Rumor: Dubas has told other teams "everyone is available, except 87."”

[Pancakes]

What's the ask for Lars Eller?

Henrique is too slow to play C anymore but he's been ok on the wing.

Based on what Haase said Dubas would rather make NHL type trades now so you'd have to give up a similar player to Eller but who is maybe not working out for your team. So something that would help the Penguins now.

Once we get to the deadline and it's clear that the Pens have dug themselves an insurmountable hole then Eller will probably just cost a 2nd or 3rd instead.

 

[deakka]

Guys who will 100% be moved:

Pettersson - rental
Eller - rental

Others:
Rakell - i think he has been good enough again this season to get som value in a trade.
DOC - also UFA

Hopefuls:
One of Jarry/Ned, Graves - Can take bad contract back for Jarry or Graves, but wont pay to move them.

 

[Pancakes]

`You look at in perspective. The Pens won 3 cups with Crosby. My Rangers have won one Cup in the 52 years I've followed them. A lot of teams never ever win. Be grateful for getting what you got even if you got only one. So the Pens win 3 cups after the Crosby draft and it buys some of these guys loyalty from the franchise and as the team gets older and older and to keep hopes alive and the team competitive you mortgage a lot of young guys and draft picks.....though a team that's towards the top of the standings picks later in rounds anyways and also having a very good team and keeping it together costs more in cap numbers and maybe you give guys an extra year or three past their sell by dates. Most teams have a contract or two or three like that. None of that is unusual.....it's kind of the cycle of life. You can get mad at some of the players.....you can get mad at the coaches but the real problem is your best players are too old and you don't have all that much in terms of developing players or prospects. It's kind of back to the drawing board to try to rebuild it all again. No one stays on top forever.

As a Pens fan my opinion is thus:

1) The roster might be too busted to do anything now, even with a new coach

2) That absolutely does not mean that you give Sullivan a free pass to coach forever. Just because I think a new coach probably won't fix it doesn't mean that it's not worth trying to put a new coach in there. I think you fire Sullivan immediately and see if a new coach boosts the team into competitiveness. If they don't, you're no worse off than if you kept Sullivan because the team is already tanking anyways. And Sullivan isn't a development guy so there's nothing to be gained from keeping him around to coach whatever prospects they start inserting into the lineup.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Based on what Haase said Dubas would rather make NHL type trades now so you'd have to give up a similar player to Eller but who is maybe not working out for your team. So something that would help the Penguins now.

Once we get to the deadline and it's clear that the Pens have dug themselves an insurmountable hole then Eller will probably just cost a 2nd or 3rd instead.

unfortunately we don't have much in the way of lower down in the lineup guys pulling their weight right now. We have top end guys performing, and then everyone else.

We should have ~4.5 million in available cap by the deadline so maybe we link up around then. I've always liked Eller and think he'd be a good fit here.

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

Dubas saying this doesn't really mean a whole lot. Everyone on the team worth acquiring has a NMC, so guys like Geno or Letang aren't going anywhere unless they want to.

Doesn't mean you don't try. You may get someone to waive their NMC especially if it means going to a contender.

Aside from firing a coach, there isn't much else a GM can do.

 

[Unbiased Fan]

Holy flying f***, no. Knies is not available for 38 year old Malkin.

Could win them a cup. It would push Tavares down to 3rd line

 

[TFHockey]

What's the ask for Lars Eller?

Henrique is too slow to play C anymore but he's been ok on the wing.

I would prefer the Oilers trade Henrique to Nashville in a trade that lands Sissons here. Obviously the Oilers have to add in this scenario, but yeah that would be cap savings and a great PK'er added to the Oilers line up.

Maybe get McCarron at the same time to bolster the wing in the bottom six and add another good PK'er as well.

 

[ChaoticOrange]

I would prefer the Oilers trade Henrique to Nashville in a trade that lands Sissons here. Obviously the Oilers have to add in this scenario, but yeah that would be cap savings and a great PK'er added to the Oilers line up.

Maybe get McCarron at the same time to bolster the wing in the bottom six and add another good PK'er as well.

