Totally ridiculous that Mike Sullivan is still the coach of the Penguins. He should have been gone before Covid.
Rumor: Dubas has told other teams "everyone is available, except 87."”
- Thread starter HockeyVirus
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Snuggs
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- Jun 24, 2018
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Hopefully Yzerman calls in on LHD Marcus Pettersson. Unsure of what he'd actually cost but Red Wings really need help on defense behind Edvinsson/Seider.
Jauffre
Registered Grandmaster
I mean, Crosby wanted the keep the gang together no? This is obviously what he wanted? Sullivan included.
Gregor Samsa
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- Sep 5, 2020
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The year is 2055. A geriatric Mike Sullivan is wheelchaired out behind the bench for his 4th decade of coaching the Penguins
Bell Centre Hotdog
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- Aug 3, 2009
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I don’t know if it was part of Dubas contract to eventually start a rebuild and he’d be there for it.
I just don’t understand the roster it’s in a sense of no mans land.
Team possibly should be tearing down for the future but can’t.
So many players 32+, with term and also different clauses possibly limiting the trades. Some of the term is 3-4 years for some players.
I mean there are teams in worst positions but wow I didn’t realize how bad the contract situation was in Pittsburgh as they are a middle of the pack aging team at this point. I mean maybe they go on stretch run but not sure deep enough for damage in the playoffs.
I just don’t understand the roster it’s in a sense of no mans land.
Team possibly should be tearing down for the future but can’t.
So many players 32+, with term and also different clauses possibly limiting the trades. Some of the term is 3-4 years for some players.
I mean there are teams in worst positions but wow I didn’t realize how bad the contract situation was in Pittsburgh as they are a middle of the pack aging team at this point. I mean maybe they go on stretch run but not sure deep enough for damage in the playoffs.
Middle of the pack? This team is in the worst spot in the NHL for the next five years
Contracts are a mess. Team has a thin prospect pool. Aging. Has been in denial about a rebuild. They need to go scorched earth or they will be rebuilding for as long as Detroit has been
Empoleon8771
Registered User
Their future was destined to be this the second Hextall gave those deals to Rakell, Rust, Letang and Malkin in the 2022 off-season. Not that Dubas has helped because he assuredly hasn't, but most of their heavy NTC/term/money deals were handed out by Hextall that off-season.
Barsky
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- Jun 22, 2010
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Right, it's all Sullivan and Dubas, nothing to do with the collection of Boomers that Dubas inherited, who actually play the games
Empoleon8771
Registered User
The issue is can they even do that? Letang's deal is untradeable due to the term left on it. Karlsson's deal is untradeable without massive retention. Rust has a full NMC and term left. Rakell has term left. Graves and Jarry are awful and completely untradeable. Bunting is also similarly untradeable with his horrid start the year.
What's even left after that? It's Crosby and Malkin, both of who have full NMCs and would be in complete control of any moves (or lack of moves), and Pettersson. That's it, everyone else is a nothing piece or can't be moved.
SomeDude
Registered User
Dubas inheritated Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Rakell, and Rust. That's it as far as players signed for 2+ years. Other than Letang, they are not the problem.
The biggest problem with this group is that Mike Sullivan insists Rust be attached to Crosby's hip at all times.
People make it out like Dubas inherited the 03/04 Pens but everyone is signed for 6 years. He handed out or acquired most of the current bad contracts. He had the flexibility to make a lot of changes to the roster, which he did. They were all just very bad changes.
Barsky
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- Jun 22, 2010
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What's really mind boggling is the denial some Pen's fans are in about their team and the inevitable and overdue complete teardown
Barsky
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- Jun 22, 2010
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The biggest problem is the age of the core, period. Dubas did his best to stave off the inevitable rebuild and no, not all great moves, but no doubt his mandate from ownership was to try anyway. This season will see the start of the great tear down, gonna be a long decade for Pen's fans, buckle up
SomeDude
Registered User
Dubas may have done his best, but most of use would have preferred a competent person to try their best in that role.
