Report: Los Angeles Kings close in on Rob Scuderi, offer $3+ million annually
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 2, 2009 2:42 PM EDT
in Pittsburgh Penguins free agents
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Rob Rossi of the Tribune-Review reports:
Add the Kings to a list of teams in the hunt for D Rob Scuderi. Minnesota and the Penguins also remain in the hunt, but I’m told the Kings are above $3 million annually on a long-term deal.
That Scuderi hasn’t accepted yet proves either: A) he is legitimately torn given the Penguins offer ($2 million annually at four or five years), of B) he, like other NHL players, can’t make enough to head west.
To play off what one of his teammates told me, "What is Scuderi waiting for?" Penguins cannot get to $3 million annual for him, or anybody.
The Kings have made no signings this year and would have the room to offer Scuderi that contract. The Penguins have about $4.7 million under the salary cap and still figure to sign a defenseman and a top 6 scoring forward at the minimum and maybe another depth defenseman and a backup goaltender.
Is Scuderi as good as gone? If the Kings are offering 3+ million for four or five years and the Pens can only barely go over $2 million, that means Scuderi would be leaving --at the bare minimum -- $5 million on the table over the life of the contract, likely the only big money contract the 30 year defenseman will be offered. And for a guy who made $725,000 last year, $5 million is a lot to give up. Heck, for anyone $5 million is a lot to give up.
You can almost feel Scuderi's dilemma. Does he take the money (ala Ryan Malone) and go to a nice climate, a nice organization but suffer what could be losing seasons? Or does he take Pittsburgh's offer and stay in the organization that he knows and where he fits?
We may soon have the answer to that question. Quite honestly, no one blames him for whatever it is he decides, and really not too many fans feel sorry for him making the tough decision. Lots of us would love to decide which NHL team will be paying us millions for the next four-five years to play hockey.
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He’s got a cup, and while it’s always nice to take your best shot of being on another championship team, how much money is extra hardware worth? It’s not gauranteed we’ll even make it again.
It’s a hard choice, and as much as I’d love Scuds to stay, he’s been honest about the whole thing, I just hope he is happy with his decision. If he does go to Tampa he can show Malone his ring everyday, that would also be nice.
by Phantaskippy on Jul 2, 2009 2:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Extra hardware...
…to these guys is worth more than any money amount.
This isn’t the NFL where guys just follow the cash around and don’t care about anything but beating their wives and getting paid.
I bet if you ask Malone the question about the hardware or the cash. The answer would be hardware. I bet it is alot more fun to play in June than to play out the last two months of an NHL season in last place.
WE ARE.......PENN STATE!
by Nick7 on Jul 2, 2009 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
The wifebeating comment is totally unnecessary.
And yeah…but the fact is, $5m is a lot of money to walk away from. This is Scuderi’s only chance at a big paycheck, and I don’t blame him for taking it. The Pens would love to him back but the money just isn’t there.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, he won’t be getting a second big contract at his age.
by Phantaskippy on Jul 3, 2009 2:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
But when they are done playing...
It would be nice to leave each of your grandchildren million dollar trusts! We will never hear a hockey player say that the money is more important, but $5 MILLION DOLLARS!!??! The difference is enough to be passed to another 5 generations at least. Hard not to think of the family.
by Ulf Murphy on Jul 2, 2009 7:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
As long as Scuderi holds true to his word and gives Pitt the option to match, I say good for him. I kinda feared a team like LA or any other nonactive deadline team would slip into the picture soon enough.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
by FrankD on Jul 2, 2009 2:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Wow, the Pens are only offering $2m/yr for him? Forget that.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:06 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
My guess is that the Pens are getting nowhere with the “Dupuis for a package of gym socks” trade offers.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:12 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
My sentiments exactly. I fear that he’s just not that easy to move with or without Godard in the package. Had he tossed up a few more goals in the playoffs then MAYBE he could’ve been shopped a bit easier but this isn’t looking to good if Pitt is hoping to dish him somewhere else.
Follow the Penguins on SBN @ Pensburgh.com and twitter.
by FrankD on Jul 2, 2009 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
In order to move Doops…they’re going to have to add the rights to someone like Wallace or Bissonnette to the mix, and I doubt Shero will go there. So, with $4.7m left…maybe $500-600k on Curry’s contract, $1m on a D-man, make LJ your 7th D, and re-sign either Feds or Sykora to a 1-yr deal.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Please not Sykora. He was the only Pen to not play significantly better after Bylsma took over.
by Ulf Murphy on Jul 2, 2009 7:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Before the coaching change when the Penguins were playing abysmally and losing almost every single game Sykora was actually one of the few players on that team who appeared to actually be trying. I seem to recall a game or two whose final scores lacked the appearance of a rout only because of the pucks Sykora managed to put in the back of the net. The guy has his fair share of detracting factors – he is, and always has been, throughout his entire NHL career, a somewhat inconsistent player that falls prey to nagging injuries at inopportune times – but, for all the knocks against him, when he is on his game he has the ability to do at least a pretty good impression of a legitimate NHL sniper.
