GDT: Free Agency: Dr Strangedubas or How We Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Nerd

[Darren McCord]

Yeah I don't understand the Canes being in on Karlsson at all if the DeAngelo deal is still in place. With that deal, they have this defense:

Slavin-Burns
Orlov-Pesce
Skjei-DeAngelo

Why the hell are you adding Karlsson at that point? That defense is already amazing, you don't need Karlsson at all.

Peace would be traded

 

[Ryder71]

IF KD wants to appease FSG and put more STH's and fannies in seats bringing this guy in could only help.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Guesses on new numbers?

Acciari - 55
Eller - 20
Graves - 27
Nedeljkovic - 39
Nieto - 83? Or is that too close to Sid? 38?
Smith - 19

 

[Andy99]

I think it's because Eller is proven capable of handling difficult assignments. While Poehling is going enough to maybe grow into that role, he was in and out of the lineup last year and apparently has health concerns.

For a team like Philly, they can afford to roll the dice on his availability. The Pens opted for a safer bet.

We'll see if it works out.

Sullivan likes too many safe bets…we’re on the fringe so we need to make riskier moves, like EK…

 

[Turin]

Peace would be traded

Which would be bonkers to me.

 

[ChaosAgent]

If the deal is Granlund, Petry, 2024 1st for Karlsson, I'm in.

I fully acknowledge that:
*it's a stupid deal
*Karlsson is atrocious defensively
*he's injury prone
*Letang/EK65 are duplicative
*Karlsson may be more of a high wire skill act than a component of a winning team

But:
*This would be fun
*100 points for a D-man. C'mon.
*Karlsson maybe has the pedigree to push Letang to PP2. If we can squeeze another 3-4% conversion rate out of PP1, this trade would be worth it.

 

[lettuceAA]

It might be toughEK would be exciting add to this team. Any offense that we missed out in FA he automatically makes up for. EK is a master with the puck and makes our PP deadly.

No offense to Tanger but those cross passes to Malkin in his skates on the powerplay are butter to everyone on the team coming from EK.

He would create a ton of space for the top 6 guys with his skating, and passes up the ice.

Then you got the Swede line with Petts.

Also, even though Letang is a freak and can play 27 minutes a night. He has had 2 strokes and is aging. Being able to take some the offensive load off him and allowing him to be a more defensive minded dman would do wonders for this team and their PP.

Graves-Letang
Petterson-EK
POJ-Ruuta

Would be fantastic to watch.

 

[Andy99]

Which would be bonkers to me.

He’s in the last year of his contract and they’re not sure they can resign him

 

[Turin]

Also, even though Letang is a freak and can play 27 minutes a night. He has had 2 strokes and is aging. Being able to take some the offensive load off him and allowing him to be a more defensive minded dman would do wonders for this team and their PP.

Graves-Letang
Petterson-EK
POJ-Ruuta

Would be fantastic to watch.

It's easy to rationalize it for Letang - though I'm sure he himself would insist it's not the case - he's a health risk and is now paid like a good 2nd pairing defenseman anyway. You could reduce the load there.

He’s in the last year of his contract and they’re not sure they can resign him

If they can trade for a 10 million dollar replacement I'm sure they can re-sign him.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I am as dismayed as the next guy by some of the moves today, Eller especially, but this has to be their line of thought and I hope you're right.

I still want to see the final moves to get a better sense of how the pieces all fit. And I'm not wild about a few of the individual pieces, but I do see a plan and thought process.

They're going to throw Nieto, Eller and Acciari out there in heavy defensive zone minutes. Each of those guys has a track record of doing it while also providing a little bit of offense.

Graves is a more well-rounded, non-broken Dumoulin. He has question marks but no defenseman available is without warts.

Will it lead to a team more capable of finishing off opponents and winning games? We'll see. But I at least see the method to the madness.

 

[3ladesof5teel]

Also, even though Letang is a freak and can play 27 minutes a night. He has had 2 strokes and is aging. Being able to take some the offensive load off him and allowing him to be a more defensive minded dman would do wonders for this team and their PP.

