Team: 2020-21 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Aug. 9, 2020

Published: Aug. 16, 2020

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

The Pens need changes. The only players that performed remotely close to as well as they should have were Crosby, Marino, and Jarry. There were a few others that played okay (Guentzal, Letang, Zucker), but not to level needed in a playoff series. The rest of the roster was miserable. Malkin was good, not great. The depth forwards provided nothing. The 4th line that was supposed to be one of the best defensive lines in the league was the biggest defensive liability on the team. The actual defense was a mess. Marino played above what anyone could have resonably expected. That is the only bright spot. Letang was good, but like Malkin, not great. Dumoulin left plenty of room for improvement. Pettersson, Schultz, and Johnson were flat out horrible. Schultz was by far the worst of the three. As much as everyone piles on Johnson the reality is that Schultz was probably their worst player in that series.

The penguins need a culture change. Not renewing the contracts of the assistant coaching staff is a start. As far as the players go the first step is letting all of their unrestricted free agents walk. Schultz is bad. Marleau is done. Sheary is inconsequential.
Outside of the goalies, the restricted free agents are also underwhelming. McCann has shown to have the most promise but had a very bad series against Montreal. He is not a core piece and could be used to get a good return. Simon has proven to be effective with Crosby and could be kept for cheap to provide depth and a reliable linemate for Crosby if need be. The rest of the group could be moved on from with ease.
It should be very clear that Matt Murray needs a change of scenery and could bring back a significant return. At his age he is far from washed up. With his experience and accomplishments teams will be willing to pay a real price to acquire his services. Jarry and DeSmith are more than capable of producing a great goalie tandem.
The biggest change needs to come with the core of the team. Crosby is going nowhere. Malkin is also going nowhere. That leaves Letang as the core player to be moved. It will be impossible to replace what he does on the ice, but changes must be made. A combination of Marino and Brodie could replace what Letang brought on the right side. The return for Letang would also be substantial. Domi would allow the pens to get back to the 3 center model they like so much and also bring in some grit they need. While Hornqvist still brings an element the pens need, he is losing a step, and sooner rather than later is going to loose the tenacity that makes him so valuable. Moving his contract would bring back draft picks and open up cap space to sign newly acquired players. Olofsson provides better scoring depth while Montour helps on the back end.

I'm sure I will get plenty of responses from other teams fans how their team will never make those trades. And really none of these trades are likely to happen at all. But all these trades do make some sense for each team.
Domi is due for a big raise. Montreal has a lot of center depth. The could move on from him to add to their d core.
Calgary is most likely going to loose Brodie for nothing this off-season. Here they are taking a risk in Bjugstad but he can stay healthy it is well worth the cost of nothing.
The Nashville trade is the most questionable of them all. They could also use a shake up.
Buffalo is getting a legit number 1 goalie. A young forward with potential and depth on the blue line.

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