No Feeling Is Final

What about team cohesion? The 2025/2026 Pens roster was described by EVERYONE as the best, most cohesive group anyone had seen in a long time. That the vibes were immaculate in the locker room and they achieved what they did because of that.

I am disappointed but not surprised that the last big signing announcement was Geno. Once he was finished I didn’t see him re-signing anyone else on the list of NHL UFAs. I was hopeful he’d re-sign our AHL UFAs but I am not shocked that Boko went to Charlotte and RHP is still unsigned as of the last time I looked.

From a practical outsiders viewpoint my understanding of GMKD’s long term plan is that it hasn’t changed. He’s prioritizing getting younger across the board while acquiring promising young talent and developing it at all levels with a focus on moving players through ECHL, AHL, and then if they’re ready, to the NHL. To give the Penguins flexibility while that talent develops and as entry level contracts (elcs) are used and expire (they are a default of 3 years) he is looking for veteran players (aka unrestricted free agents) to sign for short term and relatively cheap. That makes it hard for the Pens to be competitive on the free agent market.

A lot of the UFAs that Pens have signed in the last year or two are on bounce back or prove-it contracts (Anthony Mantha). Same with the expiring contracts we have taken on (Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton).

The longest contract GMKD has signed in the last year is Lizzo’s 3 year extension. The largest contract in terms of cap hit is Geno’s $5.5m. The highest cap hit on our team is EK’s $10m, followed by Sid’s $8.7, followed by Tanger’s $6.1m.

The Penguins are not a team that is giving anyone long term security or a lot of money. That makes it hard to attract people and keep people. That’s partially why Dubas is trading for people under longer contracts like Korczak (which was a trade) who has a cap hit of $3.25m for 4 years, or RFAs where Pens have a lot more control over player movement and contract term. The UFAs we did sign? $5m for 1 year and $4m cap hit for 2. Not really contracts that make waves. Maybe it will be different once the RFAs sign contracts. Chinakov deserves both a raise and term. Who knows what his contract will look like though.

You gotta remember that the Pens weren’t supposed to be good last year. They weren’t supposed to be contenders and the fact that they nearly got swept in the first round proved that they aren’t, not where it counts. I’m not sure whether GMKD has a 3 year or 5 year plan but last year was year 1 or 2. Maybe if the prospects and AHL guys make enough steps forward we can try for contention starting the year after next. Until then GMKD has been signing short deals that give him flexibility to flip or dump players when he’s ready to transition from short term treading water into long term success.

The problem is ELCs and those short term deals expire. So he has to make sure he has cap space for the next wave of contracts that need to be re-signed or extended. Avery Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Owen Pickering, and Sergei Murashov are all making league minimum on ELCs that expire at the end of next season. Those are all promising young players in the system that deserve to be making more money, especially if any of them actually manage to stick it out with the NHL team this upcoming season. On top of that Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Erik Karlsson all need new contracts next year, along with Tommy Novak, Elmer Soderblom, Justin Brazeau, and Sam Girard. It’s a year over year thing. There’s a reason we aren’t giving out contracts like Graves which was 6 years because now we’re stuck with him. We will likely see people on expiring contracts traded if Pens don’t want to sign them for more money or more years. Why don’t the Pens prioritize the vibe? Because they’re prioritizing the sport and the business.

If you’re wondering why the Pens didn’t sign some of their UFAs, there’s a number of reasons.

Anthony Mantha, as fun as he was, doesn’t have a contract because he deserves a raise, he deserves more than 2 years of term, and he’s in a roster spot the Pens want one of the AHL guys to fill. Why he doesn’t have one with another team? No idea. I’m not privy to his negotiations.

Shea signed with the Oilers for 5 years and a $4m cap hit. Maybe GMKD would have given him $4m (I doubt it but maybe) but he never would have given him more than 3 years. GMKD said in his end of year press conference that Dewer probably could have made more in free agency than what the Pens offered him, but he wanted to stay. Shea is making that more money and I commend him for it.

Cookie probably could have been re-signed since he signed for 2 years and a $2.8 cap hit. However the minute I saw he was 34 years old I knew GMKD wouldn’t do it. Keeping him around is the opposite of getting younger. He did have a lot of career highs last season, but there’s no guarantee he will top that next season and Pens already have a replacement. Soderblom is 24, an RFA, has 1 more year on his contract at $1.13m and looked good enough on 4th line when Lizzo was out that I wasn’t scared the Pens would fall to pieces without the team’s emotional support forward who can play defense. That’s Cookie’s roster spot filled and then Pens can have Brazeau on third line next to Kindel or call up Hayes or McGroarty.

Pens were never going to re-sign Kevin Hayes despite how much the fanbase and the locker room loves him. He deserves to play hockey and not be a healthy scratch for 54 out of 82 games. I hope he signs somewhere and is very happy. I love that man. He deserves better than locker room mascot.

Stu? Murashov or Blomqvist can’t get the backup position if we have 2 NHL caliber goalies and Silovs is an RFA which means we have more control over his contract. Pens were only ever going to keep one of the NHL goalies so long as the AHL ones look ready, and Murashov took the baby pens to the ECF. I’m not surprised they didn’t keep Stu after he lost the first 3 games of round 1. Maybe if they had made it to round 2 things could have been different with Stu but I doubt it.

Cliffy? I liked him but I don’t see how the current mess that is our D corps is any worse off without him. He’s a great guy in the room but GMKD isn’t looking at the room he’s looking at player stats and contracts. Clifton is a low ceiling respectable floor 6th or 7th Dman kind of player and that level of player is a dime a dozen in the NHL. I would rather see Bruno or Picks or someone else in the minors compete for his spot on the roster as much as I liked watching him on and off the ice. Cliffy played 50 nhl games last season which is more than I thought he did but I don’t think he was injured at any point which means he spent 30 games as a healthy scratch/7th defenseman. He deserves regular ice time. He deserves more money. I hope he gets it in Boston.

vs shitheels who make their careers off tough guy reputations melting like warm butter in the hostile market of [checks notes] fucking ottawa and running off to miami rather than lead anyone or build anything

vs soft "overly emotional" jakub dobeš (who i cannot stress enough cried on camera TWICE last season AND called a (still unknown) guy out for probably using slurs mid game) lamenting the playoff run ending because he wanted to keep playing hockey with his friends

in bed later STILL not over it, and being bitchy about "should i call pike? you are so excited to let him get you pregnant?"

and shane is *eyeroll* "hey ilya? should we pause on foreplay and cover biology real quick? seems like russia kind of fucked up on the sex ed if you're actually asking me that fucking question."

and ilya is still too simmering in jealousy to joke about it yet and is just, "if anyone is going to get you pregnant, hollander, it will be ME." while pinning shane to the mattress.