Hossa & Pens talk break

[joos]

GM Ray Shero has told reporters on Saturday that talks with Hossa have broken off and that he will test UFA market.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=241327&l...s=topStory_nhl

[lanky522]

joos wrote:

GM Ray Shero has told reporters on Saturday that talks with Hossa have broken off and that he will test UFA market.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=241327&l...s=topStory_nhl

can\'t say I didn\'t see this coming...

If he wanted to stay, he wouldv\'e signed before the draft... when he hadn\'t signed last night, I figured it was only a matter of time before he was done in pittsburgh...

[ridinryan44]

Good news being a Nucks fan.. Van will do everything they can to get him....bad news for having him on my fantasy team.. I wanna see him line up with Crosby!@!!

[angelofharlem]

Perhaps Shero\'s now thinking he\'ll need even more cap room than previously thought to keep Malkin.

On another angle, any chance they keep Malone now, or have they burned that bridge by trying to ship him to CBJ?

[Dakkster]

I wouldn\'t be surprised to see an announcement about them extending Malone and Orpik in a few days.

[mister_mcgoo]

rumor had it that the Habs were interested in Hossa if he passed on the Pens but now that it seems increasingly likely that they sign Sundin to a short contract they might be out of the Hossa market...I\'m not sure why the talks with the Pens fell apart but for the guy that supposedly \'just wants to play on a winning team with a chance for the cup\' he seems awfully concerned with getting top dollar.

Who else do you think might be in the hunt for Hossa? I heard Detroit might be in that mix, that would be just ridiculous but if you want a real shot at playing for the cup thats not a bad way to go

[joos]

Well, I think they are seriously going to try and sign Orpik first.

The Pittsburgh Penguins want to sign Brooks Orpik before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
\"GM Ray Shero will meet with Orpik\'s agent on Monday and hopes to be able to hammer out a deal. Orpik would like to remain in Pittsburgh so it appears that a deal is doable. Orpik has value in the penalty minute category in fantasy pools and with the Penguins continuing to get better, his plus/minus ranking should go up.\"

[Dobber]

I think the Malone bridge is burned (and may I please add - good riddance)

[dthif1980]

What is the salary cap looking in MTL? Tanguay is not cheap (4M$ isn\'t it?). Do they have space enough to sign Sundin with Tanguay on board now?

I\'m not sure they have enough space for Hossa either...

[repenttokyo]

montreal needs a C with size more than they need hossa, so sundin is a better fit for them.

[lanky522]

dthif1980 wrote:

What is the salary cap looking in MTL? Tanguay is not cheap (4M$ isn\'t it?). Do they have space enough to sign Sundin with Tanguay on board now?

I\'m not sure they have enough space for Hossa either...

montreal won\'t go for hossa now that they have tanguay (his cap hit is 5.25 btw)...

Between tanguay, koivu, kovalev, markov, and hamrlik, the canadians already have 25.75 million of their cap space taken up (that\'s approximately half their cap space for next season)... I don\'t think they can afford a 7+ million dollar player at this point.

Consider that plekanec, higgins, and Latendresse are due for big raises next season, and Kostitysn (and halak or a back up goalie) still need to be signed this summer, and the canadians will be tight enough as it is...

That\'s just my two cents...

[mister_mcgoo]

yeah with the Tanguay and Sundin developments the Habs are completely out of the Hossa game unless they plan to not resign anyone and even then I doubt they could get under the cap...even just signing Tanguay and Sundin will be slightly tricky

[lanky522]

mister_mcgoo wrote:

yeah with the Tanguay and Sundin developments the Habs are completely out of the Hossa game unless they plan to not resign anyone and even then I doubt they could get under the cap...even just signing Tanguay and Sundin will be slightly tricky

Tanguay is signed until next summer already. He has a 5.25 cap hit for next season.

:blink:

[mister_mcgoo]

looks like its official now, he has declined the Pens offer and will test his value: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitt.../s_574005.html

personally I if he really wants to win a cup as he claims I dont get why he doesn\'t sign for a little less than he could get to play for a team with a real shot...he could have done a shortened contract even

[The Comish]

mister_mcgoo wrote:

personally I if he really wants to win a cup as he claims I dont get why he doesn\'t sign for a little less than he could get to play for a team with a real shot...he could have done a shortened contract even

I think that\'s because a dozen teams have a real shot at winning the Cup. Of course Pittsburgh probably is in the top 3, but why give up millions of dollars when you\'ve got just about as good a chance on another team?

He can still sign with Pittsburgh if he wants to, it\'s just unlikely now.

Without checking into their respective cap situations:

What about Vancouver now that Naslund\'s $6M/year is gone?

Don\'t the Rangers have some room if Straka, Mara, Shanahan and Malik don\'t return?

Dallas has freed up Norstrom\'s $4.25M and Guerin\'s $2.25M buyout is wiped from the books.

Detroit loses Hasek\'s $4.1M and Brad Stuart\'s $3.5M and they have just as good a chance at repeating as Pittsburgh does of winning it next year.

The point I\'m trying to get across is that Hossa has options and if the Pens are playing hardball with his salary, then why not explore free agency?

It\'s probably better for the Pens anyway. Without Hossa\'s big salary (even if it\'s discounted), they can sign two lesser players who will help the team more overall.