adding a seemingly legit player without giving up anything.

Looks like a 3rd liner to me with the ability to move up or down the lineup if needed.

He's a Russian winger so some reports are immediately placing him on Line 2 with Malkin? I think that's a pretty big leap.

[Tico Rick]

From Mackey's article in today's Trib, it sounds like Martin would like to return to the Pens. If GMJR can get rid of Kunitz' and Scuderi's salaries, and if the price is right, I would definitely consider it.

http://triblive.com/sports/penguins/861 ... z3dr6J0R3f

[meow]

Pens should do everything possible to retain Martin's services.

[Gaucho]

I agree.