Even though his performance hasn't been good so far, he took less to be here and signed a 3 year deal. I doubt he's traded so soon. i'd rather shift him to the wing and trade for a 3C than can actually play the position.

 

[Namikaze Minato]

Could win them a cup. It would push Tavares down to 3rd line

And when they dont win a cup? Many players could push JT down without costing us our first line powerforward on an ELC who we have been desperate to find for decades.

It would be a f***ing idiotic trade, no doubt.

 

[ponder]

And while Dubas has done well to replenish the pool with picks and prospects over the past year or so, the objective of any near-future moves wouldn't be to add more futures. Rather, it'd be to acquire actual players back, since this isn't a "tear-it-down-to-the-studs rebuild" yet, as Dubas likes to say. He remains committed to trying to win with at least Crosby. Ownership made that promise to Crosby over the summer, that the Penguins would be better this season.

This is clearly the wrong approach. They are:

• The oldest team in the league: NHL Team Biometrics: Average Age, Height, and Weight | leftwinglock.com
  • Even worse, their best players are REALLY old. Geno's 38, Sid and Letang are both 37, Karlsson's 34. Teams like Edmonton, Toronto and Carolina are also up there in terms of average age, but their best players are mostly in their mid-to-late 20s, but with Pittsburgh, their best players are in their mid-to-late 30s, big difference
• Have the 5th worst point percentage in the league, and are tied (with Montreal) for the absolute worst goal differential in the league: NHL Hockey Standings | NHL.com

When you're old and terrible, a "tear-it-down-to-the-studs rebuild" is precisely what's required. And it's not like this is an overreaction to a slow start, they've been declining for some time too - missed the playoffs the last 2 years, and either missed the playoffs or lost in round 1 the last 6 years. They're only getting older, I'd put good money on them never making the playoffs again with a Crosby/Malkin/Karlsson/Letang lead core. Their core is just too old, the depth sucks too, and the youth isn't even very promising (lots of extra 2nd+ round picks coming up in future drafts, but their current prospects and young NHLers are weak), there's clearly no hope for the current core.

What's going on here is likely one of:

1. Dubas is an idiot, and doesn't realize that a true rebuild is necessary
2. Or, ownership is afraid of the financial costs of a true rebuild. The Penguins were in massive financial trouble pre-Crosby, despite having won B2B cups about a dozen years before Crosby was drafted. This was definitely not just fans fleeing during hard times, the ownership group was very incompetent too, but regardless the Pens declared bankruptcy and nearly left Pittsburgh. The new owners could simply be scared that the team's finances would plummet too hard with a true rebuild, and won't allow it

And I'd certainly guess 2. Dubas has his issues, but he's still a knowledgable hockey guy, I have to imagine he sees the need for a true rebuild, but ownership won't let it happen.

 

[Unbiased Fan]

And when they dont win a cup? Many players could push JT down without costing us our first line powerforward on an ELC who we have been desperate to find for decades.

It would be a f***ing idiotic trade, no doubt.

I’d be willing to pay whatever it took to land Malkin TBH

 

[Merc29]

So what I don’t understand is that this is Dubas’s 2nd year of inheriting the complete incompetence of the past GM. Yes the Jarry deal was atrocious, but either way people are blaming him for an aging core and terrible contracts. He took a gamble with Karlsson, one of which he got rid of bad contracts. I loved the deal. Didn’t work out. He did manage to increase our draft picks to 27 over the next three years.

My only issues with him is holding onto Sullivan. I don’t think he’s doing an awful job

 

[Namikaze Minato]

I’d be willing to pay whatever it took to land Malkin TBH

Yeah, you'd be a terrible GM though.

 

[KrisLeturnover]

Bruins would like Rakell, would Frederic be of interest?

Yes. As a Pens fan, Frederic’s term is appealing.

 

[Magic Man]

David Kampf + Nicholas Robertson + Topi Niemela + Roni Hirvonen + 2026 1st round pick (Top-3 Protection) + Florida 2025 2nd round pick + Higher of COL/EDM 3rd round pick in 2025

for

Evgeni Malkin (50% retained - 3.05M)

 

[Pancakes]

unfortunately we don't have much in the way of lower down in the lineup guys pulling their weight right now. We have top end guys performing, and then everyone else.

