Where would the Pens be today if we still had GMJR (Rutherford)?

[molon labe]

Serious / fun -

He started to go off the rocker there for a couple seasons, but he was no stranger to shaking things up.

- Would we have kept Sully? Would he be fired now?
- How many changes / 3C's / bottom 6 guys would be in and out?
- Based on the Zucker trade and such, what would the team look like?

My take is that he wanted to trade either Malkin or Letang. If it was Letang, I'm honestly not sure where we'd be. If it was the whole Malkin out Trochek in talk we heard - we'd be a dumpster for sure.

Either way, interesting to remember the days where we had a GM who had zero patience for things in-season (as much as I applaud the EK move by Dubas - the rest of it has been mixed results at best).

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[BusinessGoose]

Lol i had the same thought today

The team would be worse, he lost his mojo

But i don't think sullivan would be here still

 

[Gurglesons]

in the same place with less assets and probably signing Jake to a 10 mil x 8 year deal.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

in the same place with less assets and probably signing Jake to a 10 mil x 8 year deal.

Pretty much what I was gonna say.

JR had a wild streak of hitting like 4 homerun trades in 18 months and the other 25 years of his career have been mediocre or awful.

 

[Malkinstheman]

I think Sullivan would be gone but the roster would be in worse shape if that's even possible.

 

[SomeDude]

If Malkin and Letang were still here, they would be making a lot more money, that's for sure.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

He would have fired Sullivan for sure IMO.

Not sure how good we would be though, he use to make a lot of terrible ufa signings even back then with Carolina.

 

[Al Smith]

Same Titanic, different deck chairs.

 

[Pens x]

Didnt he want to trade Letang to St. Louis for Dunn +?

If he was here, Sully woukd bo longer be our coach.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Didnt he want to trade Letang to St. Louis for Dunn +?

If he was here, Sully woukd bo longer be our coach.

I think JR was close to trading Letang a handful of times lol. Florida was a name that always popped up.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

Him and Allvin have turned Vancouver around nicely. 2021 was the last time I thought the pens looked like an elite team, which was when he quit. I liked him and his approach.

 

[Pens x]

JR wouldnt sit on his hands like the last two gms.

 

[steelcityassault]

Sully and Reirden fired.. Babcock or BBQ sauce head coach

Letang traded, and signed Bertuzzi UFA to a big deal

 

[Coastal Kev]

JR was a man. I can't tell you whether they would be better or worse, but they would be different.

Currently we are status quo boredom.........really boring. The only excitement I have is watching the game in the background rooting for horrific losses to force some semblance of change.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Probably at PF Changs

 

[SEALBound]

It's impossible to say. I mean, in 2015/16 - every move he made was absolute gold for us. When the roster was looking like an all-time worst and there was VERY little hope and optimism, a couple moves changed the course of the franchise.

Who knows, maybe Letang lands you Trocheck and Weeger from Florida. You wouldn't have Jeff Carter. Maybe he moves Dumo earlier. Maybe he doesn't resign Jarry to that deal. Maybe he lands Fiala from his buddy Billy G.

The "worst team with less assets" take is like, how could the team be worse...and what "assets"?

Him and Allvin have turned Vancouver around nicely. 2021 was the last time I thought the pens looked like an elite team, which was when he quit. I liked him and his approach.

Vancouver's roster has always been decent. I think a lot of it comes from their players growing into their roles and finally getting healthy and putting it all together. Once Myers is finally gone and they get a few more bucks in their pocket, they can be contenders.

 

[Maninthebox87]

I think he would announce publicly who he wanted to acquire and then overpay to get that specific player.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

I think he would announce publicly who he wanted to acquire and then overpay to get that specific player.

Yeah I don’t think we should romanticizing late stage GMJR lol. We all wanted that dude gone for good reasons.

 

[SomeDude]

I think he would announce publicly who he wanted to acquire and then overpay to get that specific player.

And 14 months later trade that player for a loss to get the next player he announced he wanted.

 

[Maninthebox87]

He had some masterpieces in the Kessel trade and Scuderi for Daley but it’s like he got blinded with power after the cups… It was almost video game like how he’d trade for a guy then in the same season trade them again just for the sake of making a trade. I still remember getting rid of Hagelin for Pearson then if I remember correctly tried to reacquire him again?

 

[Allie Kitsune]

As miserable as this season is, I don't think I'd want to get back on Trader Jim's Riverboat Ride.

 

[Maninthebox87]

I remember ol Ray Shero when he’d wheel and deal he always seemed to get something a little extra whether it was a prospect like Tangradi or a “third liner” in Dupuis. He was probably a hard negotiator and didn’t give in where it felt like when Hextall or Rutherford made trades it was always a roster player or first round pick.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Senile Rutherford was bad, but Doobler has been equally bad.

 

[SomeDude]

Senile Rutherford was bad, but Doobler has been equally bad.

We haven’t seen Dubas’ panic trade yet. That will be telling.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

in the same place with less assets and probably signing Jake to a 10 mil x 8 year deal.

We've been getting to this point without JR and Hextall.

Thanks to the one muppet that remains.