If the Penguins just accept that they need to pay a bribe to drop Zucker/Petts, or sell Dumo before he falls off a cliff, they will have no issue bringing back Malkin and Letang.
I don't think it's all that complicated. Actually getting a big fish to go with Malkin & Letang is tougher, but that's more of a recruitment thing and less about cap. If a Forsberg/Gaudreau was actually interested in coming here we could make it the cap work quite easily.
Kadri would be fine but would be as much or more expensive than Malkin imo. But if they went with him, it'd probably work ok.
I don't really like the thought of Trocheck as a Malkin replacement and I don't think he'll be a ton cheaper. If Malkin has to go, I'll live with Trocheck if that's who we get, but I don't think we'll be better off than we would with Malkin.
For defenseman, there's really nothing there. Klingberg can replace the PP stuff Letang brings maybe but definitely not the 5v5 play. Maybe something can happen in a trade that would work. I don't like the thought of replacing Letang via FA.
They have enough cap space to sign Malkin and Letang so long as they aren't asking for the moon. It's really Rakell moreso that signing Rust hurts. They can fit Malkin and Letang and still fill out a roster. They cannot fit them + Rakell though.
Really curious how these negotiations are going. I have a weird feeling in my gut that one of them will be gone, but not both. I guess we'll see.
I think they can probably fit 'em in now. The issue isn't fitting them in, it's dramatically improving on a team that's been out in the 1st round for four years straight, and is only going to get markedly worse as time continues to chip away at the 35/36 year old core.
Just bringing back the same group, more or less, ain't gonna cut it. And since Pittsburgh isn't NYC, Miami Beach, LA, or Vegas, you're gonna have to pay absolute top dollar to lure guys as free agents.
Rust's deal is fine in a vacuum. I just don't think it makes sense for what this team needs now, or moving forward.
(Fwiw, I'd take Kadri over Geno 10 times out of 10 nowadays. If the Pens had Kadri lined up, they could easily let Geno walk and be fine, if not improved, imo)
Agree with you that I'm losing patience/attention span when it comes to these guys.
Fast forward to mid-July so we know what's going on already.