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

[HandshakeLine]

I don't understand why people think this suddenly isn't a thing. I mean... that's a big reason I don't want Sullivan around as a developmental coach in the coming years.

I dunno. Hopefully I'm wrong and this is all just a big long term plan to accumulate those sweet, sweet, franchise altering second round picks.

It's like pattern recognition is a lost art around here.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Kevin Hayes is not here because he helps. He's here because we got a low 2nd for taking him.

Gryz was POJ Plan B.

AHL monster. That's where he'll go unless there are major injuries.

AHL or lost on waivers is fine. Best outcome really.

As for Kyle. I may be harsh on him but I seriously think most of these moves are FSG telling him do what Sullivan asks for. Doesn't absolve him for the other moves that are typical Dubas moves but yeah.

We rebuilding now.

Except everyone forgot to tell Sullivan that and to use youth during it.

 

[Gurglesons]

After years of media speak slop, I don't know why anyone concerns themselves with the "We're still gonna try and compete!" bullshit, man. You gotta be legally f***ing braindead to buy anything Dubas or Sullivan say in pressers. Just absolutely, objectively stupid.

This team had one final swing for a homerun with EK, it biffed (because of the coach they're so devoted to) and now they're gonna start parting things out and filling the roster with warm bodies on short term deals with acceptable cap hits. I dunno, I like it. But I've been waiting for this since the Isles series in 2021. At least, finally, they've picked a lane.

Pittsburgh Penguins Secure Marcus Pettersson with Long-Term Extension

PITTSBURGH, [Date] – The Pittsburgh Penguins are thrilled to announce the signing of defenseman Marcus Pettersson to a significant six-year contract extension, worth $6.5 million per year.

Pettersson, [age], has been a key component of the Penguins' defensive core since joining the team in [year]. Known for his steady presence on the blue line and ability to move the puck effectively, Pettersson has quickly become a cornerstone player for the organization.

"We are excited to have Marcus Pettersson remain a Penguin for the long term," said [General Manager/Team Executive]. "His contributions both on and off the ice have been invaluable, and we believe he will continue to play a pivotal role in our success moving forward."

Originally drafted by [Previous Team] in [Year], Pettersson has [number] seasons of NHL experience and has consistently demonstrated his reliability and defensive prowess throughout his career.

"I'm incredibly grateful to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization for their confidence in me," said Pettersson. "Pittsburgh feels like home, and I am committed to helping this team achieve its goals and compete at the highest level."

With this contract extension, the Penguins solidify their commitment to building a competitive roster for the future, with Pettersson playing a crucial part in their defensive strategy.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact [Media Relations Contact].

---

About the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Established in 1967, the Penguins have won multiple Stanley Cup championships and are known for their passionate fan base and commitment to excellence both on and off the ice.

For more information, visit [Team Website] or follow the Penguins on [Social Media Handles].

---

Note: Replace placeholders with actual details such as age, previous team, specific dates, and contacts as applicable.

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

Does Lizotte play wing? We have 5 guys that, as far as I can tell, don’t play any wing. Sid, Malkin, Hayes, Eller, Lizotte. Plus Acciari.

Hayes plays wing too.

 

[Empoleon8771]

It's entirely possible that Grzelcyk and Beauvillier were players the team liked and wanted to bring in, but they're both being brought in as reclamation projects with the intent of flipping them if/when the team is selling at the deadline.

 

[66-30-33]

Except everyone forgot to tell Sullivan that and to use youth during it.

Naw, all your old guys are belong to us!

 

[Sidgeni Malkby]

Reilly Smith probably returns more if we just keep him with Sid for 82 games and pump his value.

Guarantee we are looking at this next year...

Beauvillier - Crosby - Rust
Bunting - Malkin - Rakell
DOC - Hayes - Bemstrom
Lizotte - Eller - Acciari

Youth and hunger.

Doubt it, considering Smith doesn't want to be here. This was likely better than we got during the TD last year. If you want to complete your pessimism, you forgot about Nieto .

I do agree that with Sully at the helm, every young player will be displaced by a vet.

I'm going to hope (really hope) that Dubas is working on another top 6 winger.

 

[SEALBound]

The point is, these guys could have all been traded earlier, for way bigger hauls and we wouldn't have lost anything in terms of future performance. Or did I somehow miss the time Big Game Bryan Rust got us a clutch performance after the B2B?

Yes, I agree but you're basing that on end results of having kept them. It's called hindsight. It's very easy to look back and Orpik and say, gosh we should have traded him. It's easy now to look back and say, I wish we didn't sign Graves, Acciari, Nieto, Eller, resign Carter, etc because then we could have signed DIFFERENT players would have totally been much better!

