I understand that this team needs to start selling and rebuilding, but you should only sell guys if you're getting a good return for them. Bunting is a guy I'm thinking they should hold onto and trade him as a rental at the deadline next year. Granted NHL GMs don't just go on hockeydb to evaluate players, but I think Bunting's bad start (1 point in 11 games) really hinders how good he has been since that bad start. Outside of October, Bunting has 19 goals and 42 points in 51 games for the Penguins, they should be getting a really strong return for him.
I think they'd be getting a return pretty similar to what Tyler Bertuzzi got in 2023 (2024 1st and 2025 4th), so if you're not getting a 1st rounder for Bunting, I'd hold onto him and wait until next deadline. If Bunting continues his great play with the Penguins, I think you can probably get a 2027 1st if you're trading Bunting at the 2026 deadline.
This seems silly considering what comparable UFAs would be getting. I'm not saying you're necessarily wrong, but teams are going to be giving Rakell caliber players even bigger deals in UFA this year.
He's on pace for about 40 goals and 70 points this year and will be 32 this off-season. What would he be getting in UFA this year? Likely larger than the 3 year, $5 million AAV that he has left on his current deal. Marchessault had an almost identical season last year with Vegas at age 33 (42 goals and 69 points in 82 games) and he signed for 4 years at $5.5 million with Nashville.