GDT: Free Agency Day 1: You're from Boston? Come on down

[HandshakeLine]

Or this year before the draft. Or after the draft. Or during the season.

 

[Gurglesons]

Or this year before the draft. Or after the draft. Or during the season.

There's nothing Dubas can do.

*Looks at Washington*

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

All of the guys taken on are very much Mike Sullivan kinda guys.

What's this crazy horseshit about "flipping them later?"

And people say I don't pay any attention.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

It's really what makes it a C offseason for me. Some of the moves are good but there's just as many that aren't. I don't think it's reached parent-teacher conference level yet, but I'm not convinced there's a bunch future good moves in store.

Well yeah. Problem is 2 bad moves came out of the 5 big decisions he’s had to make. EK went okay but only because you got rid of Rutta and Granlund and went on a heater at the end of the season. Wash. Smith was a no brainer to acquire but went poorly and you had to retain to recoup value, let’s call it a net wash. And I know it’s unpopular but I think the Jake trade was solid, not a home run but decent.

So 5 big decisions… 2 very bad (Graves/Jarry). 2 washes. 1 okay.

That’s the issue. When he’s taken swings it hasn’t gone well. I don’t hate Dubas at all but it’s easy to be conservative and not make bad moves. Hard to get the big calls correct and so far he hasn’t.

 

[Jacob]

Yeah I don’t see where Bemstrom fits. They must still be intrigued by his offensive upside even if he’s got almost chance of realizing it at this point.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

If we are going to play this game of acquire players to get picks. He should've actually overpaid.

Like San Jose you give name players like Wennberg short term high salary deals you can flip.

Out of the crop we signed I think the best you get is a 3rd for Gryz if he really pops here.

Wasn't SJ gonna do this whole thing with Granlund? I mean, it's good in theory but how often do we see the "bad team signs a guy to boost his value and flip him"?

It's why I didn't want Wennberg. It's why I don't want Petts re-signed--I vehemently disagree with Emp's take that there's no harm in signing Petts to a 4 or 5 year deal cuz his value will be the same at the end of it.

 

[wej20]

Yeah I don’t see where Bemstrom fits. They must still be intrigued by his offensive upside even if he’s got almost chance of realizing it at this point.

I wonder if he'd go to Europe if he was waived.

 

[Gurglesons]

Wasn't SJ gonna do this whole thing with Granlund? I mean, it's good in theory but how often do we see the "bad team signs a guy to boost his value and flip him"?

It's why I didn't want Wennberg. It's why I don't want Petts re-signed--I vehemently disagree with Emp's take that there's no harm in signing Petts to a 4 or 5 year deal cuz his value will be the same at the end of it.

You think they don't get a 3rd for Granlund next deadline?

 

[SEALBound]

All of the guys taken on are very much Mike Sullivan kinda guys.

What's this crazy horseshit about "flipping them later?"

And people say I don't pay any attention.

Quite often guys are signed on one-year deals and dealt at the trade deadline if the team is out of the playoffs. Good example is our boy Jason Zucker last year.

Gryz fits that profile if he plays well. Beauvillier could be a cheap depth piece just like last year.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think the biggest criticism you can throw at Dubas for the planned direction of the team is that it risks losing value on guys they currently have for the sake of keeping the team mildly better in the short term. I think his plan is to keep their important guys (guys like Karlsson, Rust, Pettersson and such) until the core retires, and then sell off those important guys at that point. I generally don't mind that strategy, mostly because I don't think the values of these players will likely be changing that much, but it's a valid criticism to make.

My guess for what happens is:

1. Malkin re-signs for the 2026-2027 season and is possibly traded at the 2027 deadline.
2. Karlsson is traded in either the 2026 off-season or 2026-2027 deadline.
3. Rust is traded in either the 2026 off-season or 2026-2027 deadline.
4. Pettersson is traded with term sometime between the 2026-2027 deadline and 2028 off-season.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Graves and Acciari are 6.5 million total. With Jarry it's 12ish.

I try to provide nuance whenever I can. Acciari is just flat out cooked. Not much providing nuance there... But IMHO Graves's contract sucks vastly more than the player he is. He just can't play to the role it was hoped he could for this team and I think he is just all around a bad fit. He is a dude you want in your line up that never raises above the 3/4 slot on your 6 man backend. Put in that role on a more structured team and he would thrive I believe. Its just that contract length... Yeeesh. And you could argue with the contracts a lot of goalies have been getting in recent seasons Jarry basically got his value. In a vacuum. Now... I wish it would have been another GM that signed him to that and not ours and we would have traded him that off season. With all that said I am by no means granting Dubas a pass for his choices. I think he has been subpar overall since coming here, I just try to put everything on a scale rather than in right or wrong columns.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Well yeah. Problem is 2 bad moves came out of the 5 big decisions he’s had to make. EK went okay but only because you got rid of Rutta and Granlund and went on a heater at the end of the season. Wash. Smith was a no brainer to acquire but went poorly and you had to retain to recoup value, let’s call it a net wash. And I know it’s unpopular but I think the Jake trade was solid, not a home run but decent.

