I would give POJ a chance to compete, but I'd prefer that. And I do like the Gudas suggestion. Like Petry at this point a rugged defenseman who doesn't treat the puck like a grenade.
Would be great then to use the $22M in cap space and try to add as many (4 or 5?) of Barbashev, Domi, Compher, Bunting, Bertuzzi, Zucker as possible - with DeSmith splitting time with say Varlamov or Adin Hill, who are good enough and shouldn't cost a ton ($3-4M)...maybe take a flyer on trading for Lehner (probably cheap to acquire?) - mventres
I'd rather spend on two decent goalies and drop DeSmith. Pens have been going cheap on goaltending every year since the last Cup and goaltending has probably let them down more than anything.
I'd rather spend on two decent goalies and drop DeSmith. Pens have been going cheap on goaltending every year since the last Cup and goaltending has probably let them down more than anything. - Tojo.
There aren't any FA options much better than that duo...
Location: "China was as proactive as possible" - Rinosaur, SC Joined: 02.01.2012
Jun 22 @ 8:42 AM ET
I wonder if the former owner of the Sens still has the investigation open on the premeditated assault on Karlsons ACL by Cooke. Or has that case been closed? - Grinder47
There was never an investigation about Karlssons ACL.
I like Gudas as much as anyone, but I don't understand why we are even talking about him. We have Rutta and I cant imagine the Pens trading him to try and sign Gudas with all of the other priorities.
I am more interested in what they might try to do with the left side of the D. I like Pettersson but I just don't think he is a top pairing guy. I like POJ and I hope he takes a big step forward and solidifies himself as a top 4 D. I love Smith's upside, especially if we can pair him with someone like Rutta on the 3rd pair, but they didn't even trust him to play in the NHL this past year.
If we want to win, we need at least one of the 3LD slots to be a premium fit.
Do you:
Sign Orlov or Graves and use POJ or Smith in a trade for a good young forward like Crouse? Probably the best win now move.
Sign Orlov and trade Pettersson? Betting on POJ flipping the switch
Trade for Noah Hanafin sending one of our 3 LD back?
I like Pickering and would like to keep him in the system even though it will likely be 2 years before he can contribute anything.
I like Gudas as much as anyone, but I don't understand why we are even talking about him. We have Rutta and I cant imagine the Pens trading him to try and sign Gudas with all of the other priorities.
I am more interested in what they might try to do with the left side of the D. I like Pettersson but I just don't think he is a top pairing guy. I like POJ and I hope he takes a big step forward and solidifies himself as a top 4 D. I love Smith's upside, especially if we can pair him with someone like Rutta on the 3rd pair, but they didn't even trust him to play in the NHL this past year.
If we want to win, we need at least one of the 3LD slots to be a premium fit.
Do you:
Sign Orlov or Graves and use POJ or Smith in a trade for a good young forward like Crouse? Probably the best win now move.
Sign Orlov and trade Pettersson? Betting on POJ flipping the switch
Trade for Noah Hanafin sending one of our 3 LD back?
I like Pickering and would like to keep him in the system even though it will likely be 2 years before he can contribute anything. - MacPatty
Because Gudas is an improvement on Rutta. That's why.
I like Gudas as much as anyone, but I don't understand why we are even talking about him. We have Rutta and I cant imagine the Pens trading him to try and sign Gudas with all of the other priorities.
I am more interested in what they might try to do with the left side of the D. I like Pettersson but I just don't think he is a top pairing guy. I like POJ and I hope he takes a big step forward and solidifies himself as a top 4 D. I love Smith's upside, especially if we can pair him with someone like Rutta on the 3rd pair, but they didn't even trust him to play in the NHL this past year.
If we want to win, we need at least one of the 3LD slots to be a premium fit.
Do you:
Sign Orlov or Graves and use POJ or Smith in a trade for a good young forward like Crouse? Probably the best win now move.
Sign Orlov and trade Pettersson? Betting on POJ flipping the switch
Trade for Noah Hanafin sending one of our 3 LD back?
I like Pickering and would like to keep him in the system even though it will likely be 2 years before he can contribute anything. - MacPatty
GM’s can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. Trading a $3 mil vanilla third pairing defenseman should definitely be a top priority for Dubas
GM’s can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. Trading a $3 mil vanilla third pairing defenseman should definitely be a top priority for Dubas - Victoro311
I think that Rutta is a plus 3rd pairing defenceman, his contract is not a value but it is fine. While I am sure Dubas can manage a bunch of moves, but he needs 2 goalies, a 2LW, an entire 3rd line and an upgrade on LD all before he needs to upgrade 3RD.
If a trade comes up here before free agency where someone wants Rutta, I'm all for getting value for him and signing Gudas. Just think it's not something he is going to be chasing.
