From Matt Vensel’s “From the Point” story this morning…just depressing to wake up to this lol…
• I anticipate we will see Mike Sullivan behind the bench next season, as well. If so, all those theories about him and young players are going to be put to the test.
There's really nothing in there that we haven't already discussed here as far as the trade groups go. I did find it interesting that he thinks Nedeljkovich will stick around. I figured him to be a valuable trade commodity (relative to goalie value) this TDL, especially if you can get a goalie back as a stop gap.
Re: The Sullivan comment, I don't disagree. I can't imagine they are too upset with him at this point but at the same time, we are where we are largely because of Sullivan. So really, the time to jettison him was this summer and they didn't do it. The comment regarding young kids is interesting because it suggests that his potential short comings with young players is well-known (outside of the opinion of HF). But this is where Dubas plays perhaps the BIGGER role...STOP giving Sullivan the option. If you claim guys like Harkins and keep signing guys like Nieto, Acciari, and to a lesser extent Lizotte - he's going to defer to them over the young guys (that he may or may not have problems with). If you trade those guys away, or better yet don't sign them in the first place, you don't have that issue. Sullivan will be forced to use them and it will truly offer insight as to whether or not he's the best choice to lead this new group.
Moving this here, to not derail the 4Nations thread.
Yeah, and that's my point. This is not the time to make expensive, long-term commitments to players over 30.
Those players will be too old to be big contributors when the Pens are ready to win again. Hell, they probably won't even be here or will just straight up be retired when that happens.
In the same vein, this is 100% the time to deal Rakell. Capitalize on his value in an outlier year and unload him. You don't need anything out of him in rebuild years.
I agree with this. If we trade Rakell though, I am still okay with Dubas going to FA and signing a top 6 wing for Sid though. Even if it means giving someone a 6x6. All of the bottom feeder teams right now have a decent top 6 wing on a fancy contract and it's not preventing any organization goal.
Some suggestions include: Hall, Iafallo, Mangiapane, or...if we are willing to stretch - Ehlers.
None of these guys would prevent a tank but they would all likely help Sid get his points as much as Rakell or Rust is right now.
Another side note - Re: "we are not a first class organization anymore" - how so? (Aurora - not directed at you). The fact that we aren't a cup contender doesn't mean we don't treat players well. And if we are not treating players well, can someone provide examples? Like something along the lines of "when it was Mario and Burkle, they did X, Y, and Z. Now that it's FSG, they've taken away Christmas!"
Is there any actual basis for the comment or do people just not like FSG?
