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

[Peasy]

Pens fans, would you rather have Karlsson, or do some trades like the caps just did. PLD for Jarry. 2 3rds for Thompson. They also got chychrun for fairly cheap.

Wonder how PLD would act being around Crosby every day and even possibly playing on his line.

 

[Turin]

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.

Karlsson was a way for them to also dump 2 terrible contracts in Granlund and Petry. So you spend a first and dump 2 contracts for a star and see what happens. What happened wasn't a massive jump, so you recalibrate. The Pens still might very well be better than last season, and this time they have a much better prospect pool and all their picks still.

Pens fans, would you rather have Karlsson, or do some trades like the caps just did. PLD for Jarry. 2 3rds for Thompson. They also got chychrun for fairly cheap.

Wonder how PLD would act being around Crosby every day and even possibly playing on his line.

Chychrun is the only deal Washington did that I really liked, Pens couldn't do it unless they traded Ottawa Letang. Mangiapani is too rich for the Pens cap structure to spend a 2nd on. PLD, hard pass. Thompson is too unknown for the Pens to spend two 3rds on. Washington can roll that dice because they have another goalie they trust.

 

[LeafalCrusader]

They're waiting to sign Marner in the summer of 2025.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Karlsson was a way for them to also dump 2 terrible contracts in Granlund and Petry. So you spend a first and dump 2 contracts for a star and see what happens. What happened wasn't a massive jump, so you recalibrate. The Pens still might very well be better than last season, and this time they have a much better prospect pool and all their picks still.

Granlund outscored Karlsson this season lol for half the cost.

 

[Turin]

Granlund outscored Karlsson this season lol for half the cost.

This was Karlsson about 3 quarters through the year. He finished with a worse defensive rating but everything else basically the same. Karlsson was a huge reason why the Pens were still a decent 5 on 5 team, he just didn't get any PP points because the Pens PP was historically bad. Granlund is playing as the worst team in the leagues 1C and on their top PP. Not a useful player to the Pens and needed to go.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Granlund outscored Karlsson this season lol for half the cost.

And we all saw how Granlund played in Sullivan's system. Like crap.

 

[ccman68]

feel like if they just fix the powerplay they make the playoffs so no need for big changes

 

[bossram]

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.

Well, this is pretty much the organizational goal of the Capitals at this point. They know they're not a contender, but they just want to hold out on being reasonably good enough so that Ovi can get the goals record.

 

[Carlzner]

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.

The Capitals barely spent any assets (34 y/o upcoming UFA D, 3 3rd's and 1 2nd after amassing picks from selling the past 2 seasons) and both improved their team, and got significantly younger.

This was Karlsson about 3 quarters through the year. He finished with a worse defensive rating but everything else basically the same. Karlsson was a huge reason why the Pens were still a decent 5 on 5 team, he just didn't get any PP points because the Pens PP was historically bad. Granlund is playing as the worst team in the leagues 1C and on their top PP. Not a useful player to the Pens and needed to go.

I think it's less about the player himself and moreso the opportunity cost involved and the direction of the franchise.

Granlund & Petry may have been cap dumps but the Pens gave up real assets for both of them not that long before. That 14th overall is a very real asset too.

 

[Misery74]

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.

This is a good assessment of the primary difference. It looks to me like the Caps are a good 3-5 years ahead of Pittsburgh. LTIR Backstrom was a big game changer for Washington. This year, Oshie probably there as well. Cap flexibility, especially this year was really used well.

Some of Washington’s top ten has graduated. Lapierre and McMichael no longer considered prospects. It’s scary how under the radar good Hendrix Lapierre is looking.

Add to that, Lapierre and Miroshnishenko, both slipped due to serious injury/illness. Both were considered near the top of their draft class.

Pittsburgh went all in more than Washington. Who can blame them, they had a great run. But Washington rarely ever traded their firsts, while Pittsburgh mostly did.

Pittsburgh needs to cash in their chips, and stop adding older players to an older core. Caps added Strome, Pittsburgh opted for more Jeff Carter. Washington added PLD, Pittsburgh Karlsson. Say what you will about PLD, but both he and Strome were in their mid twenties.

Sixth place in the Metro is the last place this team needs to end up.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Well, this is pretty much the organizational goal of the Capitals at this point. They know they're not a contender, but they just want to hold out on being reasonably good enough so that Ovi can get the goals record.

It’s hilarious watching Crosby fans claim the Capitals have sacrificed too much for Ovechkin when the Pens have traded 8 of their 12 most recent first round draft picks - including having down it after missing the playoffs in 2023 only to miss them again in ‘24.

 

[Turin]

The Capitals barely spent any assets (34 y/o upcoming UFA D, 3 3rd's and 1 2nd after amassing picks from selling the past 2 seasons) and both improved their team, and got significantly younger.


