Wouldn’t be hard to do, no.
But I’d prefer 5x5M in Pavelski’s case, even with his age for the immediate space.
I think one logical part of the trade Kessel idea is cap relief. Shave off 1.5-2M, get the team a little less top heavy, maybe be able to add even another T6/T9 forward (Perreault...?) if you move Maatta’s cap.
Trading Phil to give another (older) player a slightly more expensive cap hit keeps us just as top heavy salary wise, and idk, just feels meh. How much better do we get?
Fair enough. I'd prefer less term, but the long one could potentially be very good in the first few years if he bit on that. And you're right about giving a few more options.
I’m a big believer that they’re gonna need some ELC guys to come up play roles, and that the organization needs to be committed to building the farm up to maximize 87/71..
And of course they need to be mindful of financial planning long term. But at the same time I don’t want them to avoid adding proven contributors that help the team now because it could block a guy in the system that maybe will contribute down the line.
Problem is the moment for building the farm to maximise them has kinda gone. Kids we bring in this year may be 4 or so years from contributing, by which time Geno might have left. I guess this is a last chance saloon at getting some people in for if they do 6/7 years each.
I don't think our hit rate is going to be nearly what you are projecting. We have a couple useful prospects, yes, but isn't the Penguins system considered squarely in the bottom of the league?
I think we’re gonna be lucky if 1-2 of those guys become even a Rust, much less Guentzel. For the most part, I’d just expect some ZAR/Simon/Blueger types in a couple years. Which is great. Cheap depth that can play up the lineup.
Kinda echoing what Riptide said - we're fairly low because we've got no blue chip prospects, no potential 1Cs or 1Ds - but that doesn't mean we don't have talent there.
And our main need - a never ending stream of middle 6 wingers - is something we're strong in. WBS is about to get inundated with guys projecting around that level with strong junior and college careers. And since they've already ran the first half of the race and since we've got so many, I feel its fair to expect some good results. I don't think its guaranteed to get a Rust, but when we've got three guys hitting WBS soon who (imo) have a higher projected ceiling than Rust, I don't think it'd be lucky to get 1.
Of course you can't plan on something that big it until it happens.
edit: Actually, thinking about it, if you give each of Bellerive, Almeida and Hallander a 1 in 6 chance of being as good as Rust, and each of Bjorkqvist/Angello/Miletic/Johnson/Drozg/Lucchini a 1 in 20 chance, you have a 16 in 20 chance that one of them will be as good as Rust. And I feel like maybe you can plan on those odds... insomuch as you can plan for something that might be 2 years down the line.
Admittedly, those numbers were just pulled from my behind, but none of them are high. Its more a matter of we're firing a lot of shots in quick succession.
And that's not even considering the possibility of ZAR/Simon/Bloogs finding extra gears/Lafferty finding a future at W, not C/unexpected turnarounds from Blandisi/Di Pauli.
Then who else is Rutherford moving out? Because we're not going to be sitting one of Johnson, Pettersson or Gudbranson based on how they've played recently. And if JJ is moved (not holding my breath), I really question whether Rutherford would then also move Maatta, or just role with who we have. And I think the latter is a lot more realistic then moving Kessel, Maatta and JJ, just so he can bring in another blueliner who's not going to be cheap.
They're not playing that well. They're boxing out great and taking away a lot of dangerous stuff but they're allowing a ton of shots and getting a lot of support from the forwards while giving SFA back. I am grateful for what they're doing but the blueline is an obvious weakness and while it mightn't be realistic to expect Rutherford to get gung ho about fixing it, its still very desired.
