Rumor: Penguins interested in Zucker

[Beauner]

I think it's pretty well established that Pittsburgh is not on his 10 team.

Based on what? Kessel's NTC nixed the trade this summer, not Zucker's.

Edit: Unless I'm getting your post backwards. If I am then my apologies

Double Edit: Yeah I totally read you post wrong

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

That hasn't been established at all. No one said that. Why wouldn't it be in it?

He submitted his list in summer when pitt tried to trade for him. Zucker has a family situation which will play a big role.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unless that’s an intriguing situation to him. He can always waive too.</p>&mdash; Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) <a href="">January 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>


<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Im not saying they won’t trade him. Just saying he hasn’t been told he’s being traded</p>&mdash; Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) <a href="">January 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Thank you for that revelation that family will play a role in his 10 team NTC.

You truly believe that Pittsburgh falls into the bottom 10 of all possible landing spots for him based on the role family plays? Based on what? It would make no sense geographically or competitively to put Pittsburgh on his NTC. Assume all of Canada would be on the list and California. That leaves ONE team left over.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

I'm not sure if it's worth bumping this thread, but I saw this tweet from Saturday:



This makes me think that the Zucker to Pittsburgh trade is basically agreed upon already, but Guerin just won't do it until the Wild fall out of the playoff hunt. The Wild have a tough schedule coming out of the all-star break with playing Boston, a hot Chicago, Vancouver, Colorado and Dallas in their next 5 games, so we could have some clarity on this situation in about a week and a half.

I’ve been wondering myself if a deal isn’t already done. Guerin said he thinks this team has earned the right to let this play out and I think there’s probably a number in the back of his head as to how far out we have to be at the deadline for this deal to go through. If they’re x-points out, it goes through.

 

[Bazeek]

Yeah, I think this is fair to mention. My guess is that if a deal is already basically agreed upon, it's because JR is including someone in the Penguins prospect pool that Guerin absolutely loves as a prospect along with the 1st. If it's just JR offering what Guerin thinks is fair, Guerin may do a last call for another team to beat JR for Zucker. If JR is offering a prospect that Guerin is in love with from his time as assistant GM with the Penguins, why bother doing that?

I think Dave Molinari would release the Penguins prospect pool rankings every January up until this year, where he interviewed Guerin and the list was Guerin's opinions on the prospect pool. The 2019 list, which was Guerin's last in Pittsburgh, had Bjorkqvist as #1 (out for the year due to injury), Pavlychev at #3 and Angello at #4. Angello also coincidentally got called up to Pittsburgh today. If JR offered Guerin a 1st and Bjorkqvist, who's a prospect that Guerin absolutely loves, would Guerin really bother trying to let another team beat that?

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not ready to think our new GM is dumb enough to let Kasper Bjorkqvist be the deciding factor in trading Jason Zucker. Even if Guerin's optimism was justified we're talking about Marcus Foligno 2.0, which isn't bad but isn't a need at any level.

 

[Jesus comma Brodin]

Based on what? Kessel's NTC nixed the trade this summer, not Zucker's.

Edit: Unless I'm getting your post backwards. If I am then my apologies

Double Edit: Yeah I totally read you post wrong

No worries, man.

I can't imagine any reason Zucker would have Pittsburgh on his NTC.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

Thank you for that revelation that family will play a role in his 10 team NTC.

You truly believe that Pittsburgh falls into the bottom 10 of all possible landing spots for him based on the role family plays? Based on what? It would make no sense geographically or competitively to put Pittsburgh on his NTC. Assume all of Canada would be on the list and California. That leaves ONE team left over.

Which is probably Pittsburgh. Once again Zucker made list in summer. You think he didn't put a team in Pittsburgh on it that wants him badly?

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not ready to think our new GM is dumb enough to let Kasper Bjorkqvist be the deciding factor in trading Jason Zucker. Even if Guerin's optimism was justified we're talking about Marcus Foligno 2.0, which isn't bad but isn't a need at any level.

The point was that he was getting offered a prospect or player from JR that he specifically loves, so he wouldn't feel the need to find someone else to 1-up JR's offer if he's getting a 1st rounder plus a prospect he really likes. I'm not saying it's necessarily Bjorkqvist (although that would be my best guess), but I don't know why you think that would be a far-fetched idea that he wouldn't shop for better if he was getting a 1st and a prospect he's familiar with and really likes.

