“1 or 2 1st round picks, potentially POJ, Pickering and other picks“ ?

I highly doubt Karlsson will cost this much. Especially not Pickering. Only two teams are vying for Karlsson’s services. He stated that he wants out. Grier acknowledged that he understands that retention is necessary in order to move him. If the Canes opt for Tarasenko they may drop out of Karlsson contention. (Which I think makes more sense for them anyways). SJ’s leverage is waning.

I'm with you here . the additions aren't bad but not really good either. Dubas inherited a deep hole. he is starting to dig out of it but that trade may sink him back to the bottom. I'm not a POJ fan i think if there is value to him id move on from him. i think Butcher provides more than he does.

Karlsson isn't going to cost all of that. Don't believe Poni he is a hack. Adding a player of Karlsson's ability instantly makes this team that much better and helps the power play immensely. There are still options for moving/buyout of Granlund and a Rutta trade. Karlsson is the biggest gamebreaker available though and should be the first attempt at making this roster more dynamic.

Yeah, I'm over the Karlsson trades.

Bottom-six is better than last year though. Would like to see if they can pull off a Hanafin + Backlund trade with Calgary.

Nylander is a 13th forward at best, I think Puustinen is the better player.

I think most people have said it best in the media if you are able to get a person who moves the needle like Karlsson you have to at least try. I agree the bottom 6 is not in the best of shapes, however I think it is miles above what it was last year with the additions thus far and if O'Connor can get signed. As far as POJ him and Ty Smith are basically the same player at roughly the same age. With POJ being older makes him a bit more expendable. I do not think an EK65 deal involves Pickering at all. I also believe that we can get EK65 to fit under cap by just moving Petry out. The way I prefer the Granlund situation is someone take on his cap, however if you cant then buy him out with the second chance that O'Connor is giving with Arb, and use that roughly 4 mil to make more upgrades to the bottom 6 and you still get EK65 and a better bottom 6 thus maximizing the window of Sid and Geno twilight years

Lmao what? Claiming that Butcher provides more than POJ is the wildest statement I’ve seen on this site in quite sometime.

I agree with most of this, but not all of it.

POJ and Smith are far from “basically the same player”. Smith is very small and a pretty one dimensional offensive defenseman. POJ is long, has great reach, and a better two way game, though less offensive upside.

If we’re rostering Karlsson and Letang then POJ’s style of play would far better benefit and suit the team’s needs as opposed to Ty Smith’s.

I can see where you are coming from on this, however while POJ does have 3 inches they both are about the same weight . Smith is still young enough to mold his two way game and I think has more upside due to his better offensive ability, thats just me though.

I completely disagree in regard to Nylander. He needs a legitimate shot at playing alongside players that will compliment his game. If given one, I believe he will excel, relatively speaking.

As for Hanifin… our left side of Pettersson, Graves, and Joseph is very solid. It’s the right side that needs an upgrade. Spending to upgrade at LD would be a waste.

As for Backlund.. I wouldn’t mind acquiring him on his own for the right price. Though I’d rather have a young player come in, his defensive game would certainly be a nice addition.

I hear you, but with Karlsson and Letang we won’t be needing more offensive ability on the backend. Solid defensive game and reach (huge for PK) would be the need. I get that he isn’t the heaviest guy, but neither is Pettersson. I could see him molding into a similar player. Joseph is really only one year older than Smith and had a solid rookie year. He will have just as much ability to round out his game.

The more offensive upside is for post Letang Karlsson which would be right when Smith/POJ enter the height of their prime years. Me, Id rather Smith over POJ just think there is more there. I def could be wrong on it though.

I don't believe anything Poni says, he could tell me he's wearing a red shirt while standing in front of me in a red shirt and I wouldn't believe him.

That being said, pens fans also need to understand that you are indeed going to have to give some of that up in order to get Karlsson and at a retained salary. SJS isn't just going to simply give him away.

That first line made me laugh. The second line I stand by my original statement. A 1st will be involved with retention, but the talk of Pickering and more isn't happening. Look at the Burns trade last year.

We absolutely do not know what teams are vying for it at the end of the day, could be more could just be the penguins. There have also been various reports on what the sharks are willing to retain. Some said 20%, some said 30% others said $3-4M. You're going to have to pay for the retention alone and you're going to have to pay for Karlsson himself.

I could easily see the sharks saying ya we want 2 first round picks if they're sending Karlsson and eating $4M/yr for 4 years lol.

The sharks could also tell everyone off if they're not getting a proper return. Karlsson hasn't demanded to be traded, it sounds more like a mutual agreement that he wants to go play for a contender and the sharks are willing to try and make that happen. If they're not getting a fair deal in their minds though they simply can say no lol.

I'm sorry but you just can't compare trading a 37 year old Brent Burns to a 33 year old Erik Karlsson coming off his 3rd Norris trophy.

Burns has 2 more years left, Karlsson has 4 and is worth vastly more than Burns, not to mention didn't Karlsson and Burns not mix together? Hence the sharks choose Karlsson over Burns lol

If that really were the case why is Carolina in Karlsson too? Just wait and see if it happens. It will be underwhelming for a player of his skills.

i may have misunderstood but i thought i've seen sharks fans talking about Karlsson and Burns not meshing well and one player overshadowing the other.

Regardless of that, you still can't compare the burns trade and the karlsson trade lol, it's not close.

Yeah but they have no cap space - so how are they going to fit these bottom 6 upgrades?

The bottom 6 is bad, I agree, but I'm not sure where they where, how, or who they fit in there that's an upgrade. At least Karlsson is an upgrade over Petry so it's something - because this team as it currently stands isn't winning anything. Just my thoughts

Butcher was a good depth signing imo - but he definitely doesn't bring more to the table than POJ at this point. POJ had a good season - and he was a rookie.

If they can use him in a trade I'm not against it though

POJ and Smith are only 1 year apart though. If Smith is young enough to improve then so is POJ. Honestly if I was GM I would've scrapped the Graves signing and just ran both of them down the left side lol

No need for Hanifin anymore with the Graves signing. This team can't afford to have over 7mil tied up in a 3rd d pair

And thats why you are not the GM. Graves addition helps the now because he is a player you can play alongside Tanger of which Smith nor POJ are ready for they still need their sheltered minutes. As for POJ and Smith now that you have Graves one is expendableish. Imo you go with the one that is most similar to graves - that being POJ - who is a year older and not as talented offensively. If you can get Smith to sure up the two way side you have an excellent top 2 LHD of the future. But thats a big if.

I think Karlsson having 4 years left is actually a negative - not a positive. He's obviously worth more than Burns was - but Bruns went for almost nothing. So even giving up more than CAR did for Burns shouldn't be an insane feat to accomplish

Dude.......... Pettersson is right there to play alongside Letang lol. And he's better than Graves. I'm not a GM for a lot of reasons - this isn't it haha.

As for the Ty Smith vs POJ debate - I can see either side. But being one year older shouldn't play a factor. Smith could possibly turn into a better defender if developed properly - but POJ is already a 2nd pair LHD after his rookie season. High floor vs high celling debate I guess - could go either way

You have a second window to buy out Granlund now. You can find a home for Rutta and one of the backups.

That gives you plenty of space. You could go out and trade for someone like Henrique in ANA and pay to retain as he has 1 year left. That immediate boosts your 3C. Could then add somone young like Boqvist or Comtois.

There are options.