We should have ~4.5 million in available cap by the deadline so maybe we link up around then. I've always liked Eller and think he'd be a good fit here.

Eller would be a good fit on a contender, yeah. He still cares and competes pretty hard. Still a pretty decent player as well.

 

[BallardEra]

Malkin: Thanks for saving me! Dubas has taken Crosby to another castle!

This is gold. Needs more likes.

 

[eco's bones]

As a Pens fan my opinion is thus:

1) The roster might be too busted to do anything now, even with a new coach

2) That absolutely does not mean that you give Sullivan a free pass to coach forever. Just because I think a new coach probably won't fix it doesn't mean that it's not worth trying to put a new coach in there. I think you fire Sullivan immediately and see if a new coach boosts the team into competitiveness. If they don't, you're no worse off than if you kept Sullivan because the team is already tanking anyways. And Sullivan isn't a development guy so there's nothing to be gained from keeping him around to coach whatever prospects they start inserting into the lineup.

On 2) for sure. For one thing there are coaches that are just not going to have the patience to work through all the issues that come when a team is turning over from age to youth. Sullivan likely isn't one who'd find that very easy or even want to do it. When you do get to the stage where there are a bunch of kids and a lot of prospects then there's a sorting and finding out process that has to happen too. It takes good scouting and player development and patience and sometimes it hurts player development when you rush someone too fast which almost inevitably is going to happen because of internal and external pressures with any team or its fanbase. Some players might not reach as high because of that.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

unfortunately we don't have much in the way of lower down in the lineup guys pulling their weight right now. We have top end guys performing, and then everyone else.

We should have ~4.5 million in available cap by the deadline so maybe we link up around then. I've always liked Eller and think he'd be a good fit here.

Think you guys should try to go for a Pettersson and Eller package. Could help shore up the bottom 6 and pk, and steady the d.

 

[StreetHawk]

Pretty much everyone outside the Pitt organization expected this from them. That at best they are competing for WC2. But, could also be around 14th in the East ahead of CBJ/Mon.

See whether the guys with NMC/NTC wish to stay with Sid or move on.

 

[Oleksiak]

As a Pens fan my opinion is thus:

1) The roster might be too busted to do anything now, even with a new coach

2) That absolutely does not mean that you give Sullivan a free pass to coach forever. Just because I think a new coach probably won't fix it doesn't mean that it's not worth trying to put a new coach in there. I think you fire Sullivan immediately and see if a new coach boosts the team into competitiveness. If they don't, you're no worse off than if you kept Sullivan because the team is already tanking anyways. And Sullivan isn't a development guy so there's nothing to be gained from keeping him around to coach whatever prospects they start inserting into the lineup.

Would you actually trust a guy like Dubas who isn't qualified to work in hockey ops to hire a coach though?

 

[ChaoticOrange]

Think you guys should try to go for a Pettersson and Eller package. Could help shore up the bottom 6 and pk, and steady the d.

unless Pettersson can play RD at a high level. we really don't have any need for him without Nurse going somewhere else.

Ekholm is playing really well. Kulak is playing really well. Nurse is...very expensive. The right side of the D is what needs help, because it's Bouchard - three wheeled shopping cart - Emberson.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Somebody get my boy Larry another cup!

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

unless Pettersson can play RD at a high level. we really don't have any need for him without Nurse going somewhere else.

Ekholm is playing really well. Kulak is playing really well. Nurse is...very expensive. The right side of the D is what needs help, because it's Bouchard - three wheeled shopping cart - Emberson.

Gotcha, you guys need help on the other side. Then yea Eller alone makes sense and will surely be available.

 

[The Shadow]

Keefe’s defensive system has been very good in NJ. Don’t see much evidence that he was holding that group in Toronto back. It’s not as though they had much talent on the back end in his time there.

Did you watch the games? I watched at least 80% of them. Their style was not suited for the playoffs and their record shows that. If you’re a devils fan you will enjoy the playoff failures coming