That Tanev deal is really bad. I'd be pretty upset with GMJR if I was a pens fan.

no problem with it at all. There is serious inflation in salaries. That deal will be nothing in 2 years when the TV contract and an expansion team are entered into the league.
Furthermore, he was brought in to hit people. Which he does well. That lets them shed a player like JJ, who was the teams leading hitter last year.
I'd much rather have Tanev than JJ. which is what it equates to.

I don't want to come off as rude or snarky at all. But using Johnson's contract to justify the argument that Tanev's contract is okay really is a bad comparable. That Johnson contract was recognized to be awful the moment it was signed and has been proven to be awful all year by Johnson's lackluster play.

Paying a bottom 6 forward that has little offensive upside $21M over the course of 6(!!!) years isn't a smart move. The only good 6 year contract a bottom 6 forward has signed in recent memory off the top of my head was Calle Jarnkrok with the Preds 3 or 4 years ago, and that was $2M per and he plays center and was younger. Tanev isn't old by any means. But committing that money and term to a guy you don't see putting up 40+ points a year isn't the best idea. If it was a 1-2 year deal, then whatever. Not a bad deal. If it was a $2M AAV contract, also not a bad deal. But GMJR didn't need to pay that type of premium for Tanev.

The caps got Panik for 4 years at $2.75M and he's expected to produce a lot of offense. They got Hathaway (a guy who will likely be playing the same role as Tanev and potentially do it just as well) for $1.5M AAV for 4 years. This deal the pens just signed with Tanev may turn out to look just like the Johnson deal signed last year; not good at all.

Team is worse. D sucks. G will not replace K's goals. Team is soft, slow and one injury to Malkin or Cindy from missing the playoffs. Boston, Caps, Isles all tougher to play against in playoffs. This looks like Chicago two years ago. Top heavy and bad D.

Watching people try to talk themselves into thinking the Penguins are making acceptable moves is painful. The short term direction of the team is in absolute free fall.

every team is 1 star injury away from missing the playoffs. So that means very little.



I think Tanev has more upside than both of those players. It's a difference between quality and quantity. Tanev has more upside to his game. Tanev has been in the league for 3 years and is coming into his own. He is trending upward improving every year as his opportunity grows. Panik has been in 7, he is what he is. Hathaway is not the player Tanev is. So that really isn't an equal comparison.

You look to much into what you want to see.
Tanev was a talented player buried on a WPG team. He'll get more opportunity here.
He also becomes the reason they feel comfortable moving JJ, and that's a win. No two ways about it.

... do the pens need one terrible contract on their team at all times? Is that why they're comfortable moving Johnson?

There isn't really a way to spin that Tanev signing into being a good one. If he turns out to be an amazing two way forward who puts up 15 goals a year NOT playing with Crosby, it's a win. That's pretty unlikely. Otherwise, too much money, too much term. Not a good signing.

And Panik is better for less money. Hathaway will play a similar role to Tanev making less than half of what Tanev makes. It's not about "looking too much into what I want to see" (like what???), it's facts.

Hathaway will play 4th line if he plays at all for the caps.
Tanev will probably gravitate to the 3rd line, and has a lot more upside than Panik.
I don't know how you think Panik is better. 5 on 5 they scored the same amount of goals last year and Panik had a lot more opportunity. On top of it Tanev has 5 short handed goals in the last 2 years.
He's a better all around player. You'll this year. He'll get more opportunity this year.

You shouldn't worry about 4 or 5 years down the road for the pens. Their window is the next 3 years. Then it gets slammed shut with Malkin and Letang contracts expiring. After that nothing will really matter.