Team: 2023-24 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Jun. 4, 2023

Published: Jun. 4, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

First step is a fresh Goalie tandem. Cant run back with Jarry/DeSmith another season whatsoever . I like these two choices and there can be more of a split tandem.
Second step is moving on from Granlund, contract is hefty but his playmaking ability still holds trade value. I’d rather trade him for a mid-low draft pick instead of a buyout but that’s on the table too.
Third step is to add some cheap speed. Acciari and Fast bring more speed and aggressiveness that Sullivan craves. They are affordable and fit well with coaching philosophy.
From there to fill out roster, find guys to replace Zucker and Dumoulin: I chose Barbashev, speedy and pesky and can drive play and I think Malkin would also appreciate playing with another Russian born winger. And I chose Graves, a play driving top pair defenseman, and brings a playmaking element to compliment Letang plus wheels to spot Letang to be more offensive minded.
There isn’t much you can do with Carter or Petry. Both contracts are prohibitive and Petry took a step back and Carter just clearly doesn’t have it anymore. Maybe Dubas is able to find a team willing to eat a contract but the odds are high that they both are donning the Penguin logo next season.
In this scenario I created they still have cap space to make another bigger or splashy acquisition but I tried to be more realistic with this next season. Dubas is a wildcard though, I believe he will be active in his retool this year with this amount of cap space.
Thoughts? Any players to add to be potentials?

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