Accepting only a late 1st would be selling a bit low on Rakell, not high. Rakell is worth more than that.
While true, part of it is the rumored ludicrous ask Dubas had for him at the deadline (top prospect and two 1sts). Personally I think Rakell and Byram are being overrated by their respective fans bases as neither would be on the top line of a contender. Buffalo shouldn't be considering this based on age difference alone. Then again, I think the Norris-Cozens deal was unwise for Buffalo too due to Norris' health and Adams did it.
HFBoards has been underrating Penguins players all year. Rakell is no exception.
Marcus Pettersson. Much of HFBoards balked when Penguins fans said he'd return a 2nd and a B prospect.
Not a clean trade though. Pettersson returned two cap (some might say dumps) along with a first. Plus it was more than just Pettersson. O’Connor went with him.
If the Penguins did need to add, it would not be a 1st, or anything adding up to a 1st in value.
Yeah I get the feeling if thats your expectation you'll be disappointed, but we'll see. I don't see his current production translating to most of the teams that would be looking to acquire Rakell. You're selling him as a 70 point top line winger which is technically true, but most people will look at the whole body of work with Rakell and try to calculate what he does away from one of the best 1C's in the league. The expectations/asks seem high to me, which isn't really anything against Rakell as a player.
I would have traded a 2nd and a B prospect for Pettersson in a heartbeat which tells me that was a pretty poor starting point for a Pettersson deal. Some people don't understand how valuable good defensive defenseman are in this league.
I am assuming that teams will be looking at Rakell as a 'we can assume he will put up 50 points' top 6 winger.
Similarly, people don't understand how valuable a winger who can be expected to put up 50 points and is signed to a value contract - which will become a bargain once free agency hits - can be.
You said…”does injury affect production?”
Then I think we're roughly in agreement on what Rakell is as a player. The Sabres picked up a guy like that off the scrap heap late in free agency in Zucker last season and all he cost them was money. He also just re-upped for under 5 million a season. I don't deny Rakell is a pretty good hockey player, it's just that he's a winger and outside of the truly elite ones they just don't garner all that much in return, especially as vet rentals.
He's not given his age.
How many Zucker-level wingers do you think will hit free agency this time around? I'm not sure that relying on free agency is a viable strategy.
I wouldn't define a mid-to-late 1st and a small add as that much in return for Rakell.
Rakell isn't a rental; he's signed for three more seasons after this one at $5M.
I don't understand the point you're making. Is the acquiring team planning on playing Rakell with a traffic cone at center?
He's only going to be 32 next season, not 38. The cliff risk is minimal.
The fact that Rakell is not a rental raises his value; it doesn't lower it.
There'll be plenty of talent in free agency this offseason. Marner, Ehlers, Boeser, Marchand, Kane, Benn. That's just a handful of the wingers. If you go after a guy who can play center and move someone to wing the pool gets even deeper. As I said Zucker was an afterthought in free agency, Wingers are some of the easiest pieces to add.
I don't mind keeping him tbh. Crosby loves playing with him, and Rakell and Rust are the type of guys I'd be happy would be mentoring the next gen. Pens should be a bad enough team even with them to get a high pick to continue rebuilding.
.rakell only seems to work with top 10 centers
Actually no, not at his age/ cap hit and risk of being dead weight
Quinn has a documented injury. He's also on an ELC
