Rob Blake is on a mission to make LA a faster team, this trade sort of derails that mission.

This is honestly an armchair created as a joke based on a Pens blogger.

Oh, I didnt see "hockeybuzz" written above. that makes sense now.

Haha yeah. Honestly, I'm fine with keeping Gudbranson. He was quite impressive and a better skater than you might think.

I like Gudbranson too, great shutdown acumen.

Why does Simon get top 6 minutes. This is completely realistic but he’s not a good hockey player it’s baffling

I actually meant to put him on the third line. That being said, he's a very good hockey player. He lacks a scoring touch, but he generates offense and a very high level.

Also, Sullivan toggles lines every other shift, so everyone will play everywhere at some point lol

Yeah I’m interested to see if the kessel trade is terrible or great. Idk how they replace the 40-50 points they lost but well see

Simon might have 10-15 points if he didn’t play with Sid. Crosby is a freak and could make an average guy look great. I believe Gentz is a 40 point guy without Crosby. That being said Crosby isn’t going anywhere so it hardly matters

I will spoil it for you right now: The Kessel trade was terrible lol. Joseph is an OK prospect. Glachenyuk is Kessel with half the scoring ability. Kessel gets a pass for his poor defensive play because he's an elite offensive player, Galchenyuk will get no such pass from Sullivan and I won't be shocked to see him moved at the deadline.

On the last part, it's a very tricky thing playing Sid. I know you get to watch the Pens play a bit, but Sid isn't as easy of a hockey player to play with as a guy like Geno. While Sid has elevated players, players need to have a special kind of acumen to keep up with Sid. Playing with Sid you need to think the game very fast and be able to react fast, or be a player that opens up time and space for him. So yes, while I agree Jake is not a 40 goal scorer without Sid, not many players have been able to notch 40 goals while playing with Sid.

Not sure if you're a fancy stats guy, but if you really dig into Simon's stats you'd be very surprised. He played mainly with Hornqvist and Bjugstad in the latter part of the season and he was huge in creating scoring chances for that line.

I’m hate the penguins but being from Pittsburgh I have a soft spot for them also. (Very conflicting) but I wanted them to trade for Shaw...I thought he would have been a Kunitz 2.0.

Lines imo

Gentz Sid rust
Kuhun geno chuck
McCann jugs horny
Simon blueger tanev /zar

The good thing about the Pens lineup right now is that they have players who can play all throughout the lineup. The bad thing is they have no real scoring winger outside of Jake. Galch COULD be, but that remains to be seen. Your lines are totally possible and like I mentioned, with the frequency of Sullivan's line-juggling I'm sure we will see something like you're proposing.