Dundon just ponied up hundreds of millions of dollars to be the majority of the owner of the Hurricanes, if he can't afford to extra salary going towards management for a year or two, we're in much more trouble than previously thought. I don't think even Eugene Melnyk is that cheap.
Francis becomes GM in a few years, and a few years after that Malkin and Crosby retire. The Penguins roster looks so bad even their 2003-2004 roster looks like a dynasty in comparison. Francis', a true JR protege through and through, thoughts? "We like our group."
If that's the case it'll be another case of Francis trying to clean up a mess of JR's creation and not getting enough credit for it. The Penguins haven't drafted a player in the first round since the 2014 Entry Draft. Wrap your brain around that. Rutherford has been the Pens GM since June of 2014. In that time they've taken exactly one first round pick and that first rounder doesn't play for them anymore (Kasperi Kapanen who got sent to Toronto as part of the Kessel deal). The last first rounder that they drafted that still plays for them is Maata. At some point that catches up with them to their detriment. Here's the fate of Pittsburgh 1st rounders post-Crosby. Players still with the Pens or in their system are marked with an asterisk (*)
2006 -
Jordan Staal (2nd overall) - Traded to Carolina in 2012 for Brandon Sutter, Brian Dumoulin*, and the 8th overall pick in the 2012 Entry Draft (Derrick Pouliot)
2007 - Angelo Esposito (20th overall) - Traded to Atlanta in 2008 with Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, and a 1st round pick in the 2008 Entry Draft (Daultan Leveille) for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis
2008 - (29th overall) - Traded to Atlanta in 2008 with Angelo Esposito, Colby Armstrong, and Erik Christensen for Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. Atlanta drafts Daultan Leveille with this pick.
2009 - Simon Despres (30th overall) - Traded to Anaheim in 2015 for Ben Lovejoy.
2010 - Beau Bennett (20th overall) - Traded to New Jersey in 2016 for a 3rd round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft (Connor Hall*, 77th overall)
2011 - Joe Morrow (23rd overall) - Traded to Dallas in 2013 with a 5th round pick in the 2013 Entry Draft (Matej Paulovic, 149th overall) for Brenden Morrow and a 3rd round pick in the 2013 Entry Draft (Jake Guentzel*, 77th overall)
2012 - Derrick Pouliot (8th overall) - Traded to Vancouver in 2017 for Andrey Pedan* and a 4th round pick in the 2018 Entry Draft
2012 - Olli Maata* (22nd overall)
2013 - (28th overall) - Traded to Calgary in 2013 with Kenny Agostino and Ben Hanowski for Jarome Iginla. Calgary drafts Morgan Klimchuk with this pick.
2014 - Kasperi Kapanen (22nd overall) - Traded to Toronto in 2015 with Nick Spaling, Scott Harrington, a 3rd round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft (James Greenway, 72nd overall), and a conditional pick (turned into a 1st round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft (Sam Steel, 30th overall) for Phil Kessel*, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon, and a 2nd round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft (Kasper Bjorkqvist*, 61st overall)
2015 - (16th overall) - Traded to Edmonton in 2015 with Rob Klinkhammer for David Perron. Edmonton would then trade this pick and a 2nd round pick in the 2015 Entry Draft (Mitchell Stephens, 34th overall) to the New York Islanders for Griffin Reinhart. The Islanders would draft Mathew Barzal with this pick
2016 - (30th overall) - Traded to Toronto in 2015 with Nick Spaling, Scott Harrington, and a 3rd round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft (James Greenway, 72nd overall) for Phil Kessel*, Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon, and a 2nd round pick in the 2016 Entry Draft (Kasper Bjorkqvist*, 61st overall). Toronto would then trade this pick to the Anaheim Ducks in 2016 along with a 2nd round pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (Maxime Comtois, 50th overall) for Frederik Andersen. The Ducks would draft Sam Steel with this pick.
2017 - (
31st overall) - Traded to St. Louis in 2017 with Oskar Sundqvist for Ryan Reaves and a 2nd round pick in the 2017 Entry Draft (Zachary Lauzon*, 51st overall). The Blues would draft Klim Kostin with this pick.
So the sum of 13 1st round picks over 12 years, the Pens are left with:
Phil Kessel
Jake Guentzel
Olli Maata
Brian Dumoulin
Kasper Bjorkqvist (yet to debut)
Connor Hall (yet to debut)
Zachary Lauzon (yet to debut)
Andrey Pedan (yet to debut)