FLPensFan wrote:Had a longer post on my other computer but never hit send, so here is the shorter version (yes, this is the shorter version
):
Must Do's (100%)
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1. Resign Rust, Sheahan, Oleksiak, and Simon
2. Play Sprong on Penguins NHL roster. (He is no longer waiver exempt. It's PIT, traded to another team, or waiver claim. PIT would be stupid to trade him without ever giving him a fair shake at the NHL level).
3. Upgrade the 4th line.
4. Bring in a solid, UFA bottom pair defenseman.
Should Do 50-75%)
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1. Trade Sheary and Hunwick. LW is our weakest forward spot. Aside from Guentzel, nobody is producing consistently. Clear Hunwick's salary, find a cheaper 6/7 man.
2. Make a big run at JVR for LW. Likely going to cost you 6M, but better than almost that same price (5.5M) AND giving up assets for Landeskog. A big, skilled, non-slow winger would do wonders here.
3. Trade or non-tender Tom Kuhnhackl. While he may be a good shot blocker and PK guy, his 4th line production has fallen each year. 1st year, he had 15 points in 42 games, a pace of just about 30 points in a season. Then he had 16 points in 57 games. This year, 8 points in 69 games. If you can't find someone else that can PK AND provide 4th line level output (10-20 point range), then you've got serious depth issues. If they don't go as far as trading/non-qualifying him, don't hand him a jersey every night because he's one of Sullivan's boys. He wouldn't be bad to keep around as a 13th forward, but the 4th line has continually produced nothing this season with him there....and he's a big part of that.
Maybe Do (25-50%)
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1. Trade Kessel. People think this is crazy; a knee jerk reaction to a bad post-season. It's not. Go check my posts in the big 600 page closed thread. I mentioned a few times about how the Penguins were going to need to strongly consider moving him in the next year or two. More specifically, when Guentzel gets a new deal that kicks in next season AND if Sprong gets a season under his belt with good production where he starts looking for 1M plus contracts, money is going to become tight. This wasn't even considering Hornqvist resigning, either. Phil turns 31 years old right before the season starts. He just put up his career best numbers. His value isn't going to be much higher. I'm not saying the package will be overwhelming or a steal, but, Kessel should be able to command a 1st and a high level NHL ready prospect, or a good young NHL player (preferably defenseman). The problem I have with trading Kessel this summer is, we don't know enough about Sprong. This is why I think you have to wait until the 2019 trade deadline or 2019 summer....need to see what Sprong can do.
Unlikely (25% or less)
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1. Trade Letang. I get it. Bonehead play; not much of a brain lately. I think the Penguins need to consider moving Letang, but, I don't see a deal out there where we can get another capable top pairing defenseman back or on the UFA market to replace Letang. Now, if you talked to John Carlson during the UFA period, and he agreed to come to PIT, maybe then you make a move. Maybe the only deal (and I think this is still far fetched) that could trade a d-man for d-man is Letang for Ristolainen and a pick. Buffalo is almost certainly going to take another Rasmus, Rasmus Dahlin, as their 1st overall pick. While Rasmus Ristolainen is a good, young, top 10 overall draft pick, his development has been a little up and down. For lack of a better analogy.....he seems to have Letang-brain occassionally. The difference here is, Ristolainen is 23, Letang is 31. Ristolainen is still in a position of development where he can improve his decision making. At 31, I think that time has past for Letang. Ristolainen is also about 2M cheaper than Letang, and signed for the same length of time. I still have a hard time believing Botteril would make this trade, but if he wanted to accelerate the teams playoff chances (what GM doesn't want to when/if you are on a short leash), maybe he considers getting a more experienced top end defenseman to pair with Dahlen, or even put on the 2nd pairing.
Guentzel-Crosby-Hornqvist
JVR-Malkin-Kessel
ZAR-Brassard-Sprong
Hagelin-Sheahan-Rust
xKuhnhackl, Simon, DiPauli, Blueger
Dumo-Letang
Maatta-Schultz
UFA-Oleksiak
xRuhwedel
That forward lineup has a nice combination of speed, skill, and toughness on every line, and that is without moving Kessel or Letang. That 4th line could be a lot of teams 3rd lines. Much better for Rust and Hagelin to put in a position where they can exceed expectations, rather than always trying to justify a top 6 role with production not in line with their playing time.
Won't lie I'm 34 but man I feel like one of my parents now when it comes to technology sometimes 
Probably doesn't help my fiancé is 29 and is super into Tech 