Why on Earth would the Pens do that?

Easy decline by the avs

They want to add a dman. Not swap one out and hurt their middle 6

They take that and run and dont think twice about it

no they dont, Swapping out Dman burning a 2nd round pick in the process to downgrade dramatical from Nuke to Rodrigues. That doesnt do anything for the avs, they burn a 2nd round pick and dont solve what they would like to do still this offseason. Add another Dman, so what is the point of doing this?

They upgrade on defense. They get a cheaper dman who is signed long term and younger and better. Nuke is nothing special on offense, but good defensively. I agree it is a downgrade though. COL would be stupid to not accept that

Again you are missing the point... this move doesnt solve anything for them. They arent burning a 2nd round pick and not filling holes

No, I get what you are saying. But a team would not decline an opportunity to get a younger, cheaper, better dman and only giving up a 2nd and a 3rd liner whose biggest asset is defense.

EJ is a locker room leader and someone that is missed, moving him out is a bad move. He is not a bad Dman at all, he brings positive Value on the ice still. Marino is the better young Dman, but he would be their 5th Dman perhaps after Makar Toews Byram and Girard? So why are they moving out a piece of their leadership core and burning a 2nd round pick...still having the same issue, getting a guy help solidify their 3rd pair