Not having a respectable farm system that can actually produce NHL players causes you to sign a bottom six forward to a 6 year deal.
We threw away Sundqvist because he wasn't going to be anything... Scored at a 15 goal pace this season.
Threw away Archibald since he wasn't going to pan out... Scored at a 14 goal pace this season.
Let Teddy rot in WBS forever and when he finally got his shot, he looks great.
2016 and 2017, we brought up a bunch of unproven guys like Sheary, Rust, Dumoulin, Kuhnhackl, Guentzel, Rowney, Wilson and of course, Matt Murray and this was in the day when the Penguins had "already emptied the cupboard" because they "mortgaged the future". Hockey News even ranked the Penguins 30th for prospects. But Mike Sullivan knew them and trusted them.
It's almost as if nobody knows what they've got – truly got – until you give your trust in these guys and give them actual NHL reps.
Makes me wonder what Ethan Prow or Freddy Tiffles might have been.