"Stay positive and make a horrible trade with Chicago for a mediocre center without a contract"

ignoring the trades because I think we need more defensively responsible 3C than strome...

YESSS!! absolutely. there are so many trades that look bad at first, and then months later (or years) end up being totally fine. The original Neal for Hornqvist trade looked HORRIBLE at the time. trading a PPG, 40 Goal winger for a guy who rarely cracked 30 goals and yet look how it turned out. Maybe im glass half full, but I think this Pens team will be a lot better next year than people are giving credit for. I think Matheson may end up being very decent in Pittsburgh, especially paired with Marino.

Strome is far from mediocre considering he paced for 70pts prior to an injury riddled 2020 season. If any player is mediocre its McCann and lets not pretend Rust isnt 28 who had a career year playing with Malkin when he has struggled to even break 30pts every previous season he has played in. Rutherford loses another phone.

All this is pointless though considering Rutherford would probably trade the 2022 first rounder for a defensive C like Sutter or Bonino anyway

Imagine citing who Rust plays with while forgetting who Strome played with in his one productive season lol. It was Kane and Debrincat.

Strome is aggressively mediocre. I don't care where he was drafted.

Imagine actually thinking you were correct.

Strome paced for 70+pts in 2019 with DeBrincat and Kahun (which was his most productive line follwed by Perlini and Cat). Meanwhile Rust couldnt even score more than 30 pts before being paired with Malkin (the same Malkin that made James Neal look elite)

Rust is almost 30 and you comparing him to Strome who is 23 makes you a clown. There is a reason why Rust toiled in the minors for almost 10 years. Also ignoring how an injury plagued season by Strome is comparable to Bryan Rust's greatest season ever. Rust will wash out of the league the moment he swaps teams unless Malkin comes with him.

https://theathletic.com/1468465/2019/12/18/by-the-numbers-inside-penguins-forward-bryan-rusts-big-breakout/?article_source=search&search_query=bryan%20rust

While any player would be better next to Malkin (which people forget that you still need to be a good player to play with great players), this article quantifiably proves that Rust has become a great player in his own right.

Chicago fans are completely delusional about Strome. Below average skater. FYI points alone are a horrible way to evaluate players.

The only delusional fans are the ones who think a 30 yearold 3rd liner and McCann could get Strome and Regula