Not the biggest fan of paying to take a risk on an expensive goalie with term. If you're getting him for free then maybe you can make the argument.

I agree with you. I did not pay for him here though, I feel like if anything this is a deal Edmonton might reject. Bourgault is a top prospect and probably one more year away from the NHL. Much better than Poulin as a prospect.

That's fair - I'm not extremely familiar with the Oilers prospects. So my bad.

Although taking a quick look around it seems like maybe just a marginal upgrade that's not worth the risk of Campbell - but that's just my opinion. Campbell is an intriguing bounce back candidate though

Certainly one of the more interesting/intriguing PIT-ANA trades on here in the last few weeks.

Not sure Ty is adding anything to Anaheims side, so PIT may want to hang onto him.

The 2023 1st is a great place to start but ultimately I don't see the Ducks both retaining 50% on Rico and taking Granlund back. That's just asking too much on the cap side.

My counter would be Rico 50% retained for the 1st and Rutta. You can keep Smith and Granlund.

A Henrique caliber player will be available via FA and the Granlund buyout is too affordable for this package to make sense for Pitt. If the Pens did use this sort of package, player would need to be at the very least in the 25-27 range and have some possible upside, where as Henrique is another 30+ where best case scenario you get what you expect and worse case he falls off a cliff.

I thought that perhaps Anaheim could use an offence first LD but then again, I guess I didnt think about Drysdale there.

While I've got you here, what is a Gibson trade with the Pens that makes sense from a Ducks perspective? I know they were asking for a lot but that contract would be hard for the Pens to work around. I thought about trying to put together a Henrique AND Gibson trade but was drawing a blank.

Absolutely absurd counter lmfao Pens end negotiating on spot

Works for me. Trading Henrique at the TDL is much better for the Ducks.

I think your counter is definitely a fair offer. I like Rutta more than most Pens fans but in a bubble I would probably still do that. The problem is that in the grand scheme of things, the Pens NEED to get rid of Granlund and that first might be needed for it. Interesting one to think about, honestly surprised that the Ducks would be interested in Rutta.

It's not so much that I want Rutta as it is that I know cap has to come back in the trade. So the question is what contract do the Pens have that I can tolerate. If Granlund was only for 1 year he'd probably be OK, but I'm not taking him for two. It clogs up the middle six forward group badly. Rutta in contrast fills one of the three holes we have on defense (2LD, 1RD, and 3RD).

The way I see it, the only Henrique caliber player in FA is O'Reilly and he is going to command a big, long contract. The big key for me was getting Granlund out and getting someone who could fill either a 200 foot playing 3C or 2LW role.

I'll disagree on Granlunds buyout being cheap. $833k this year plus 3 years at $1.833M is fairly significant. Caveat there being if there is a significant cap increase next year.

Got it. That does make me wonder then if Pierre Oliver Joseph instead of the first and Smith would get closer? His age fits in with the group of the Ducks and I think he is right on the cusp of a good 2LD this year.

Maybe, but I really think the 1st is what gets the Ducks attention. In saying that I do acknowledge that we're talking about a fairly high 1st here in a extraordinary draft year. I think the Pens should suck it up and keep the pick but if they really want to trade it to the Ducks in a fair deal I'm not going to complain one bit.

That's tough. I'm one of Gibsons biggest fans, I bought season tickets this year with the primary focus to watch him play. Yeah, his stats were brutal this season, but man, if you watched the games, the guy was absolutely hung out to dry, it's was deflections and backdoor tipins galore. A larger, more traditional butterfly goalie may have fared better on the deflections just on passively taking up more net, but no one was succeeding behind our defense this season.

A Gibson to PIT trade is difficult due to PITs cap contratins. We probably have to take Granlund the other way, and we already have two underperforming 5 million AAV right wings, we've got very little appetite for a third, especially one who was as defensively poor as Granlund this season. It's one thing if he isn't scoring but also preventing goals against, but Granlund was just brutal, the change of scenery backfired for him this season. If not Granlund, is it Carter and Rutta, and we ask Carter to coach, push him down some stairs and LTIRetire him? I'd prefer that over Granlund as at least Rutta would be useful for us. To round out the topic of cap constraints, retention is a complete non starter for us on Gibsons contract, if a team wants him, they're taking all of him.

Second half of the problem is compensation. We're going to want a fair haul for the guy, comprised of good picks or prospects at areas were light on. The top prospects in PITs system are offensive LHD, and bottom/middle 6 projected left shot forwards, of which Anaheim already has an abundance of in our system. We got the goalie prospect we wanted from Pitt last season in Clang, so that avenue is also less appealing. That leaves picks, and we don't want to wait to draft, and we don't want Gibsons success in PIT to move the picks we get later in the draft. That leaves us zeroing in on the 23 1st as the main piece of the deal given the lack of 2nd in this year's draft.

I'd expect a deal to anchor around Gibson for the 23 1st + ~5 million in cap dump/offset from Granlund or Carter+Rutta (assuming Carter agrees to be moved). Add window dressing as needed for either side depending on trade specifics. Comtois could be worked in if speed and youth are needed, while his QO is up there, the AAV could come lower on a multi year deal. Maybe PITs 24 3rd goes back so that they can attempt to OS someone. There's no game changers in PIT system at this point, so the fears of a retaliatory OS are minimal.

Our opening at 2LD is very short term. You may have heard that Ducks prospects swept the CHL defensive awards this year. 3/4 of them are LHD, all of them will be in San Diego next season on our AHL team. If we bring in a LHD that isn't short term, they need to be able to play on the top line and be Drysdale's future defense first partner. I don't think POJ fits that bill.

Jason Zucker was more productive, is younger and we could sign him tomorrow so giving draft capital for a 33 year old Henrique on is Hextall type move. Agreed that they need to get rid of Granlund, but the way I would look at this is what is more valuable: 1) FA signing, 1st rd, Smith/Rutta, and $833k cap hit 2) Henrique, $800k cap hit (unless Anaheim retained as this is the difference in Granlund Henrque deals). Henrique is a fine player but he is not anywhere worth all of that.

The $1.8M buyout hit after year one is the only reason for pause but that is also balanced out by the fact that Henrique is effectively a rental with 1 year on the deal. Overall, I wouldn't be against the package for Henrique you offered initially but the pens would need to aim higher, not saying that they could get a better deal but if they can't get a better deal another path is best bet.