He ranked Hallander as the Penguins #5 prospect last year, it could be him too. I just think Bjorkqvist is the best guess for the prospect that Guerin is in absolute love with.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Unless that’s an intriguing situation to him. He can always waive too.</p>&mdash; Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) <a href="">January 27, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Beauner]

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I'm not ready to think our new GM is dumb enough to let Kasper Bjorkqvist be the deciding factor in trading Jason Zucker. Even if Guerin's optimism was justified we're talking about Marcus Foligno 2.0, which isn't bad but isn't a need at any level.

I wonder what his scouts' opinion of Bjorkqvist (or any rumoured prospect in the organization) is. Could be a determining factor in where Guerin's head is at.

 

[Jerkbait]

Which is probably Pittsburgh. Once again Zucker made list in summer. You think he didn't put a team in Pittsburgh on it that wants him badly?

Iam thinking zucker does not want to leave Minnesota. He probably has nothing against pens but wants to stay put. I don't think he is the best fit anyways ..good not great.. mayne we can focus on saad

 

[Beauner]

Iam thinking zucker does not want to leave Minnesota. He probably has nothing against pens but wants to stay put. I don't think he is the best fit anyways ..good not great.. mayne we can focus on saad

1) How is zucker not a good fit?
2) He's "good not great", but you're insinuating Saad is?

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Also, this just brings back memories from Fenton trading with the Preds and not getting anywhere near value.

(Jesus) Fiala makes up for everything

 

[Empoleon8771]

Which is probably Pittsburgh. Once again Zucker made list in summer. You think he didn't put a team in Pittsburgh on it that wants him badly?

Why would he put Pittsburgh on his NTC and leave worse options as trade candidates?

I imagine Wild fans have already had this debate, because it has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread too, but I don't see a reason to think that he definitely put Pittsburgh on his NTC. He could have put teams he knew were interested in him on his NTC (Arizona, Pittsburgh and Calgary to name 3 I know of), but then he may leave worse options as trade candidates. Would he really put Pittsburgh on his NTC while leaving someone like LA as a trade option? He doesn't have a restrictive enough NTC to effectively make himself untradeable, so I don't see why some people believe that he definitely he did that. He'd be leaving bad options, whether it's bad teams, bad situations or cities far away from Minnesota, by trying to block teams that were interested in him in the past.

This relates to the Phil Kessel debate the Penguins board had last off-season. There was a debate for whether Kessel structures his NTC to make himself untradeable (like he did with Toronto) or if he structured it so he would only be traded to 1 or 2 specific locations. We don't know what these players do with their NTCs, so it's pointless to pass off guesses as facts without some other information from actual insiders. What it ended up being in Kessel's case was that Arizona wasn't on his NTC, so he structured his NTC to let him only be traded to 1 or 2 locations. That's different than what he did in 2015 and it's different than what a lot of people guessed he was going to do with his NTC.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

Why would he put Pittsburgh on his NTC and leave worse options as trade candidates?

I imagine Wild fans have already had this debate, because it has been mentioned a couple of times in this thread too, but I don't see a reason to think that he definitely put Pittsburgh on his NTC. He could have put teams he knew were interested in him on his NTC (Arizona, Pittsburgh and Calgary to name 3 I know of), but then he may leave worse options as trade candidates. Would he really put Pittsburgh on his NTC while leaving LA as a trade option?

One team it's been mentioned he would love to go to is Vegas who has inquired about him & his home team.

It's just been assumed Zucker put Pittsburg on his 10 team no trade because he did list in July when they were trying to trade for him.

 

[Bazeek]

The point was that he was getting offered a prospect or player from JR that he specifically loves, so he wouldn't feel the need to find someone else to 1-up JR's offer if he's getting a 1st rounder plus a prospect he really likes. I'm not saying it's necessarily Bjorkqvist (although that would be my best guess), but I don't know why you think that would be a far-fetched idea that he wouldn't shop for better if he was getting a 1st and a prospect he's familiar with and really likes.

He ranked Hallander as the Penguins #5 prospect last year, it could be him too. I just think Bjorkqvist is the best guess for the prospect that Guerin is in absolute love with.

I think it's likely that he has firm opinions about everyone in that pool and that there are a few guys that he likes more than others. I also don't see anyone there that's worth being "in absolute love with," especially if the top 3-4 guys are off the table. There's definitely not anyone so good that he should forego shopping around for.

 

[Empoleon8771]

One team it's been mentioned he would love to go to is Vegas who has inquired about him & his home team.

