Zirakzigil
Global Moderator
Um, you don’t trade Jarry for the sake of trading him. Especially when you have no one else signed.
I also fine with keeping Karlsson, and I know Sullivan is rumored to love Chychrun. I can live with the right side of their defense next season as Letang, Karlsson and St. Ivany.
Dubas named Poulin. St. Ivany and Blomqvist as the three players who had stood out for him down in WBS. If the penguins give a extension to Ned they can have Blomqvist as the backup to him next season.
So this is what happens when u get competent goal tending down the stretch run. Hmmm...
Re-signing ned has to be a priority as does trading away jarry
Realistically we should move Jarry. No idea what his value is...lower than it was pre-TDL I'm sure.
Really don't want to retain on him and burn a spot, unless we are getting something really good back. But he was also a UFA and didn't get an offer better than here so I can't see us getting much in pure futures. It would be salary in salary out.
Just perusing...Buffalo for Jordan Greenway?
I vomited profusely when the Jarry deal was announced… and now I’m still vomiting and laughing in between heaves now. What an awful term & length of a deal.
You 100% trade Jarry this off-season if you can get a decent return for him. Give Nedjelkovic a decent short term payday (like 2 years at $4 million a year) and go with Nedjelkovic and Blomqvist as your goalies. Jarry isn't a bad goalie and I imagine teams would be interested in him (like the rumors said at the deadline), but they need to continue making overhauls to the roster and Jarry seems like an obvious guy to do that with.
On that same logic, this is the exact reason why you don't bring Guentzel back. Running it back next year with the same team except for Poulin and Ponomarev in NHL roles isn't going to make any sort of a difference. If their top-6 was:
Bunting-Crosby-Rakell
Guentzel-Malkin-Rust
I'd be in full support of bringing back Guentzel. But let's be serious for a second, is there any chance this team is going to run with that? Of course not.
3 good results today
Jarry and Graves should be moved if possible. Black holes...
I think you could move Jarry. $5 million isn't really that much. Some of his deficiencies could be covered up by a team that actually supports the goalie. Instead of crappy D that stand idly by watching their man score. Or leaving their post and leaving their man wide open.
Just off the top of my head possibly Ottawa, LA and NJ if they're not on his NTC list.
Ottawa- they'd have to buyout Joonas. Don't know wth they were thinking. 3 of the previous 5 seasons he had a save pct under .900. They lost that coin flip.
NJ- Lost out on Hell as he was never really available. Shot down in their attempts on Markstrom.
LA- possibly interested. Markstrom reportedly blocked a trade to LA.
Move Rust in a hockey trade this offseason. See if Buffalo would be open to a Rust-Tuch swap. Ship out Graves and Smith for whatever you can get. Possibly move Rakell, depending on if you can get an upgrade for Sid’s left wing. Move Jarry to a goalie needy team. Re-sign Ned and then sign a guy like Marchessault and fill in the rest of the roster with some youth.
Rakell/XXX Sid Tuch
Bunting Malkin Marchessault
DOC Ponomarev Puustinen
XXX Eller Puljujarvi
POJ Letang
Petts EK
Zadorov St. Ivany
Ned
Blomqvist
This end of year surge has definitely given me more optimism for next year, which makes me want to be a bit more aggressive in trying to build a playoff team. Dubas had mentioned that the Guentzel trade was also focused on giving them flexibility to add in the off-season, and the team playing well to end the year definitely gives more of a justification to do that.
Personally, I think you try to move Rakell and Jarry this off-season and target a RW upgrade for Malkin first and foremost. I really like Smith-Eller-Puustinen as the 3rd line and O'Connor-Crosby-Rust seems like it has enough talent to work. For the 4th line, just let the young guys battle it out and let the best players win. Acciari will be on that line, probably as the 4C, but just let whoever performs the best take the spots.
You'd be shooting for this kind of basis, with eventually letting the young kids eventually replace guys like Eller, Acciari and Smith and bumping O'Connor to a more appropriate role:
O'Connor-Crosby-Rust
Bunting-Malkin-XXXXX
Smith-Eller-Puustinen
Poulin-Acciari-Puljujarvi
Pettersson-Karlsson
XXXXX-Letang
Graves-St. Ivany
Nedjelkovic-Blomqvist
By the end of the year, you'd hope at least one of Koivunen, Ponomarev, Yager or Pickering can force their hand into a notable role. Maybe it's Ponomarev pushing Eller to the 4C spot, Pickering taking the 2nd pair LD spot or Yager pushing O'Connor to the bottom-6, but that's the goal.