Graves-Letang
Petterson-EK
POJ-Ruuta

Would be fantastic to watch.

I think its a little insurance on Letang as well. He's far and away our best defenseman, if we lose him for any reason with his history at least we have someone that can step in.

I do expect Letang to hold up well hes probably the best conditioned athlete in the NHL but you never know

 

[The GM]

Also, even though Letang is a freak and can play 27 minutes a night. He has had 2 strokes and is aging. Being able to take some the offensive load off him and allowing him to be a more defensive minded dman would do wonders for this team and their PP.

Graves-Letang
Petterson-EK
POJ-Ruuta

Would be fantastic to watch.

I’m not sure about fantastic, but entertaining for sho

 

[Andy99]

I still want to see the final moves to get a better sense of how the pieces all fit. And I'm not wild about a few of the individual pieces, but I do see a plan and thought process.

They're going to throw Nieto, Eller and Acciari out there in heavy defensive zone minutes. Each of those guys has a track record of doing it while also providing a little bit of offense.

Graves is a more well-rounded, non-broken Dumoulin. He has question marks but no defenseman available is without warts.

Will it lead to a team more capable of finishing off opponents and winning games? We'll see. But I at least see the method to the madness.

What happens when Jake/Sid/Geno miss games? Do we have anyone with any offensive capabilities in the bottom six to switch over to playing 70% O zone starts?

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Sullivan likes too many safe bets…we’re on the fringe so we need to make riskier moves, like EK…

I know everyone sees the ticking clock, but the reality is this was not the market to go full on risky.

Karlsson would be wild, but he would also theoretically be a better fit for this system than Petry.

The fit is the key thing here. Sometimes fit is better than sexy, and I think that's what the Pens are trying to do here. It could blow up in their face and they'll have wasted the last years of the core, but that's what I see the plan being.

 

[Jobeycool]

Yeah I don't understand the Canes being in on Karlsson at all if the DeAngelo deal is still in place. With that deal, they have this defense:

Slavin-Burns
Orlov-Pesce
Skjei-DeAngelo

Why the hell are you adding Karlsson at that point? That defense is already amazing, you don't need Karlsson at all.

Either Pens or Kraken or Oilers. I believe...

 

[Andy99]

Poster on another site had an interesting take….is it smart to give up our only goalie prospect? We didn’t pick up anyone in the draft…

“I'm convinced [EK] trade is done lol.
Dubas said we are cap compliant, we are not.
Dubas said we are a goalie short, we are not.
Last trade deadline, Sharks GM said he wanted to add to the Sharks' goalie prospects' pool.
Alas, trade complete. Blomqvist included!”

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Post EK/Petry, Granlund, DeSmith deal:

Guentzel - Crosby - Smith
Rust - Malkin - Rakell
O'Connor- Eller - Nylander
Nieto - Acciari - Carter

Graves - Letang
Pettersson - Karlsson
Joseph - Rutta

Jarry
Nedeljkovic

 

[Pancakes]

I really don't have a big problem with anything Dubas did today. My least favorite move is Ehlers, and I'm not a huge fan of the Jarry deal, but any other goalie we could have gotten via UFA would have been as much or more of a risk. Maybe cheaper, but that's it. At least with Jarry you know you'll probably get league average or slightly better when he's healthy.

Graves deal was good even if I didn't love what I saw of him in the playoffs. That's fine value for a 2nd pair defenseman who should be a big upgrade on Dumo.

Nieto/Acciari/Ned were all fine deals that should improve depth and didn't cost much.

So as it stands, something like this:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Smith-Malkin-Rust
DOC-Ehlers-Granlund
Nieto-Acciari-Carter

Petts-Letang
Graves-Petry
POJ-Rutta

Jarry
Ned


I'd still like to move Granlund out and hate that we're stuck with Carter, but this roster should be better than last year's. Significantly? Eh, not sure. I think maybe the answer is yes if only because Graves > Dumo by a lot. The bottom six isn't dramatically better than last year's but I think should be a fair bit better. Hopefully enough to make a difference.

