Quoting: pensfan21
That is very good value in return for Malkin. If we get a first and more its a deal we should take as opposed to loosing him for nothing. How do you know Rust wouldn't go for more money in the offseason. He said he loves Pittsburgh but will do whats best for his family at the end of the day. We can't afford to pay Letang and he shouldn't take a hometown discount. Darnell Nurse made over 9 million and Letang is better then that. He could make a ton in free agency and we can't afford to pay him as much. We'll see if the guys in the Calgary trade would've helped in the rebuild. POJ has not been impressive this season, Kapenen is inconsistant, and Marino had a good start but has fallen off. If Marino and Kapanen get more consistancy I'm all for keeping them, Kapanen is one of my favorite players and is extremely skilled. But it's not going to work unless they get more consistancy.
For as long as Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are here, the Penguins are contenders. They'll probably at least be in a playoff race at the deadline, and they've gotten a single game out of the duo of Crosby and Malkin so far. Even in the near-impossible scenario where they aren't, I don't necessarily like the value we get back.
I think the Malkin deal is the best, assuming Kravtsov becomes the player NYR clearly lacks faith in if he still hasn't played this season.
Rust is a bona fide top 6 winger and was above a point per game in 2019-20, and we get a 3rd and a former 4th for that?
Again with Letang, a 1st is great, but the prospect this time is a former 5th. I think we could get more for him.
I think Jarry has gotten a lot more criticism than he deserves this season (except for the shootout). He's still a fairly young goalie with not a lot of games under his belt. He has had some consistency issues this season, but I think that he's going to be consistently solid, wanting to prove that his playoff performance was a fluke.
The Mangiapane deal hurts to think about, honestly. I think the guys we give up would help in a rebuild. It's a top 6 winger, top 4 dman, and 3 prospects (including one of out best) for a guy that the Flames frankly aren't interested in gving away. Mangiapane is also the oldest guy in the deal, even if not by much. I disagree with POJ underperforming for 1 reason: he's played 2 games. That isn't a lot of time to make a decision as to what to expect from a player.
As for whether or not we could pay our players, Rust we might lose, but I have serious doubts about Letang or Malkin playing anywhere else. As for Darnell Nurse's 9 million, I don't remember who set the market, but the price for #1 Dmen in the offseason was ridiculous and could be lower next season. Nurse was also signing a long contract in his prime, while Letang won't be. And why shouldn't he take a hometown discount? He said he wants to stay here, so he probably will.
I do think these are valid concerns, especially if we continue having injury issues. However, I think that it's incredibly unlikely that we'll be anywhere near this point. Even if this is necessary, I think we could get more for Malkin (maybe), Letang, and Rust, and that the Mangiapane trade is nonsensical in value for a contending team and worse for a rebuilding one.