So 5 big decisions… 2 very bad (Graves/Jarry). 2 washes. 1 okay.

That’s the issue. When he’s taken swings it hasn’t gone well. I don’t hate Dubas at all but it’s easy to be conservative and not make bad moves. Hard to get the big calls correct and so far he hasn’t.

I think this is a pretty fair assessment, but I also just plain do not like or think the brand of hockey we have now quintuppled down on is at all appealing to watch, or likely to be successful. If someone told me that they had failed miserably 8 times and that the 9th time is going to be the one that gets it right with only minor changes, I would not give them the opportunity.

Quite often guys are signed on one-year deals and dealt at the trade deadline if the team is out of the playoffs. Good example is our boy Jason Zucker last year.

Gryz fits that profile if he plays well. Beauvillier could be a cheap depth piece just like last year.

When have WE done it? Not to be blunt, but who cares what some other GM/PoHO did?

 

[Gurglesons]

Quite often guys are signed on one-year deals and dealt at the trade deadline if the team is out of the playoffs. Good example is our boy Jason Zucker last year.

Gryz fits that profile if he plays well. Beauvillier could be a cheap depth piece just like last year.

We'll go from 2nd round pick to 6th round pick is a great return

 

[Extra Texture]

That's too good to be true

 

[SEALBound]

I think this is a pretty fair assessment, but I also just plain do not like or think the brand of hockey we have now quintuppled down on is at all appealing to watch, or likely to be successful. If someone told me that they had failed miserably 8 times and that the 9th time is going to be the one that gets it right with only minor changes, I would not give them the opportunity.

When have WE done it? Not to be blunt, but who cares what some other GM/PoHO did?

Well we haven't been in the position to do that since 2006...and we did so with Mark Recchi. We've been cup contenders ever since.

 

[HandshakeLine]

All of the guys taken on are very much Mike Sullivan kinda guys.

What's this crazy horseshit about "flipping them later?"

And people say I don't pay any attention.

Yeah, none of these guys were "we're gonna flip them for cheap at the TDL" projects. These were guys the coaching staff wanted.

 

[Empoleon8771]

When have WE done it? Not to be blunt, but who cares what some other GM/PoHO did?

The Penguins haven't done it because they haven't done a rebuild in over 20 years.

 

[Gurglesons]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1807876460788564353

 

[eXile3]

I heard we’re trading EK for a 1st round pick in 2050.

 

[Gurglesons]

I heard we’re trading EK for a 1st round pick in 2050.

Nah can't move him. We need him to be around so for the retool to help educate the kids.

 

[Turin]

Beauvillier, Grzelyck and Lizotte are 3 guys who were really good before two years ago and who haven't hit the 30 wall yet, but in the first two's cases really fell off hard. Wonder if anybody has any info on why they did.

 

[HandshakeLine]

The Penguins haven't done it because they haven't done a rebuild in over 20 years.

And there were plenty of times when we should have in order to make the contending window longer. We have missed the mark many times with many GMs.

 

[Gurglesons]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1807881773411398076

https://x.com/i/web/status/1807882217051545715

@JackFr knows.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I wonder if he'd go to Europe if he was waived.

Why you gotta do this to us? Wasn't Brexit bad enough?

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

I think the biggest criticism you can throw at Dubas for the planned direction of the team is that it risks losing value on guys they currently have for the sake of keeping the team mildly better in the short term. I think his plan is to keep their important guys (guys like Karlsson, Rust, Pettersson and such) until the core retires, and then sell off those important guys at that point. I generally don't mind that strategy, mostly because I don't think the values of these players will likely be changing that much, but it's a valid criticism to make.

My guess for what happens is:

1. Malkin re-signs for the 2026-2027 season and is possibly traded at the 2027 deadline.
2. Karlsson is traded in either the 2026 off-season or 2026-2027 deadline.
3. Rust is traded in either the 2026 off-season or 2026-2027 deadline.
4. Pettersson is traded with term sometime between the 2026-2027 deadline and 2028 off-season.

Yeah, the tough part that Dubas has to deal with is that he can’t just offload guys when he’s about to sign Crosby’s retirement contract and will have our 3 core guys locked up for three years. They still need capable players to play with. But I agree with your approach here.