arttk
Registered User
I don't think it's insane to look at moving on from your stars as they enter that 28 - 30 year old range after finishing their 3-year ELC, and are nearing the end of their 8-year contract. As insane as it sounds the Penguins should have sold Crosby, Malkin, and Letang after their second straight 1st round exit in the 19-20 season. At that point they hadn't been past the second round since their 16-17 cup win and that appearance was in 17-18. They instead chose to try to extend the window and that choice means they probably won't get more shots to win another cup for a half decade at least.
The fact is, even though you can look at a ton of teams and find these same patterns owners and GMs want to keep their playoff windows open even if it comes at the expense of their cup windows.
Allow me to indulge in a hypothetical:
If Pettersson had signed a 5 year deal with a final year NTC and in year 4 of that deal was having a season where he was pacing for 25 goals and 75 points after seasons of 35g/65p, 30g/50p, 30g/55p. We've been to the WCF once in that span in 24-25 but have had a first and second round exit since then. Miller's still a 65 point player, but his best years are clearly behind him. Would you advocate for trading Pettersson before his NTC kicks in?
Whatever your answer to the above the more important question is; do you see an NHL GM with his job on the line making this trade?
I think the thing to be mindful of is NHL revenue is still mostly driven by gate and that is tied to the performance of the team. Majority of owners treat their teams as business first and sports team 2nd and the decisions they make follow that pattern, that is just reality. Until we get a owner like Steve Ballmer where money is of no conern, that is going to be the case. Do you really believe Fenway investment group are fine with the pens spending 6-10 years rebuilding and losing money? Like logically if they care winning above all else, they would've traded away Sid, Malkin, Letang and etc. The fact they didn't shows you what actually matters more.
So with that in mind, there is a reason why you don't trade your star players away when they are 28-30 because sadly, while winning the cup seems like its the biggest priority, the biggest priority is to don't f***ing lose money by losing and trading away your star players when they are in the prime has a high probability of making your team lose.
your hypothetical also makes no sense because if Petey scores 50ish points for 2 seasons straight, he is not a star player and nobody would/should care that much about trading him away.