Ironically enough, the coaching change could be what adversely affected Sykora’s performance. It is entirely possible that he and Bylsma, who were teammates for a season or two in Anaheim after he was traded there by the Devils in ’02, which was a particularly turbulent time in the history of the Anaheim franchise, have residual issues left over from that period, or perhaps Sykora, who while with the Ducks was riding shot gun on a line with Paul Kariya and would thus have been considerably higher up on the metaphorical food chain than Bylsma, a fourth line grinder, had difficulty assuming a role in which he suddenly found himself subordinate to Bylsma.
Or it could very well just be that Sykora, who spent the most productive seasons of his NHL career playing within the supposedly rigid confines of the New Jersey Devils’ infamous defensive system before being traded to the Ducks, who, then coached by current Detroit bench boss Mike Babcock, played a system stylistically similar to that of the Devils, has difficulty playing Blysma’s more ‘open’ style. Whatever the case, the Penguins could do a lot worse than a proven twenty-goal-scorer than Sykora.
by kellyn on Jul 3, 2009 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
:(
He signed with LA. I’m not really surprised but the long wait made me hopefully that he wanted to stay with Pittsburgh.
Now what exactly are they going with both Rupp and Godard since these attempted trades are not working out?
by Cari on Jul 2, 2009 3:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Wow my grammar was awful on that post … was distracted by my sadness at losing Scuderi.
by Cari on Jul 2, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Where did you see/hear that?
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well….crap.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
See ya Scuds
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 2, 2009 3:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
Well, now that the Scud-saga is over…
Who should the Pens try to get on D?
Beauchemin is probably too expensive, but there are some other names still out there:
Marc-Andre Bergeron, Christian Backman, Ryan Lannon, Anders Erikkson…
Pens need to act fast though, very slim pickings at this point, unless you want an old D-man.
Heart, Max Talbot has it by the mile. The Pens are your 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions.
by Malsby on Jul 2, 2009 3:43 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Beauchemin probably is a pipe dream, although I wish he could be a Penguin, probably too much salary demands.
Nick Boynton I think is the ideal target….Wouldn’t mind M-A Bergeron but after that there’s guys like Mara, Shane Hnidy…Not the best.
At about that point you’d think Lovejoy is better than anyone else.
Pensburgh.com -- it's like the Max Talbot of blogs*
*not just because we only work for 12 minutes a night
by Hooks Orpik on Jul 2, 2009 4:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs
This is a smart move for both the Pens and Scuderi. You cannot turn down that much extra money. You can’t. Scuderi knows that this is likely his biggest (and possibly last) payday, and he had to make the most out of it. He was lucky enough to go to free agency on a high note, and he has to cash in on that.
And it’s also smart for the Pens, because as much as they’d love to keep him, that is just too much money for a defensive defenseman of Scuderi’s caliber. It may not be so bad for a team with a ton of cap space, but when you have 5 guys making a huge part of the cap (Crosby, Malkin, Staal, Fleury, Gonchar) and you have players like Letang and Talbot reaching free agency next year, you have to let guys go that are otherwise overpaid.
by RCheli on Jul 2, 2009 3:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
I knew this could happen, but it’s still sad when i read that tweet. Wish him nothing but the best.
by AronV on Jul 2, 2009 3:47 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
Seemed like what Scuderi faced was precisely what a wise older friend of mine talks about when she says multiple good choices are sometimes harder than multiple bad ones. Can’t be angry at Scuderi at all, or the Penguins organization, either. Just wish it could have worked out a little differently.
"Miracles require hard work."--Agent Gibbs, NCIS
by GreenEyedLilo on Jul 2, 2009 4:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
TAKE THE CASH, SCUDS!!! YOU DESERVE IT.
That’s my caps-locked fueled sentiment. It was nice having you around, and you were very much appreciated for everything you brought to the Pens. But we all have lives to lead, yachts to buy, and mistresses to support. Or families and kids. However you roll, Rob. You’ve worked your ass off your entire career, and it’s time for you to be well compensated for it. I’ll be your biggest fan in LA, and might even get a Kings Scuderi jersey – even if wearing a Kings jersey makes me throw up a bit in the back of my mouth. I could never buy a Ducks jersey, even though Whitney plays for them. Orange County can go to hell and die.
"Oh, buy Sam a drink and get his dog one too!" - Mike Lange
by gorgalor on Jul 2, 2009 4:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs
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