 

[Andy99]

I know everyone sees the ticking clock, but the reality is this was not the market to go full on risky.

Karlsson would be wild, but he would also theoretically be a better fit for this system than Petry.

The fit is the key thing here. Sometimes fit is better than sexy, and I think that's what the Pens are trying to do here. It could blow up in their face and they'll have wasted the last years of the core, but that's what I see the plan being.

He didn’t have to go full on UFA market…what happened to the plan of taking advantage of cash strapped teams? Only pickup from this was Smith

 

[3ladesof5teel]

Poster on another site had an interesting take….is it smart to give up our only goalie prospect? We didn’t pick up anyone in the draft…

“I'm convinced [EK] trade is done lol.
Dubas said we are cap compliant, we are not.
Dubas said we are a goalie short, we are not.
Last trade deadline, Sharks GM said he wanted to add to the Sharks' goalie prospects' pool.
Alas, trade complete. Blomqvist included!”

Sign me up we have our future goaltender in Tristan Jarry

 

[Gurglesons]

We have complained endlessly about guys being miscast in roles. It was extraordinarily evident last year.

Dubas has specifically acquired guys who have experience playing the roles they will be asked to play here in Sullivan's system. Eller is the perfect example.



The guy has a history of eating tough minutes. Isn't that what the Pens need based on Sullivan's usage of the bottom six?

We'll see if he still can play, but at least it's not another finesse player who thinks they should be the 2C.

And I’d argue Eller is yet another example of bad scouting and acquiring a player familiar with a coach versus actually trying to replace what you are saying logically.

 

[Malkinstheman]

One big positive about getting EK is that you have to trade one of Granlund/Carter to make the money work. Just getting rid of one of them is huge addition by subtraction for the bottom-6

 

[Jobeycool]

If the deal is Granlund, Petry, 2024 1st for Karlsson, I'm in.

I fully acknowledge that:
*it's a stupid deal
*Karlsson is atrocious defensively
*he's injury prone
*Letang/EK65 are duplicative
*Karlsson may be more of a high wire skill act than a component of a winning team

But:
*This would be fun
*100 points for a D-man. C'mon.
*Karlsson maybe has the pedigree to push Letang to PP2. If we can squeeze another 3-4% conversion rate out of PP1, this trade would be worth it.

I think it would make the Pens far more dangerous to stop on offense and make them a threat. However you could do that with a better 3rd line.. We have the Center in Smith...

 

[DesertedPenguin]

What happens when Jake/Sid/Geno miss games? Do we have anyone with any offensive capabilities in the bottom six to switch over to playing 70% O zone starts?

No, but not many teams do. And how often have the Pens really been able to do it? Part of the reason they had the youth movement in the Cup years was because they were forced to initially bring up WBS players to fill in because of injuries.

 

[Gurglesons]

I really don't have a big problem with anything Dubas did today. My least favorite move is Ehlers, and I'm not a huge fan of the Jarry deal, but any other goalie we could have gotten via UFA would have been as much or more of a risk. Maybe cheaper, but that's it. At least with Jarry you know you'll probably get league average or slightly better when he's healthy.

Graves deal was good even if I didn't love what I saw of him in the playoffs. That's fine value for a 2nd pair defenseman who should be a big upgrade on Dumo.

Nieto/Acciari/Ned were all fine deals that should improve depth and didn't cost much.

So as it stands, something like this:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Smith-Malkin-Rust
DOC-Ehlers-Granlund
Nieto-Acciari-Carter

Petts-Letang
Graves-Petry
POJ-Rutta

Jarry
Ned


I'd still like to move Granlund out and hate that we're stuck with Carter, but this roster should be better than last year's. Significantly? Eh, not sure. I think maybe the answer is yes if only because Graves > Dumo by a lot. The bottom six isn't dramatically better than last year's but I think should be a fair bit better. Hopefully enough to make a difference.

Ehlers is the good one. Eller is the old broken down one.