It's just been assumed Zucker put Pittsburg on his 10 team no trade because he did list in July when they were trying to trade for him.

But that's just the point I'm making, that logic falls apart when you consider that he'd be leaving options like Buffalo, Edmonton, Winnipeg or LA as trade options if he'd put Pittsburgh on his NTC. For every interested team that he has put on his NTC, he's leaving 1 worse option as a trade candidate. I don't see why he'd do that.

 

[AKL]

I think it's likely that he has firm opinions about everyone in that pool and that there are a few guys that he likes more than others. I also don't see anyone there that's worth being "in absolute love with," especially if the top 3-4 guys are off the table. There's definitely not anyone so good that he should forego shopping around for.

Who are the guys in Pittsburgh's pool that are off the table?

 

[Bazeek]

Who are the guys in Pittsburgh's pool that are off the table?

I think McKenzie or Friedman mentioned that they're unlikely to part with Addison, Poulin or Legare. I'd have to find the quote, but it makes sense.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

But that's just the point I'm making, that logic falls apart when you consider that he'd be leaving options like Buffalo, Edmonton, Winnipeg or LA as trade options if he'd put Pittsburgh on his NTC. For every interested team that he has put on his NTC, he's leaving 1 worse option as a trade candidate. I don't see why he'd do that.

He probably had every Canada team which is like 9 so Pittsburgh is 10.
Again his agent made the list in July so to me that would be telling because I believe Fenton was still wild GM in early July

 

[AKL]

I think McKenzie or Friedman mentioned that they're unlikely to part with Addison, Poulin or Legare. I'd have to find the quote, but it makes sense.

Well that's absolutely disgusting then. I want no part of a Zucker to Pittsburgh trade. I was already lukewarm on their late 1st + one of those guys.

 

[Beauner]

He probably had every Canada team which is like 9 so Pittsburgh is 10.
Again his agent made the list in July so to me that would be telling because I believe Fenton was still wild GM in early July

That is a completely preposterous assumption to make.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Who are the guys in Pittsburgh's pool that are off the table?

I think McKenzie or Friedman mentioned that they're unlikely to part with Addison, Poulin or Legare. I'd have to find the quote, but it makes sense.

McKenzie did say that last night, but he also followed it up with "the Penguins are trying to win here and now". Here's the quote from a Pensburgh article:

McKenzie: Pens will be aggressive in trade market, but don’t expect Chris Kreider

McKenzie mentioned Samuel Poulin, Nathan Legare and Calen Addison specifically as future assets the Pens wanted to protect and not include in trades. But also in the next breath mentioned how it’s “about the here and now” for Pittsburgh and McKenzie said he did expect Rutherford to be “really aggressive” to add a scoring winger for the top-six.

I'm intrigued to see Hallander not included in that group, Hallander being a 0.5 PPG player in the SHL as an 18 and 19 year old is more impressive than what Legare has done in the Q this year IMO. But maybe they think Legare's upside is higher and that his progression from a pure sniper to more of a power forward/grinder that scores goals makes him a more attractive prospect. Plus Legare had a kick-ass camp last year that got him an ELC.

 

[Hockeyfan200]

That is a completely preposterous assumption to make.

No It's really not. Zucker doesn't want to move away from his wife. Everyone knows this. Every Canada team will be on it. Then will depends whether Pittsburgh wanting him bad enough made him put them on list

 

[Beauner]

No It's really not. Zucker doesn't want to move away from his wife. Everyone knows this. Every Canada team will be on it. Then will depends whether Pittsburgh wanting him bad enough made him put them on list

So you're saying he'd agree to be traded to Arizona or Florida or Tampa over Pittsburgh based on desire to be close to home

 

[Bazeek]

McKenzie did say that last night, but he also followed it up with "the Penguins are trying to win here and now". Here's the quote from a Pensburgh article:

McKenzie: Pens will be aggressive in trade market, but don’t expect Chris Kreider



I'm intrigued to see Hallander not included in that group, Hallander being a 0.5 PPG player in the SHL as an 18 and 19 year old is more impressive than what Legare has done in the Q this year IMO. But maybe they think Legare's upside is higher and that his progression from a pure sniper to more of a power forward/grinder that scores goals makes him a more attractive prospect. Plus Legare had a kick-ass camp last year that got him an ELC.

I could see Guerin taking a chance on Hallander. He might not pan out as more than a bottom-6 center, but that's arguably more of a long-term need than wingers or RD anyway.