I also think Hextall should be fired because he’s just out of his depth. Missing the playoffs or a first round exit would likely result in that. If they end up in the WC2 spot, they’d lose to Boston but even a spirited 7-game series may result in his unfortunate retention.

As for your lines, your winger dispersement is off. 0% chance Puustinen skates on the top line and nor should he. He’s earned nothing of the sort. You have two LWs on Geno’s line and two RWs on the third line. They’ve dabbled, for example, with Rusty on the LW, but there’s a reason those guys always end up back on their strong side. The Euros are generally better playing their off-wing, but not so much on the smaller ice.

Edit: Poulin won’t make the club after being out of hockey for almost a year, if he comes back at all. He’s a bust, head case, another Allvin failure at the draft table.

This honestly feels like a lot of moves for the sake of making moves, trying to be as anti-Hextall as possible.

I like the idea of getting Orlov, Compher, and/or Bertuzzi if we can afford them, but I can't see the Pens getting more than one. Bertuzzi probably fits our needs and lineup best.

What's the point of any of the trades we make here? Mayfield probably gets a higher offer elsewhere. Might as well keep Rutta or play Ruhwedel again. DeSmith I'd prefer to Korpisalo (see below) and is cheaper. Yeah Petry's more expensive than we'd like, but he's not a cap dump by any means and the right side is weaker without him. I don't see the benefit.

Jarry's injury issues have made our future in net questionable to some, but I am not one of them. I have more faith in the duo of Jarry and DeSmith than I have in any reasonable replacements. Korpisalo is a career backup/1B who's suddenly having a good year and Varlamov is nearly 35 and hasn't been in a starting role in a few years. I'd expect Korpi to regress and Varly to show his age - best case scenario is that they're comprable to Jarry and DeSmith have been this year, which hasn't been their best. Better the devil we know than the one we don't.

Overall feels very very forward heavy, and even on the back end, there's a lot more offensively-minded. If this team succeeds, it's absolutely because it's outscoring it's problems.

What if they win first round lose second? Any chance he'd be fired then you think?

Trades are to get rid of bad contracts. I think our D needs aggressively retooled this offseason. Is to slow and not mobile enough. D-zone coverage has been brutal as well and overall it is not tough to play against. It's not mentioned a ton, but our defense has been one of our biggest issues this past season. Petry hasn't been horrible, but he's looked slow at times and is pretty meh for being the 2nd highest paid player on the team. I would get rid of that contract if we could. Jarry I just don't trust. It all depends what he asks for. If he is on a 4-5 mil prove it deal for 1-2 years I'll take that. But if he wants 6 x 6, which has been reported, no way I'm doing that. It would cripple the team, not allow us to make any improvements, and likely prevent us from re-signing Sucker.

How about Hoffman at 50% for a 4th rounder?

Nah bro we don't need more players over 30

I don't get the hesitance for Jarry at all. It seems to me that we blame every goal solely on goaltending, and then use the poor defense to justify making moves that aren't likely and don't make us better. Because I don't think this defense is much better, if at all, and the goaltending is a sharp downgrade.
And the "if we could" on Petry's contract is doing a lot of heavy lifting because I doubt we can. He's been great recently. I think it was something like 13 points in the last 20 games or so, he adds some physicality on the blue line, plays decent defense. I think a lot of the animosity towards him come from people expecting unreasonable results for a veteran needing to adjust to a new system, and comparing it to Letang and Malkin's bargain deals.
Our defense is gonna continue to be an issue no matter what we do with it. Orlov is probably a pipe dream. I wouldn't mind just letting Joseph and Smith develop. Maybe replace Todd Rierdan - he runs both the defense and the power play, neither have impressed this year. A new system is a more feasible solution than a revamped blue line.

Hesitance on Jarry is that he does not have a good injury history and hasn't proven himself in playoffs yet. Has been great at times, but also not great at times. His SV% since December is like .88 or something around there. That's concerning especially since it is a contract year for him. Honestly, Desmith has looked better than him recently. Petry is second highest cap hit behind Crosby and he is not producing at that rate. Orlov is a pipe dream, but if we clear Petry's salary that's 6 mil right there that could be used to sign him. He's certainly an upgrade over Petry. I think our defensive struggles are a mix of coaching and our D being very slow and immobile. I think it would be smart to address both issues if we really want to make a run. And Rutta just is an unnecessary signing. 2.75 for a 3D isn't necessary when we have Smith ready. Reality is I don't think Sullivan will change the system. He constantly has the D activate, which works for a Letang or Matheson (last year), but just doesn't for a guy like Rutta or Dumb for example. We should change it to allow some to activate while others stay put, but they just won't. Either we need to change the system or the personnel and if we refuse to change the system then we need to get very fast, good skating D that can play it. That is where I see a huge disconnect between Sully and Hextall.