So... Are the Penguins Even Going to Try?

[SensontheRush]

Especially in comparison to what WSH has done, it's pretty sad to see the Penguins just stand pat. WSH are expected to only have six players remaining from their 2022(!) roster dress for them this upcoming season.

So, now what? Hard to imagine Crosby is too pleased with Dubas sitting on his hands.

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[HockeyVirus]

Dubas is completely over his head there it seems. They are making win now moves like trading their first for Karlsson but then is selling pieces for futures and saying in his presser they are trying to do a on the fly rebuild?

Why make some of the moves he has then? All he is doing is keeping them bad for longer.

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

Washington’s signings may turn out to help them in the way many people seem to think they will. Or they may have turned out to have acquired a lot of guys who are overpaid on long term deals. Just because a team goes out and acquires a bunch of guys doesn’t mean they’ve had a good offseason.

Dubas is completely over his head there it seems. They are making win now moves like trading their first for Karlsson but then is selling pieces for futures and saying in his presser they are trying to do a on the fly rebuild?

Why make some of the moves he has then? All he is doing is keeping them bad for longer.

The Karlsson trade also had the benefit of dumping several contracts we didn’t need.

 

[Ocoee]

Is Washington really that much better after their moves? I feel like they are just prolonging the amount of time they are a middle of the pack team.

 

[SensontheRush]

Is Washington really that much better after their moves? I feel like they are just prolonging the amount of time they are a middle of the pack team.

It's not even about being "objectively" better. WSH is at least attempting something, which remains to be seen with PIT, especially now after losing Guentzel and trading away Reilly (though my understanding is this is an addition by subtraction).

Warren Foegele would have been a good get for them IMO.

 

[MCR74]

Dubas is completely over his head there it seems. They are making win now moves like trading their first for Karlsson but then is selling pieces for futures and saying in his presser they are trying to do a on the fly rebuild?

Why make some of the moves he has then? All he is doing is keeping them bad for longer.

Who could've expected that?

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Kind of an apples to oranges comparison IMO. Caps have some big contracts coming off the books, it’s been known for a while that the team would look dramatically different after this offseason.

 

[Peasy]

I mean, Dubas really handcuffed himself when the first thing he could really think of to improve the team was to just acquire karlsson. Dude has no creativity. As soon as that trade happened I figured this would be the end result.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

I mean, Dubas really handcuffed himself when the first thing he could really think of to improve the team was to just acquire karlsson. Dude has no creativity. As soon as that trade happened I figured this would be the end result.

He is not a competent GM

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Dubas is completely over his head there it seems. They are making win now moves like trading their first for Karlsson but then is selling pieces for futures and saying in his presser they are trying to do a on the fly rebuild?

Why make some of the moves he has then? All he is doing is keeping them bad for longer.

Not really his place to blow the team up for futures as long as Crosby and Malkin are there. I think his prerogative is similar to the Caps’ FO: do his best to setup the team for success in the offseason, but be realistic at the TDL about what the team is capable of achieving that year, knowing the team is in desperate need of quality prospects.

 

[bobholly39]

Why in the world is Mike Sullivan still there? It's so strange to me.

This Pittsburgh core in particular has reacted great in the past to new coaches. Sullivan should have been gone 2 years ago, but 100% without fail this off-season.

It's time to bring in a new coach with a new/different vision.

I don't evne think he's a bad coach - I'd love to see Mike Sullivan go to a new team and likely have a lot of success. But it's not working in Pittsburgh anymore and it's beyond time ot move on.

In regards to trades/UFA signings? Sure, they haven't done much, but the biggest move they could do by far is around the coach. And for whatever reason, it isn't happening.

 

[TooManyHumans]

Yeah, Sullivan is a much bigger issue than Dubas is.

 

[PaulD]

Not really his place to blow the team up for futures as long as Crosby and Malkin are there. I think his prerogative is similar to the Caps’ FO: do his best to setup the team for success in the offseason, but be realistic at the TDL about what the team is capable of achieving that year, knowing the team is in desperate need of quality prospects.

yea if he builds fir future they might not make play offs.....lol
not like anyone he has around Malkin and Sid are any goid.
Team sucked ass last season .....with his 8 acquisitions and a great season from Sid

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

I mean, Dubas really handcuffed himself when the first thing he could really think of to improve the team was to just acquire karlsson. Dude has no creativity. As soon as that trade happened I figured this would be the end result.

