GDT: Pens vs Blues (8PM EST)

[cygnus47]

Then they should have been way more proactive about getting usable current assets (not 2027 picks) if they wanted to do that. I keep hearing people say "they're rebuilding" but they're not seemingly doing that completely, but also nobody's really acquiring the kind of players we need to compete now. I just really still don't get how we're supposedly going to pull this off without hitting on some absolute gems in this draft who are a year out at max.

I don’t think it’s clear how deep we’re going until next deadline. If we dump EK and Raks this offseason and don’t replace them with great players we’re tanking for McKenna and DuPont. If we keep them and sign a couple quality guys…well then this was all very half-assed and pointless. Especially if sully sticks around.

I’m hoping we dump the guys and commit to sucking for a couple years but we’re at the crossroads now.

 

[Coastal Kev]

And for McGroarty and Koivunen I'm sincerely happy for them! But right now it's not what's best for the team concerning the draft. This could have taken place in next years pre season. You're in shouting distance to the end of the season and you do this? It's like having a headache and using a sledgehammer to try and correct it! It's lunacy!

The Pens are going to win the lottery and make all of the handwringing pointless in retrospect

 

[DesertedPenguin]

The Penguins shouldn't try to compete next year or even the year after with McKenna and Dupont available.

I hope Dubas stays patient. Play some kids next year and keep building.

I think praying for a lottery ticket is an unrealistic way to rebuild, especially considering there are likely to be multiple teams contending for the No. 1 pick. Are the Penguins really going to be the worst team in the league next year when they have Crosby?

McKenna is an unrealistic pipe dream.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Then they should have been way more proactive about getting usable current assets (not 2027 picks) if they wanted to do that. I keep hearing people say "they're rebuilding" but they're not seemingly doing that completely, but also nobody's really acquiring the kind of players we need to compete now. I just really still don't get how we're supposedly going to pull this off without hitting on some absolute gems in this draft who are a year out at max.

I think you'll see the activity increase this summer to get current assets.

 

[Pancakes]

I think praying for a lottery ticket is an unrealistic way to rebuild, especially considering there are likely to be multiple teams contending for the No. 1 pick. Are the Penguins really going to be the worst team in the league next year when they have Crosby?

McKenna is an unrealistic pipe dream.

I just don't see a reason to speed run this. Leave spots for kids and don't sign a bunch of vets. Then let the team end up where they will. Don't strip it but don't try to go all in on competing either.

 

[Gurglesons]

OK. Look, it's more of an exercise that I'd like to see Dubas improve the defenseman depth this summer while still ideally trading Karlsson (and Rakell) for assets.

So a 26 year old defenseman who has some skill but who won't cost a ton as a UFA is ideal. There are other ways to do this, too - offer sheet for Hague, a trade for someone blocked, etc.

But I think there is a window to clear the runway a bit for developing prospects, get younger overall, add more assets, and actually improve the overall defense to help the young goalies. Because as much as I liked the initial Karlsson move, he and Letang going on adventures in their own zone coupled with Graves and Grzelcyk is just not going to help Blomqvist and Murashov.

If you're getting younger, the goal is to get players that are cheap and flippable or young enough to be impactful.

Perbix is a 26 year old version of Rutta. Like, conceptually great if you are trying to contend, but he's going to likely get 4 million and he doesn't do anything worthwhile enough to go above a 3rd pairing guy.

Timmins has more upside if he somehow doesn't get injured here.

I also wouldn't trade Karlsson until next year.

 

[cygnus47]

I just don't see a reason to speed run this. Leave spots for kids and don't sign a bunch of vets. Then let the team end up where they will. Don't strip it but don't try to go all in on competing either.

We’ve got a good combination of useless vets that will lose when they’re trying. Just convince Jarry that we’re trying to compete and we’re golden. It’s really just rakell and ek, plus Sid, that are providing genuine offense.

We still have the option of trading rakell and EK, signing like Kyle palmieri and letting the kids play. And we’d be bottom 2-3 for sure. It’s still an option and I hope Dubas takes it.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I mean, they could be. But they'd have to actually work, and shift away from this bullshit, doomed-to-fail "retool and compete while Sid's still playing" trash they're feeding yinzers every presser.

This team could very easily finish bottom 3 if they'd cut out what little skill remained in the lineup around a skeleton of Sid, Geno and Letang. Trade Rakell at the draft, trade Rust a couple days into FA when teams are desperate after missing out on big names, trade EK this summer after his bonus money's paid. Yeah, this team could very easily finish bottom 3, if not dead last. With or without Sidney Crosby.

-edit- What's this team with Rust, Rakell and EK? Bad. What's this team without Rust, Rakell and EK? Vying for top 2 or 3 picks. Pretty simple shit, tbh. This team's gonna be dogshit either way, but they're *just* good enough to miss out on getting building block type guys. And with two drafts coming up that have legit superstar, franchise cornerstone talents at the top in McKenna and Dupont, a serious team would drop the facade of trying to remain a distant afterthought when it comes to relevance, swallow their pride and try to land two guys who could be foundational pieces to build around for the next 20 years.

But they won't, and I'm sure the "Hey guys, it's only been since 2018 since they've won a playoff round and they're 3 straight seasons into missing the playoffs and probably don't see playoff hockey again with Sid still playing--let's not be hasty!" crowd will be pleased with the continued slow, boring death of the era.

 

[molon labe]

I don’t think it’s clear how deep we’re going until next deadline. If we dump EK and Raks this offseason and don’t replace them with great players we’re tanking for McKenna and DuPont. If we keep them and sign a couple quality guys…well then this was all very half-assed and pointless. Especially if sully sticks around.

I’m hoping we dump the guys and commit to sucking for a couple years but we’re at the crossroads now.

I wouldn't mind pushing the returns back a year to build around whoever we get out of the McKenna draft.

On one hand I liked what Chicago did with the firesale but on the other - they sort of loaded up for a couple draft classes. Lot of eggs in one basket.

Like, say you don't get McKenna but you get some awesome LD stud who starts to stand out. That prospect likely takes at least 2-3 years to see that potential in. Most GMs will have already blown their load in that initial draft. But if you had multiple firsts 2-3 years down the line, you could easily trade for the partner plus address shortcomings whatever. I just don't like the whole "stack as many as you possibly can in 2026" mentality.

 

[molon labe]

We’ve got a good combination of useless vets that will lose when they’re trying. Just convince Jarry that we’re trying to compete and we’re golden. It’s really just rakell and ek, plus Sid, that are providing genuine offense.

We still have the option of trading rakell and EK, signing like Kyle palmieri and letting the kids play. And we’d be bottom 2-3 for sure. It’s still an option and I hope Dubas takes it.

If you took away line 1 - we're not even NHL level. That's with Letang and EK. Malkin has always had the short stick with linemates (a point I'll / everyone should be ready to bring up in future debates about how good he was) - > but for 3-4 years now we've been a 1 line team and it's a dead horse argument in the Summer. We usually end up divesting in to how good some rando scrub will be for L4 the coming season.

Either we FINALLY go for gold in Marner/building out a 2nd line (even that still leaves this roster with a few massive gaps) or just sell. Another season of 1 NHL line is only going to continue the slow bleed against teams who don't even have that 1 line. Another year of picking 6th or 8th. And to be honest - I'd be perfectly fine if it were entertaining...putting Malkin up there for some Sid to Geno one time bombs. But it's not entertaining, at all. Outside of milestone games it's only watchable on replay at 1.5x+