I've already said what I would do but then I get the standard bs replies. You will just spew the hindsight is 2020 crap.
I would have tried to trade Hagelin as $4 mill is a bit expensive. I would have signed Benoit Pouliout in his place for about $3 mil less.
With that savings, I would have gone after Hanzal.
Another back up option would have been to sign Dominic Moore as a replacement for Cullen.
In theory, I understand what you're suggesting. That said, Benoit Pouliot is horrible. Seriously, he is about 2 years away (at most) from being out of the NHL and never returning.
Hanzal is already hurt with Dallas. That should shock absolutely no one, unless you picked the over on when he was going to get hurt first. I would never allocate that kind of money to someone that brittle. We already have one of those (Letang).
As for Moore, who knows. We might be able to get him anyway if reports are accurate that Babcock likes Finnish rookie Miro Aaltonen as a potential 4C for the Leafs. Eric Fehr is also still in the mix.
So, we might land Moore anyway.
I'm conflicted on a Pouliot for Sheahan deal. I still have hope Pouliot can break out this year into a solid bottom pairing offensive dman with potential for more. But, they definitely need an upgrade at center and while I don't love Sheahan, he's certainly an upgrade and still leaves them cap space and assets to address another acquisition later if they need it.
It's not the type of acquisition I think they need, but it's fairly low risk unless you believe Pouliot is still a top 4 dman in the making.
I'm conflicted about a Pouliot for Sheahan deal. On one hand, I'm still holding onto the slim hope that Pouliot can turn into something the Penguins need. On the other hand, I'm really tired reading all of the bickering about him and even if he plays well, he doesn't have a spot this year. I'd rather it be Kuhnhackl+ for Sheahan, but I wouldn't complain if it's Pouliot.
I'm also not sure how right Mackey is with this, I feel like if this deal was this close, it would have been done by now. I don't know if this is any different than what was said last week.
I guess I am third on the list of people conflicted about dealing Pouliot for Sheahan.
I would not have a problem with it, and the deal would work out for us because Detroit would simply bury Pouliot behind cripple Kronwall, useless Ericsson and they still have overages with Ouellet, Sproul and Russo.
And yet, for whatever reason I still think Pouliot can turn into something with us. I always go back to two comparables: Derek Forbort and Thomas Hickey. Both took even longer to become what they've become: in Forbort's case a quality shutdown D-man. Hickey is more of a depth guy, I suppose. It is more likely that Pouliot is more Hickey than Forbort (not just stylistically, but also in terms of career path), but I still hold out hope. Maybe it's false hope.
And maybe we already have enough depth to not worry about a Pouliot deal. Who knows.