I totally agree with you but who are you trading out?
Letang, Martin, Scuderi
Dumoulin/Harrington, Maatta, Despres, Bortuzzo, Samulesson
Even with Maatta unavailable to start, there's no reason Despres, Borts, Bobby D, and Ulfie Jr cannot be on this roster to start the year.
I think some things then are left up in the air. You figure, between Maatta coming back and maybe Harrington being ready, there's going to be some flexibility in terms of what you do.
If a great offer comes along for a Martin or a Letang, then you do it. If someone is willing to take Scuds off your hands, then you do it.
Having all those young kinds gives you flexibility. Maybe you find some short term help in free agency for value. Maybe you take care of Sid and Geno the right way and let them being put into a position to succeed cover for the kids.
The Pens are NOT a cup team. What they need to do to get there as quickly as possible is to set up Sid and Geno to succeed, to let the kids play to see exactly what you've got (maybe it's like 2006-2007, where you're further along than you would have thought), and to get the overall mix in terms of personnel and personalities better.
You know, this is why I'm not averse to letting Fleury ride it out. Will he screw us over come playoffs? Yeah, quite possibly. Will he get us regular season wins to get us to the playoffs? Yeah, probably.
Thing is-- and maybe I'm blinded by my faith in Sid and Geno-- if you do by them like Chicago has done by Toews or LA has done by Kopitar, then anything is possible. If you continue to make them, even in part, afterthoughts because you're worried about trusting one extra kid on defense and waiting to make a deal at the deadline if necessary, then it's going to be more of the same in the end.
If a deal makes sense for 2 years from now-- Neal. Martin. Letang. Whoever save Sid and Geno-- then make it. If there's a hole that a kid can't fill in the end and the team otherwise is further along than anticipated, then deal with it at the deadline. BUT, again, make that, rather than doing right by Sid and Geno, the deadline focus at long last.