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Hmmmmm. What is with these players??? I guess playing for a good team just doesn't cut it! Money, Money, Money!!!!!

I guess Danny Devito said it best. Money talks and Bull SH#$T walks!

POPS | 06/27/08, 06:00 AM

I said it before.....they'll pay Whitney $4mil/year and not Orpik? Ok...

Therrien Rocks | 06/27/08, 07:20 AM

I believe the offer to Orpik was 4 years at $13 mil.

Therrien Rocks | 06/27/08, 07:24 AM

You'd figure these idiots would take less money to play for a legit team .. Orpik is not worth anymore than $3 mil a year

UtleyMVP08 | 06/27/08, 07:40 AM

Orpik deserves 4mil more than Whitney. The Pens shouldn't have given him that contract.

DurkDiggler | 06/27/08, 08:06 AM

let's stop blaming the players, and start blaming Ray Shero. What is this guy doing? Supposedly orchestrating deals to keep 2 of the top 3 UFA's, now all 3 have decided to test the market?? Unbelievable. Shero needs to start coughing up some dough, and ENOUGH DOUGH, to keep these guys here in the Pittsburgh!! Come on Ray..what are you doing? Sabotage? Seriously..

BeamTeam | 06/27/08, 08:38 AM

Orpik is a rugged, character-first defenceman. His value is not higher than 3-3.5 /season. I believe Shero is bang-on with this offer. You cannot start overpaying guys like this, because it tosses the balance of the club upside down. I believe Orpik was offered a fair deal. If he chooses to leave for a better offer, so be it. The Pens will look elsewhere for a couple of affordable defencemen.

The Pens are in a tough spot. They already have Crosby signed for large dough. They have to get Malkin signed for large dough. They have to get Staal and Fleury signed long-term as well. They are very top-heavy toward the Cap. They have to be very smart with shelling out money to the rest of their roster to avoid being the next T-Bay, whose "Big 3" soaked up all the salary and left the rest of the roster to also-rans and never-beens.

joec | 06/27/08, 08:47 AM

Hossa and Malone are gone...i think everyone pretty much expected that to be. There is no way we can pay Malone close to $5 mil a year for his offensive production, regardless of whether he is a tough player. Orpik is a HUGE priority...I would say he should be #1 right now. I share everyone's earlier thoughts on Ryan Whitney...somehow overpaid doesn't do it justice.

shafnutz05 | 06/27/08, 08:52 AM

No w maybe you pen fans will realize what a tough job it is to keep a team together. Kudo's to Ken Holland of the RED WINGS.

joefordnproud | 06/27/08, 09:01 AM

No w maybe you pen fans will realize what a tough job it is to keep a team together. Kudo's to Ken Holland of the RED WINGS.

joefordnproud

And also that the "win now" thingy almost never works

BETTMAN S***S

Spiny Norman | 06/27/08, 09:30 AM

No w maybe you pen fans will realize what a tough job it is to keep a team together. Kudo's to Ken Holland of the RED WINGS.
joefordnproud | 06/27/08, 09:01 AM
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Yeah they do a good job, but you have to realize it's not all because of their genius. They got enough special guys that are willing to be at below market value to keep a good team together, and that's not something you can always predict. It's not Shero's fault that he is making fair offers and they are getting turned down. If anything he is doing a great job by not chasing after people and over paying them.

sdvdk5 | 06/27/08, 09:43 AM

Someone said yesterday. It bears repeating: O-prick!

DCruiser | 06/27/08, 09:50 AM

I said all along they'll never keep this team together. They're going to have 4-5 guys taking up the cash...they're going to suffer on the backend.
The only way they keep this team competitive is to dump Malkin no matter what the rabid Pens fans think....it's the logical move to free up money for the supporting cast.
When you've got all these UFAs you've got a problem if you give Malkin big bucks...
Hall
Eaton
Dupuis
Conklin
Malone
Orpik
Roberts
Ruutu
All these guys and you still say you want to sign Hossa? They couldn't get it done on 65 mil let alone what they got for a cap now

mhwings | 06/27/08, 09:52 AM

I'm sure a lot of players are going to reject the Penguin's offers.

"You'd figure these idiots would take less money to play for a legit team .. Orpik is not worth anymore than $3 mil a year

UtleyMVP08 | 06/27/08, 07:40 AM
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He's worth more than 3 if you look at the other players making that money. Christian Backman makes 2.5. And because of stupid Sather he is on the books for this season @ 2.5.

These players aren't idiots; they want to get paid. Plus, do you really think the players are all going to sit down and agree to take chump change to keep the team together? They have some HUGE UFAs to sign who will soak up all the cap and guys like Malone and Orpik know this.

The Pens chance was last season and they lost. Now they have to rebuild. Maybe not getting another consecutive top 3 consecutive draft pick next season will be a blessing in disguise.

OtherOne81 | 06/27/08, 09:54 AM

"All these guys and you still say you want to sign Hossa? They couldn't get it done on 65 mil let alone what they got for a cap now

mhwings | 06/27/08, 09:52 AM
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Exactly. You can't expect everyone to take a home-town discount. That's absurdly naive.

OtherOne81 | 06/27/08, 09:56 AM

When you've got all these UFAs you've got a problem if you give Malkin big bucks...
Hall
Eaton
Dupuis
Conklin
Malone
Orpik
Roberts
Ruutu
All these guys and you still say you want to sign Hossa? They couldn't get it done on 65 mil let alone what they got for a cap now

mhwings
Roberts is (hopefully) done
Ruutu...won't command big money
I'm still not sold on Dupuis. He'll wear out his welcome here
Not sure about Malone
Someone said the other day Laroque is gone too...is that on the level?


BETTMAN S***S

Spiny Norman | 06/27/08, 10:02 AM

Love the Pens, they had a great year last year, but love the Sabres more and would love to see Orpik in Sabres blue. The way the league is now it's tough to keep all of your good players. The fans want the players, but the players/ agents want the money. Loyalty is a thing of the past. Looking forward to coming to Pittsburgh this year as our kids are going to play in one of the Three Rivers Cup Series Tournmaents. Heard from others the tourney was great and Pittsburgh was a blast.

White Buffalo | 06/27/08, 10:31 AM

Yeah Spiny...Georges is a UFA ...but I'm pretty sure he'll move on. However..they do have to sign someone to have as an enforcer for Crosby. It's just the nature of the game ...guys are gonna run your star players if you've got nobody that will stand up

mhwings | 06/27/08, 10:40 AM

From the new issue of No S**T Monthly

The way the league is now it's tough to keep all of your good players. The fans want the players, but the players/ agents want the money. Loyalty is a thing of the past.

(just joking...I agree 100% though)

Spiny Norman | 06/27/08, 10:41 AM

This makes me think of the time Dana Murzyn, the orignal pylon, got a $2 million contract with Hongcouver. Totally unwarranted.

I'm not comparing Orpik to Murzyn but I really thing he's asking too much.

I think there should be a bigger spread between those folks pay to see and those who fill gaps on the bench. Just because a guy gets $8 million for getting 45 goals doesn't mean a guy who gets 22 goals should get $4 million.

That doesn't necessarily apply to defensemen as their value is less easy to quantify. But a salary structure for a team doesn't have to follow a propotional straight line. Many more should get much less.

Hank Kingsley | 06/27/08, 10:55 AM