The team then and now are in much different positions. Orpik was a #2 with Letang. It would have been HIGHLY questionable to to dump him at that TDL going into the 2014 playoffs.

We have no idea what the hauls would have been either.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

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

It's one of the reasons why I wasn't a fan of Hayes and Beauvillier. They aren't blokes you see as deadline bait to spice up to get more value. It's players this coach likes and wants to use over players he should use.

 

[Gurglesons]

Yes, I agree but you're basing that on end results of having kept them. It's called hindsight. It's very easy to look back and Orpik and say, gosh we should have traded him. It's easy now to look back and say, I wish we didn't sign Graves, Acciari, Nieto, Eller, resign Carter, etc because then we could have signed DIFFERENT players would have totally been much better!

The team then and now are in much different positions. Orpik was a #2 with Letang. It would have been HIGHLY questionable to to dump him at that TDL going into the 2014 playoffs.

We have no idea what the hauls would have been either.

Why did we hold onto Bemstrom, Shea, POJ etc last season?

Yes, I agree but you're basing that on end results of having kept them. It's called hindsight. It's very easy to look back and Orpik and say, gosh we should have traded him. It's easy now to look back and say, I wish we didn't sign Graves, Acciari, Nieto, Eller, resign Carter, etc because then we could have signed DIFFERENT players would have totally been much better!

The team then and now are in much different positions. Orpik was a #2 with Letang. It would have been HIGHLY questionable to to dump him at that TDL going into the 2014 playoffs.

We have no idea what the hauls would have been either.

Why did we hold onto Bemstrom, Shea, POJ etc last season?

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I'm hoping Sullivan leaves when his deal is up and his ego tells him he's too good to bother toiling away with a bottom feeder/rebuilding team. His deal's up after the 2026-27 season. That lines up pretty closely with Sid's speculative timeline of playing in the 2026 Olympics and then retiring.

Definitely agree that I don't want him in charge of molding the game of the next crop of foundation stone prospects. Been saying that for years.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Yeah, in hindsight. Which is always 20/20. Who should be have sold off while chasing the cup that was clearly obvious?

I dont think there's that many guys we should have sold, so much as we shouldn't have burned assets like firewood for a few years on the likes of Zucker, Kapanen, the whole Marino, Matheson, Petry, Smith fiasco, Rakell, McCann in the expansion to dump Tanev, etc etc etc. We've been re-arranging the deck chairs for years here, years that should have been used re-stocking instead of further depleting the system. Do that, and by now we are coming out of it with enough fresh blood to make another go at it.

 

[Gurglesons]

It's one of the reasons why I wasn't a fan of Hayes and Beauvillier. They aren't blokes you see as deadline bait to spice up to get more value. It's players this coach likes and wants to use over players he should use.

Yep. That's why I was sying target a Walman, Mikheyev or someone with name value.

 

[molon labe]

We literally just sold Jake at the deadline so i'm not sure what we're discussing here in terms of reality

Continue that path.

Or go the other way (too late for that, really).

Jake was a forced hand. There's absolutely no reason to give credit there if you're being honest about it. Not like he had 1-2 years left.

Turn around and spend 7-8M in goaltending....for what exactly? What exactly are we trying to do here?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Doubt it, considering Smith doesn't want to be here. This was likely better than we got during the TD last year. If you want to complete your pessimism, you forgot about Nieto .

I do agree that with Sully at the helm, every young player will be displaced by a vet.

I'm going to hope (really hope) that Dubas is working on another top 6 winger.

I can't hate Smith for not being a fan of being on this team. I respect him a f*** ton more for it. The rest are status quo happy because Sullivan gives them all the ice time they want and the usage so they don't give a shit and it shows.

But Smith knew he was going to be a cap casualty and ended up on a team coached by a moron that even Karlsson struggled to be positive about.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Yes, I agree but you're basing that on end results of having kept them. It's called hindsight. It's very easy to look back and Orpik and say, gosh we should have traded him. It's easy now to look back and say, I wish we didn't sign Graves, Acciari, Nieto, Eller, resign Carter, etc because then we could have signed DIFFERENT players would have totally been much better!

The team then and now are in much different positions. Orpik was a #2 with Letang. It would have been HIGHLY questionable to to dump him at that TDL going into the 2014 playoffs.

We have no idea what the hauls would have been either.

I have been calling for Bryan Rust to be traded for seasons. It's not hindsight. I hate how he has played for years.

