Gonchar, Pens continue discussions on contract extension

If he wasn’t so vitale to the team I would agree.

And who would you trade him to? Certainly not an Eastern contender that Pittsburgh could see in the playoffs and not many bubble/non-playoff teams would want him.

So it would be to a WC contender that wanted to add $5m in salary.

While it would sabotage a lot of chemistry in the Penguins room trading such an important piece of the puzzle.

Can’t happen. If the Pens can’t sign Gonchar, best to play with him for one more playoff run and see what happens. Then maybe trade him in June like they did with Malone.

" I’d be thrilled to play five years for two million, maybe even a million."

You say that now cuz we aren’t superstars. If you played like a 5 mil a year man, u would not take 1 mil. I dont think any of us would. Even Ovie is bitching that he’s losing 2 of his 10mil a year… In the words of the late (not yet) Artie Lange, WHAAAAAAAA

Man, why do contracts sound so simply to us laymen? I’d be thrilled to play five years for two million, maybe even a million.

I don’t know what you do for a living, but say you make $50k and you go into a performance reiew seeking a raise.

You don’t think some poor guy in China or the 3rd world would kill for $50k a year? More money than they’ve ever dreamed of.

But that other person doesn’t have the skills or abilities you do and they don’t have the means to do what you do. Just the way of the world.

If the Pens weren’t playoff bound – as in, they completely bombed it this year and looked out of the picture by the deadline – then I think they’d offer up Gonhar at the deadline in exchange for a pick or something. but right now they still need him. So yeah, I don’t think they’ll trade him before the deadline. It’s not like they have to count their chips or anything. They’re still playoff bound and he’s a vital part of the team’s chemistry.

We can pretty much assume that Letang will be resigned, and Gonch will be gone.

I wouldn’t take the big step to say it should be assumed. Obviously Letang’s contract demands, on their own, will be critical to whether he’s re-signed or possibly dealt over the summer if Shero feels he can acquire player(s) with as much or more value at a better dollar hit.

I wouldn’t bet on Gonchar to return, but I certainly am not assuming this is his final year in Pittsburgh. Call it a hunch, but I get the sense he would be very willing to be back, as long as the Pens show him some respect.

“It’s just when dumb dumbs such as Jeremy Roenick, Chris Smellios, Brett Hull, Mr. Jagr to name a few from the pre-lockout days demanding huge salaries that the economics of the league and their TV contracts (or lack thereof) didn’t support.”

The owners had to agree to these dumb-dumb demands. And if you remember, it was our very own Mario Lemieux that had the very first dumb dumb contract, although he didn’t demand it. (6 or 7 years at $42mm) In our case the market dictated that the Pens went bankrupt after Baldwin left, and Mario, as the largest creditor, was given option to buy the team and the rest is history.

Please, please, please someone describe how I place someone else’s quotes in the little gray box??!!

See and who said you can’t teach an old dog new tricks!

(just beakin you a little)

nah, it’s canceled out by his “goonery”