that's a weird way to spell mistakes

Hahah why do you think they are mistakes?

Because it really isn’t an upgrade overall. Lyubushkin would be an upgrade over Friedman but Crouse is a pretty big downgrade on Zucker. And that’s with Crouse having a career year, he is still pretty much on pace with Zucker who plays 3 less minutes per game and is snake bitten. And Kane is a legit cancer. It’s not worth it. Even if it was for league minimum I’d say the pens would probably be dumb to take that risk.

The reason I go after Kane is because he is the only player in the league who can upgrade our top 6 and not destroy our cap or our prospect pool. Yes, he is a lot to handle, but in a room with Sid, Geno, Letang, Carter, etc.. and Lemieux playing a big part in the org.. I do not see him messing around. I think Kane is an upgrade on both Zucker and Heinen. Crouse is just a big body.. I think there is potential there to be more than he is.. maybe he can show something.. there is a reason he was a 1st rounder. If anything, I think he replaces ZAR on that 4th line for next season. Zucker has been good, but getting rid of that cap hit for next szn when we have some key names to resign will be absolutely huge.

But Kane does destroy our cap. He has 3 more years after this at almost 2 million per year and he’s got 1 foot out the door of the league.
Crouse hasn’t shown anything other than being a big body and he hasn’t really even been that this season as much as he has in the past. Sure he was a 1st rounder, but there has been a lot of 1st rounders that are busts and Crouse is one of them. He is a solid 4th liner but that’s all he is and that’s all he’d be with the pens.
As for Zucker, why can’t you just trade him in the offseason if getting rid of his cap hit is a big deal. It’d actually be easier because teams will have the cap space. I’d look at Toronto tbh. They need an upgrade at LW. They want to get rid of Ritchie. Why not in the offseason look at maybe Zucker for Ritchie and Holl. You get 2 players and save 1 million in cap space. And Ritchie replaces ZAR in the bottom 6. But tbh you really don’t need to buy a replacement for ZAR. You can get someone free in free agency. The pens currently will have almost 40 million in cap space. If Malkin and Letang aren’t going to take pay cuts, then it might be best to maybe go after Hertl and Klingberg.