I think it's less about the player himself and moreso the opportunity cost involved and the direction of the franchise.

Granlund & Petry may have been cap dumps but the Pens gave up real assets for both of them not that long before. That 14th overall is a very real asset too.

Sure the Caps did good work if you think going for it in the next couple years is worth it. I personally don't think it'll do much for them, but at worst they'll just resell those assets for what they gave up, so nothing was really lost.

Yes, Hextall f***ed the team. Which is why he was fired. He extended Carter who was clearly losing his legs/reaction time, low-balled Evgeni Malkin, let Rodrigues walk, and traded Matheson and Marino for Petry a 3rd and Ty Smith, then lost out on JT Miller and Chychrun so turned around and spent a 2nd round pick on Mikael Granlund last second all within one calendar year. He had one of the worst stretches of GMing I've ever seen and the Pens are kind of picking up the pieces still.

 

[Takurcitee]

Dont forget that crosby and Malkin played full 82 games last 2 seasons if they get injured pens are bottom 5 next year

 

[bossram]

It’s hilarious watching Crosby fans claim the Capitals have sacrificed too much for Ovechkin when the Pens have traded 8 of their 12 most recent first round draft picks - including having down it after missing the playoffs in 2023 only to miss them again in ‘24.

aight

 

[Midnight Judges]

Sure the Caps did good work if you think going for it in the next couple years is worth it.

The Capitals haven't sacrificed much of anything for the next couple years aside from Cap space except with Backstrom/Kuznetsov/Oshie leaving or LTIRetired, they had plenty of unused space anyway.

 

[Turin]

The Capitals haven't sacrificed much of anything for the next couple years aside from Cap space except with Backstrom/Kuznetsov/Oshie leaving or LTIRetired, they had plenty of unused space anyway.

They probably sacrificed a better draft pick.

 

[NVious]

Malkin and Letang aren't who they once were, they can be nice complimentary pieces but that's it, Sid is still awesome, but if prime McDrai are having trouble winning a cup, old man Sid definitely can't do anything by himself.

They need to come to terms with this and go play meaningful Hockey for 2-3 years while they still can, if they don't, it's on them. Ultimately it's what's best for everyone as the Pens can stock up on great young players and they can all come back for a year or two to finish their careers.

Again if they don't, it's on Sid and co for being delusional which they earned the right, but they're just wasting their own careers at this point.

 

[Midnight Judges]

They probably sacrificed a better draft pick.

What, a bunch or 3rd rounders? A Colorado 2nd? They still accumulated/retained a ton of picks.

 

[Turin]

What, a bunch or 3rd rounders? A Colorado 2nd? They still accumulated/retained a ton of picks.

No, in the near future.

Washington is due a big regression. They stunk last year but managed to make it. Even if these additions all hit they still are likely where they were last year. But hey, why not try I guess. Like I said, they had the assets accumulated to try.

 

[Leaf Fans]

It is still early, they have done some things and they gave some youth.

 

[Midnight Judges]

No, in the near future.

Washington is due a big regression. They stunk last year but managed to make it. Even if these additions all hit they still are likely where they were last year. But hey, why not try I guess. Like I said, they had the assets accumulated to try.

Nah, if these moves hit, they'll be improved. Kuznetsov and Backstrom were pretty terrible these past few seasons - scoring at a .5 PPG despite playing 1C minutes and PP time. The blue line after Carlson (and a few other players maybe for small stints) has been le bad too.

If these moves don't work out, then so what - they have assets to get those 3rd rounders right back if need be. So again, they haven't sacrificed much of anything.

 

[Turin]

Nah, if these moves hit, they'll be improved. Kuznetsov and Backstrom were pretty terrible these past few seasons - scoring at a .5 PPG despite playing 1C minutes and PP time. The blue line after Carlson (and a few other players maybe for small stints) has been le bad too.

If these moves don't work out, then so what - they have assets to get those 3rd rounders right back if need be. So again, they haven't sacrificed much of anything.

If you say so, but I doubt it. A lot is riding on PLD who I don’t have any time for.

 

[Szechwan]

Gotta think Crosby will want to move in if the team makes no improvements and flat-lines, no?

Dubas would probably prefer that, he has no directly loyalty to Crosby and it would make his job way easier to just commit to a rebuild.

 

[Ocoee]

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

I don't really care about the prospect pools of the two teams. I was just commenting on the trades and signings for washington. Hey, if you feel good about your team then that's great. I don't see them as being much better.

 

[DrDangles]

Bert was the only guy I was hoping they would target in FA, so I'm glad they didn't rush to give out another bad contract to save face in the name of competing.

The team looked really good down the stretch so I think it's smarter to evaluate how guys like DOC and Puustinen progress before making any major decisions.