I am not getting rid of Jake, but thank you for putting someone with Crosby who actually makes sense to play with Crosby.... everyone else who has us trading Jake has just thrown in the most random ass player and ignored how hard sid is to play with

Yeah I think that’s key. Barbashev would be a good fit with him. As far as trading Jake I’ve had this debate with plenty of ACGMs here but to me it comes down to are you gonna resign him? If yes, then fine though I don’t necessarily think that’s smart for the money he will command. If not then use him to get pieces that fill one of the million other holes in this organization (lack of prospect pool, lack of bottom six, lack of goaltending, etc.) Barbashev is cheaper younger and scores 20+ in his sleep on Sid’s wing.

I still want to sign Barbeshev to play with Malkin but here is my take on the Jake situation:

He helps us win now, and Sid and Geno Deserve that, cough of the money pay him what he wants IDGAF because he is our last big FA for awhile and I think we should be in win now mode until Sid says it ok to rebuild, we owe him that. When Sid says its ok to rebuild it doesn't matter what Guentzle is making because we're just gonna retain half, trade him, and finnish dead last for 3-5 years anyway

Yeah that’s fair. Brings me to another point I’ve debated on here which is the assumption that trading guentzel makes us worse. And in a vacuum it does. But if you trade Jake and use the added cap space to strengthen the bottom six, goalie, and or defense is the team really worse. I replaced Zucker and guentzel with two players who are younger and cheaper. Jake/zucker had 63 goals between them. Id argue as long as Sid and geno continue to produce elite play these guys produce at a similar clip. Maybe not 60 but 50 easy. Then you compare the bottom 6 to last years and it’s night and day. To me this team is better than last years. I don’t see how you can make enough meaningful changes to the bottom 6 defense and goalie without moving Jake.

this team still has 3 mil in cap and you didn't trade Yan Rutta.... your also Scratching Petry who was not bad at all this season WHEN HE HAD A DEFFENCIVE PARTNER. I am ok not bringing back Zucker, some of my ACGM have us letting him walk. But I do think trading Jake makes us worse, I don't mind Barbeshev with Sid (and I would love Barbeshev with Malkin) but I want jake back with Sid until Sid retires.

Some of these moves are the best ones I've seen suggested this offseason. I completely agree with trading Jake and using that money to get better elsewhere, including defensively and in goal. Use that asset to become a well-rounded team and improve areas of weakness. You'll have enough goals. I'm a big fan of how this team looks outside of having Ruutta on the roster. You likely can't find a partner for Petry so he has to play.

Thanks. Yeah I’m torn on Petry vs Rutta. Part of me thinks if you put him with someone like Smith or Joseph he gives a nice defensive presence to that pairing and I felt rutta gets somewhat unfairly assessed because he spent a lot of last year paired with the unmitigated disaster that was 2022 Brian Dumoulin. Petry was decent at the start but after the all star game he was absolutely brutal. Maybe let them play it out and see who sucks less.