Well Dubas has to turn his attention to getting younger bigger and playing with more grit. this trade didn't do what was needed here. Three smaller wingers is not what the Pens lack. But Carolina wasn't giving up what the Pens needed and have to think dubas took this deal in isolation of the needs, Getting more clothespins when you really need a clothes dryer is simply not going to move things along.
The Penguins need prospects that have a decent chance at becoming NHL'ers. Period. THAT is priority number one. The nuances of how tall, how much they weigh, position, etc - that's all secondary.
I don't think a guy who is 5'11 is necessary undersized anymore. In league trending towards speed and skill, a guy who is 5'10 or 5'11 will be just fine. Again, we just need the skill and ability to contribute. We can dial in specifics at later times.
It sounded in his presser like he planned to flip these guys for a younger NHL players…wouldn’t it be wild if he did this deal with the Canes only to turn around after the playoff and flip them right back to the Canes for Jarvis or Necas lol
Yeah that was an interesting comment. I couldn't tell if he's talking about the 3 we just got or if this makes him more apt to deal a guy like Bemstrom, Nieto, Acciari, or even guys like Rakell, DOC, or Puustinen.
I would be checking the status of young players on decent deals on cash strapped teams next year. If Carolina wants to resign Jake, they have some decisions to make. They think Skjei and Pesce are gone but they have Drury, Jarvis, and Necas to resign. Granted, they have $32mil but if you resign Jake, Drury, Jarvis, and Necas, you are leaving relatively little for your defense. So you're right, offering Pono+ back for a guy like Drury may not be the worst.
Or you can go after a guy like Pinto. Or even Norris. LA is another team you could look at. They have 5 RFAs coming up, no goalies, and a couple others to resign with $21mil to do it. Unless all of those guys are willing to do cheap bridges, there could be an opportunity. Wahlstrom from NYI is someone I would ask about. I think he's capable of much more than what he's showing in NY. Winnipeg's cap structure isn't as strong as some might think. You could possibly pull off a big trade with Perfetti.
Now, honestly, if I'm Dubas and I want to retool a bit, I think I look to move Pettersson or Jarry out in a package to the Devils for Mercer or Holtz+. NJD are a team that desperately needs to plug some holes in order to compete. They need that 1LD and they absolutely 100% need a goalie. It's cute they got Jake Allen but that sure as shit ain't gonna cut it. They need a Jarry. And when you look at the money they have tied up in other spots, a guy like Holtz and Mercer become luxuries just like Gogo was for us in 2011 after Letang broke out.
You just apply the same price tag to Jarry that you did with Markstrom which I think is around Holtz+1st. If you want to get nuts, you can do something like Petts+Jarry+Koivunen+1st for Mercer+Holtz+1st. Stick those two between Pono or Yager and you have a new, fresh scoring line.
Raks-Sid-Rust
DOC-Geno-Puustinen
Holtz-Yager/Pono-Mercer
Yeah...now there's a top 9 that could change up the way we play a bit.
All the players coming back in the Guentzel deal seem like they could be good complementary players on a rebuilding team. I imagine Ponomarev is the most likely to be a regular in the NHL next year but I'm definitely curious about Koivunen.
Sounds like Pono will get time this year and Koivunen will challenge next year.
I think it's critical that we get both Pono and Poulin legit time this year. Dubas should not want to be going into next year with "well...these guys are maybes...we don't know what we really have".
If they bring up Poulin and he doesn't cut it, then he can become the Smith in a move this summer.