Dubas is elite at handcuffing himself with stuff the team doesn't need.


On another boat, the pens should be better than the Habs, so you're not last in the East.

 

[Headshot77]

nah. We're the NHL's retirement home for a few years. Gonna finish between 17th and 28th purgatory for about 4 years at least.

 

[SEALBound]

Dubas wants to infuse the lineup with youth. What we can expect is a year or two of "meh" with bandaid style signings while they recoup draft picks and add prospects. Then in 3-4 years, there will be a renewed urgency to compete via these new young players with a "mentor" style role from Sid.

Maybe not unlike the Bruins when they traded off roster players like Hamilton and Lucic in order to retool via the draft and young player acquisitions.

They will try but maybe not this year. In the next 1-2, they will "try" at a minimal level amd if they make it to the playoffs, bonus. If not, oh well. The days of a 1st or 2nd for a TDL rental are LONG gone.

 

[PensandCaps]

They didnt stand pat, Hayes and Lizzote is some pretty good reinforcement to the bottom 6, compared to Nieto, Carter, Harkins.... huge upgrade actually.

 

[TheGroceryStick]

Oh Dubas is bad eh.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

They need a Trouba type , not a lot of leadership on that team

 

[PenguinSuitedUp]

It's not even about being "objectively" better. WSH is at least attempting something, which remains to be seen with PIT, especially now after losing Guentzel and trading away Reilly (though my understanding is this is an addition by subtraction).

Warren Foegele would have been a good get for them IMO.

The FA market was full of long term contracts that the Pens needed no part of. And what is signing Warren Foegle going to do for this team?

The Pens are half a roster away at minimum from being a Cup contender. Dubas went out and acquired Erik Karlsson, who is going to make a lot more revenue for the team than the 3 guys he was traded for, while dumping 3 bad contracts that were negative production value from the team.

Now, he’s working on building up the farm system and asset base. Chasing Washington’s long-term contract acquisitions would be more of a hindrance to this team than what Dubas has done so far.

They need a Trouba type , not a lot of leadership on that team

Yeah, just three core players who have played 17 straight years of playoff hockey with 4 finals appearances and 3 Cups.

 

[McShogun99]

Penguins have been one of the most successful franchise's of the last 15 years. Every team needs a bit of a down cycle to rebuild.

 

[Jacob]

They were only a couple wins out of the playoffs last season, with the biggest problems being the league’s worst PP and a lack of depth scoring. So they fired the PP coach and hired a new one and replaced Carter, Smith and Harkins/Nieto with Hayes, Lizotte and Beauvillier, which seems like an upgrade, if only a small one, and a couple mill cheaper cap-wise too, even factoring in Smith’s retention.

No idea if or how Quinn is gonna fix the PP but the Pens are a playoff team if it’s even 20th in the league this past season. If he can get it to, like, mediocre? We’re set.

Pens were actually quite good at ES this past season.

 

[Carlzner]

Is Washington really that much better after their moves? I feel like they are just prolonging the amount of time they are a middle of the pack team.

Go ahead and compare the prospect pools of the two teams.

 

[Turin]

Go ahead and compare the prospect pools of the two teams.

This is exactly WHY the Penguins aren’t doing what Washington is doing. They don’t have the assets to just buy. 5 of their best 10 prospects have been brought into the org within the last 4 months. They are taking a minute to build their farm and draft capital before trying one last time.

 

[Turin]

Especially in comparison to what WSH has done, it's pretty sad to see the Penguins just stand pat. WSH are expected to only have six players remaining from their 2022(!) roster dress for them this upcoming season.

So, now what? Hard to imagine Crosby is too pleased with Dubas sitting on his hands.

Washington has been a middling team since Trotz left. They haven’t spent much. They have prospects and picks to show for it. The Penguins have been spending assets for 15 years, and now it’s time to actually get some assets before spending again. Half of their top 10 prospects have been added in the last 4 months, which says just as much about how barren the system was as the quality of prospect they’d acquired from Guentzel and the draft.