Nobody knows, but you're asking me for what I have constantly advocated for on these boards and I gave you my answer. The problem this organization has is that it falls in love with minor players constantly. That's not changing any time soon. I'm not sure why it's illegal to discuss that now, but hey, if you want just assenting voices SEAL, just copy whatever Emp and DP are saying and pretend I said it.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Would have liked Stamkos for the entertainment factor, but I'm in acceptance that this year is gonna be grim.
If they're loading up on futures the whole time, then I can roll with that.

 

[SEALBound]

AHL or lost on waivers is fine. Best outcome really.

As for Kyle. I may be harsh on him but I seriously think most of these moves are FSG telling him do what Sullivan asks for. Doesn't absolve him for the other moves that are typical Dubas moves but yeah.


Except everyone forgot to tell Sullivan that and to use youth during it.

I think that's an outdated viewpoint.

Last year, he said he and Sully sat down and designed a team so yeah - Graves, Acciari, Eller, Nieto - that's the team built under the Sullivan-Dubas blueprint. Watching it not do well has made Dubas more aggressive on pursuing his version. Which he's been extremely clear on so...I guess I just don't see the logic or evidence that a 1x1.25mil deal for a depth forward is someone FSG putting a gun to Dubas's head on Sullivan's behalf?

 

[HandshakeLine]

I'm hoping Sullivan leaves when his deal is up and his ego tells him he's too good to bother toiling away with a bottom feeder/rebuilding team. His deal's up after the 2026-27 season. That lines up pretty closely with Sid's speculative timeline of playing in the 2026 Olympics and then retiring.

Definitely agree that I don't want him in charge of molding the game of the next crop of foundation stone prospects. Been saying that for years.

From your lips to god's ears. This team hasn't played a style of hockey I personally have enjoyed for nearly 10 years, it's time to change it up.

 

[Jacob]

Okay then this is how I see the lineup as-is.

O’Connor - Crosby - Rust
Bunting - Malkin - Rakell
Lizotte - Hayes - Puustinen
Beauvillier - Eller - Acciari
Poulin, Puljujarvi

Pettersson - Karlsson
Graves - Letang
Grzelcyk - St. Ivany
Ludvig

Jarry / Nedeljkovic

A lot of those bottom-6 pieces are rather interchangeable depending on who looks good in camp and preseason. Even Poulin who can play any forward position, and Puljujarvi either wing.

 

[Gurglesons]

I have been calling for Bryan Rust to be traded for seasons. It's not hindsight. I hate how he has played for years.

Nobody knows, but you're asking me for what I have constantly advocated for on these boards and I gave you my answer. The problem this organization has is that it falls in love with minor players constantly. That's not changing any time soon. I'm not sure why it's illegal to discuss that now, but hey, if you want just assenting voices SEAL, just copy whatever Emp and DP are saying and pretend I said it.

I'm so perplexed why people are acting like some of us haven't been upset with the direction of the team for five years and how this entire situation wasn't completely avoidable as evident by what the Washington Capitals just did.

 

[molon labe]

I think that's an outdated viewpoint.

Last year, he said he and Sully sat down and designed a team so yeah - Graves, Acciari, Eller, Nieto - that's the team built under the Sullivan-Dubas blueprint. Watching it not do well has made Dubas more aggressive on pursuing his version. Which he's been extremely clear on so...I guess I just don't see the logic or evidence that a 1x1.25mil deal for a depth forward is someone FSG putting a gun to Dubas's head on Sullivan's behalf?

Why did Ned get his deal?

 

[AuroraBorealis]

From your lips to god's ears. This team hasn't played a style of hockey I personally have enjoyed for nearly 10 years, it's time to change it up.

I'll give the nod to 2021. But outside of that I'm with you, for recent years.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Yes, I agree but you're basing that on end results of having kept them. It's called hindsight. It's very easy to look back and Orpik and say, gosh we should have traded him. It's easy now to look back and say, I wish we didn't sign Graves, Acciari, Nieto, Eller, resign Carter, etc because then we could have signed DIFFERENT players would have totally been much better!

The team then and now are in much different positions. Orpik was a #2 with Letang. It would have been HIGHLY questionable to to dump him at that TDL going into the 2014 playoffs.

We have no idea what the hauls would have been either.

I agree with you. But I can not be a hypocrite, since even though he is my favorite Pen of this era. I was advocating extremely hard that Malkin should be traded prior to his latest extension.

 

[HandshakeLine]

It's one of the reasons why I wasn't a fan of Hayes and Beauvillier. They aren't blokes you see as deadline bait to spice up to get more value. It's players this coach likes and wants to use over players he should use.

Yeah, I get trying to put a positive spin on it, but c'mon, it's not like we haven't seen this before. The only saving grace is that they're relatively short deals.