If you think the Penguins were a contending team when they sold Guentzel last trade deadline you were very mistaken. This team has been in steady decline for years and it is time for the consequences of their long contending window.
Imo Sully agreed to leave the Pens because Dubas let him know the plan was the club is rebuilding and will not have a v competitive roster for several years.
Well look at you!
Aspirationally veteran contending team by way of trading for EK15, then?
That's fair. Though the expectation was FSG wanted Dubas to try one last re-tool and obviously that failed. Which Dubas deserves criticism for. But the inevitable decline was long expected. Hell, Rutherford warned everyone years ago that a full rebuild was inevitable. This team isn't going to avoid it.
What people don't know is Guentzel's agent and Dubas didn't see eye-to-eye before contract talks even began. But it got so bad that it affected Guentzel and had him traded on what was supposed to be the Canucks, but his agent made sure it didn't happen. His agent also bullied Tampa into signing him because Guentzel really wanted to go there for low taxes and nice weather. Tampa signing him kind of didn't make that much sense in hindsight.
Yea why not. Should be getting high picks anyway. And who better to mentor the next gen than guys like Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Rust and Rakell. Insulating young players is not a bad thing - otherwise you get a Buffalo or Chicago situation.
It's also the practical reality of the core three at least having full NMCs and not wanting to leave along with being able to sell tickets during the painful rebuild as well as guide the new young players.
Sorry friend, but having Crosby, Malkin, Letang isn’t getting high picks. Those guys are the antithesis to what a rebuild ( with top five picks) is supposed to be.
I would say that their among league best top pairing playing 67 games combined did a LOT of heavy lifting for this result..
Letang is beyond cooked so he's not preventing any tanking. Malkin is a 2C at best who will likely retire in a year. Crosby is the only one still playing at an elite level. And they still finished with the 9th worst record. And they'll only be a year older next year. Not worried, this group will be in the McKenna sweepstakes next season. Hopefully two shots at him if NYR continues to collapse.
Yeah, true. There are multiple ways to rebuild and a salt-the-earth one is definitely risky
If Guentzel is the cornerstone of your team you are a perpetual lottery team. He's like the 6th best player on TB and they are down 3-1 in the first round.
I bet my non existent house they're in the 8 seed with a healthy McAvoy and Lindholm this year. MASSIVE losses. I don't disagree they're old and stink and I've been waiting most of my life for it but they're better than the Penguins
No one, that's the point of rebuilding