I think that Rutta is a plus 3rd pairing defenceman, his contract is not a value but it is fine. While I am sure Dubas can manage a bunch of moves, but he needs 2 goalies, a 2LW, an entire 3rd line and an upgrade on LD all before he needs to upgrade 3RD.
If a trade comes up here before free agency where someone wants Rutta, I'm all for getting value for him and signing Gudas. Just think it's not something he is going to be chasing. - MacPatty
I think Ruuta is ok at his role, its not a cap killer like Petry. Petry and Granlund have hte worst contracts on the team.
I like Gudas as much as anyone, but I don't understand why we are even talking about him. We have Rutta and I cant imagine the Pens trading him to try and sign Gudas with all of the other priorities.
I am more interested in what they might try to do with the left side of the D. I like Pettersson but I just don't think he is a top pairing guy. I like POJ and I hope he takes a big step forward and solidifies himself as a top 4 D. I love Smith's upside, especially if we can pair him with someone like Rutta on the 3rd pair, but they didn't even trust him to play in the NHL this past year.
If we want to win, we need at least one of the 3LD slots to be a premium fit.
Do you:
Sign Orlov or Graves and use POJ or Smith in a trade for a good young forward like Crouse? Probably the best win now move.
Sign Orlov and trade Pettersson? Betting on POJ flipping the switch
Trade for Noah Hanafin sending one of our 3 LD back?
I like Pickering and would like to keep him in the system even though it will likely be 2 years before he can contribute anything. - MacPatty
Optimistically, I think we have a lot of second pair or potential second pair. I think Letang is trending towards a 3 and Petry is a 4. Pettersson is a 4 though he and Letang did improve as the year went on. POJ I think can handle a 4, optimistic is he develops as a 2. Ty Smith I could see becoming a 3 with his offensive upside.
Similar to J.Boyd swapping Gudas in for Ruuta as an upgrade, I think moving Pettersson for a true 2 makes sense from a cap perspective depending on how that evens out asset wise. Or strengthen by trading one of the young guys and keeping Pettersson, but I think I'd rather spend at goalie and forward and keep the cheep young guys with upside.
I like Gudas as much as anyone, but I don't understand why we are even talking about him. We have Rutta and I cant imagine the Pens trading him to try and sign Gudas with all of the other priorities.
I am more interested in what they might try to do with the left side of the D. I like Pettersson but I just don't think he is a top pairing guy. I like POJ and I hope he takes a big step forward and solidifies himself as a top 4 D. I love Smith's upside, especially if we can pair him with someone like Rutta on the 3rd pair, but they didn't even trust him to play in the NHL this past year.
If we want to win, we need at least one of the 3LD slots to be a premium fit.
Do you:
Sign Orlov or Graves and use POJ or Smith in a trade for a good young forward like Crouse? Probably the best win now move.
Sign Orlov and trade Pettersson? Betting on POJ flipping the switch
Trade for Noah Hanafin sending one of our 3 LD back?
I like Pickering and would like to keep him in the system even though it will likely be 2 years before he can contribute anything. - MacPatty
Sign orlov and graves. Trade all other LD. Promote Smith to 3LD. Trade rutta, sign mayfield for 3RD.
Or sign one of the above LD and use Poj+ as a trade piece for hanifin since Calgary needs cap relief pretty bad.
Petry is moveable and Granlund is an easy buyout. - Feds91Stammer
IDK, 6.5 for a Dman his age that is just average seems tough.
Is AZ wanting to move pieces? they play in a small beer league rink and cant even sell that out. Not that familiar with their roster but Clayton put up 80+pts. Not sure on any of their Dmen.
Location: "China was as proactive as possible" - Rinosaur, SC Joined: 02.01.2012
Jun 22 @ 1:33 PM ET
IDK, 6.5 for a Dman his age that is just average seems tough.
Is AZ wanting to move pieces? they play in a small beer league rink and cant even sell that out. Not that familiar with their roster but Clayton put up 80+pts. Not sure on any of their Dmen. - sammy87
I'm aware that you are unaware of the amount of serviceable top 4 RD that are actually available.
Location: "China was as proactive as possible" - Rinosaur, SC Joined: 02.01.2012
Jun 22 @ 9:27 PM ET
If that’s the case is it even a good idea for us to move Petry? I’d love to shed salary here but how hard is 2RD to replace? I’m guessing very. - Victoro311
Dumping Petry to me only makes sense if you just go cheap on D and load up the forward group more
Example:
Petts - Letang
POJ - Rutta
Smith - Ruh/Friedman
Not much point in dumping Petry and magically hoping you can get Dumba or Mayfield at 5m per.