No **** the core is old. That's why someone with half a brain (like the Capitals) would surround their geriatric stars with young legs. Most of us wanted them to start the rebuild a few years ago, or try a retool with younger players. Instead we got Dubas trying to collect an all-star team with names like Karlsson while oblivious to the team's real needs. Now we've wasted another 3 years and are stuck with tons of negative value contracts to start the rebuild and a coach who has proven time and time again he will give ice time to useless vets rather than giving youth a try.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
You keep saying this but this just isn't the case. Outside of Karlsson (who I'm not sure I'd call a part of the "core" anyway), all of their core players are performing up to their cap hits. Letang is a bit messy, but he's only making $6.1 million a year. Crosby, Malkin and Rust are all producing enough to warrant their cap hits.
The issue is that this team has nothing around the core, not that the core is old. The Crosby/Malkin/Letang/Rust/Karlsson core is making like $36 million, and I firmly believe that they're outperforming that total money (even with how overpaid Karlsson is). The issue is that they have no young players and no prime aged players worth a damn along with having a coach that is about 5 years past his expiration date.
That's why I keep bringing up JR and Hextall as also responsible for the Penguins current situation. JR traded away pretty much every 1st along with about 2/3 of 2nds and 3rds from 2014-2021. You simply cannot build a prospect pool with that few draft picks. Hextall then made it worse by giving away numerous prime aged players (namely Matheson, Marino, McCann and Rodrigues) for nothing and committing to older and worse players (namely Carter and Petry). Dubas has made things worse since coming here but he inherited a horrendous situation.
Le Magnifique 66
Let's Go Pens
Agreed, the loss to Montreal in the play in tournament is where they should have seen the signs coming!
VanillaCoke
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- Oct 30, 2013
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I want Sid to stay and retire as a Penguin, but this team can't be catering to him this way imo. Either he's 100% on board with the tank and not being competitive, or he waives his NMC and accepts a trade. They can't keep acting like there is any possibility of competing, it's obvious to anyone with eyes. They're just hurting themselves. Either they're all in or they're not.
Empoleon8771
Registered User
I'd be shooting for the D-man Elias Pettersson and a future 1st (2026 or 2027) for Marcus as a rental. Really like Elias as a potential Marcus replacement.
Bell Centre Hotdog
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- Aug 3, 2009
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That’s what I was wondering in the first part of my post, I’m wondering if Dubas had a clause or something saying that he will compete with the core he was given to start with the big contracts but wanted to be there when the tear down happens and he builds it back up.
Bell Centre Hotdog
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Middle of the pack I expect them to be sniffing around the wild card to #11 spot throughout the season. I don’t expect them to continue the bad play consistently I think they will remain in that 8-11 spot by year end.
stubbadub
Registered User
Dubas reminds me of the story of Benn Wyatt on Parks and Recreation, who was elected mayor of his town at age 18 but ran his town's finances into the ground and was chased from office. I feel like Dubas will eventually get a hold of everything he needs in the NHL, he just needs a couple of chases to get to where he's going. To take on this monumental bucket bailing task in Pittsburgh is what will build his character in the long run. He may not last there very long, but he'll eventually use all of his experience after being handed the keys to a Bentley in Toronto, driving it until it needed a new transmission, and now with what he's got on his plate in Pittsburgh - he'll hopefully become the go-to guy in probably 10 years. This is purely from someone who doesn't want to see someone completely lose it all by doing his best in a difficult market.
Stephen
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- Feb 28, 2002
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Kyle Dubas started his management career at this precious young age with the promise of being the Theo Epstein of hockey and win the next generation way... but in reality will spend decades learning the basics of conventional GM'ing on some unlucky franchise's dime.
In some ways, the good news for Pittsburgh is the franchise needs a rebuild anyway, and Dubas is going to mismanage his way to accelerating that process. The only real victim here is Sid's twilight years and finishing off strong in Pittsburgh with one franchise.
I see where this is going… Evgeni Malkin will be a Florida Panther by the deadline…
