With no attention to his actual position defense, the Penguins are all but a guarantee to miss the Playoffs now. Montreal and San Jose are the clear two big winners. Addition by subtraction as the old saying goes. Gets a first out of it and helps them to be a bottom feeder to build up there youth. 2 years from now the cap space opens up when they need to flip the switch. Greir is doing the proper job the Sharks badly needed a while ago.

They got Musty in the same draft as Smith and he has potential. The main guy from the Meier trade, Mukhamadulin, is a legit D prospect. They got another mid guy in that one as well. It's def too early to tell on Eklund, Bordeleau, or anyone they drafted in '22.

Zetterlund could turn into a regular cheler, dude. Does Zadina count? What about Kunin coming off injury ??

Yeah, it's not the best prospect pool in the league, but there are some younger guys who could turn into players.

Some UFAs who could use a good contract year to get another deal as well...

I just don't see a scenario where San Jose is a contender in 3 or 4 years. They don't have a young player base and they don't have a great prospect pool. They will, but it's not there yet. They have to continue at the bottom for a few more years and hope to contend in 5+ years from now. That's just how long it takes.

How many people on here said Greer would have to retain 3+million 😅

I feel you but if Will Smith is legit it could be accelerated. 2 years is a long time in the NHL. Just ask Devils fans, no one thought they'd make it last year, let alone win a round in the playoffs.

lol guarantee to miss the playoffs? buddy Dubas changed the entire bottom six, signed Graves, and got Karlsson. We look like one of the best teams in the division on paper, and one of the best blue lines in the league. Our 2nd pair is most teams 1st pair. Come on now

You're making my point for me - Jack Hughes was in his draft+4 season last year. Hischier was in his draft+6.

San Jose has a long way to go.

Well yea I think so too I'm just saying we don't know how quickly they'll turn it around, especially with other good players like Couture and Hertl signed long term. Their drafts haven't been great or anything but we just don't know how good a bunch of their young players will be because they haven't played enough yet.

Yes. Musty was drafted 26th overall, great value for a guy that was previously a 1st overall pick in the 2021 OHL draft.

Mukhamadulin should eventually be a mainstay on their D. Always liked him as a D prospect.

Yeah personally I think Musty could be good. 'Dulin has looked good in limited time as well. Lots of ?s throughout the rest of the lineup

It'll be an interesting year for them with no Karlsson and a terrible defense/goalie, but there are some potential legit players right down the road

Karlsson derails any progress. You will miss the Playoffs because of him alone this year. On paper like last season should make the Playoffs but again miss out.

Well, I disagree wholeheartedly. If we miss it will be because of goaltending not Karlsson.

Pittsburgh traded their best goalie.... so not sure what Dubas's plan is there.

Eh, I wouldn't say Casey was our best goalie by any means. Both had inconsistent years last year, DeSmith coming off an injury in the playoffs and never really finding his footing during the regular season.

Dubas should sign Dylan Ferguson for starters, to compete with Neddy for the back up spot. After that it gets dicey because when players sign deals, they generally stick around, or the GM that signs them doesn't turn around and trade them. (sign and trade notwithstanding).

So you look at what Dubas did with that 5yr deal for Jarry, and it seems like we're committed there.

Unless he trades Jarry somehow for Gibson, Hellebuyck, Hart, idk a move to get a different starter.

I think they're going to wait and see how he plays this year at this point, I'd imagine if Dubas signed that deal with the intention of keeping him, which is likely, he must have a had votes of confidence throughout the organization.

Lots depends on his health, but until I see him win us a playoff series I'll be skeptical.

Bring back Flower!

I wonder if most people still think Pittsburgh won this trade.

Erik Karlsson is not living up to that contract, not even close. Plus, that 1st rounder will be a LOT better than expected, so much so that it might not happen this year. It's top ten protected and they are 9th worst right now. If it is not top-ten protected next year and the team doesn't do something major, then this could be a disaster.

Meanwhile, San Jose took on three bad contracts and two of them have actually done well enough this year to earn their paychecks. If they hit on that 1st, then they've easily won.

Montreal traded away all three players they got, so it is really hard to tell how well they did in the trade. For example, Casey DeSmith is playing awesome this year, but they don't have him. They have the very under-performing Pearson and a 3rd in 2025. That's bad, but can you deduct points on this trade?

Casey DeSmith didn’t play a single game in his career for Montreal. What exactly did they lose? Pearson is immaterial. Teams were interested at the TDL but Montreal didn’t want to retain because he’s an afterthought. Montreal have all their players signed next season and another 20 million plus in cap space, the Petry retained money was a small price to pay. It’s weird that you think they lost anything when they got Pittsburgh 2nd rounder which could be between 33-40 in 2025 and dumped two bad contracts in Hoffman and Pitlick, many here thought Hoffman needed a 1st to be attached. It’s an easy Hughes win even in retrospect yet your questioning it lol

They even got a 3rd for Pearson (he was a cap dump) Adding to the crazy haul. Just unreal work by Hughes. That Canucks fan solely focusing on the Pens 1st just highlighted the real potential value next year with that 2nd rounder in 2025. Maybe another 4 picks in the top 40 in 2025 along with 3 more picks in the following round. They have so much leverage at this point to get deals done along when picks always seem to mean much more at the draft when players in the top 40 suddenly make everyone here Go Gaga about every prospect that is unanimous on draft boards.

Then you got Jakub Fowler who’s now the 2nd best goalie prospect outside the NHL after winning the hockey East title. Primeau/Montembeault could actually return some value in the next 1-2 years with bargain contracts.
12 picks in first 3 rounds the next 2 drafts.

I fully expect not 1 but multiple trades for top 6 players at the draft and next. I don’t think Hughes will hold into that Jets and Flames 1st rounder.

this aged well

I think Seattle would have been the best spot for Karlsson, and it was the only team that made sense IMO.

I'm not saying they lost, not even close. After all, Mike Hoffman was a cap dump and Rem Pitlick is a slightly overpaid injury call-up. They gave up nothing they wanted to keep and got back assets. I'm just saying they didn't win by as much as people first thought they did. They turned three of those assets into a 3rd, a 4th, and an AHLer. THIS trade was a win, but everything since then has been a miss.

On the other hand, it is very likely Kyle Dubas will be forced to blow up the Penguins next year and that 2024 pick will turn into a very high 2025 pick. The plurality of people picked Pittsburgh as the winner here and I think a lot of them are regretting that vote, especially if they have to pay assets to get rid of Erik Karlsson.

yeah looks like graves isn't that good and the bottom 6 scored like 4 goals combined... another offseason with Dubas awaits and I'm honestly so stoked for him to reload here it's going to be next lvl

Hey wait I said if we miss it will be b/c of goaltending and I was on the money with that one so shove that dahn your pipe

This offseason he has to reload, there is no blowing it up until Sid decides to retire or sign somewhere else after next year. Dubas, if he's smart, will actually use this offseason to make the team better. Selling everybody who, about 5 or 6 months ago, he had locked in for 2-3 more years of going for it, doesn't make sense.

Unless of course the FSG overlords hired him to dismantle the team and force Sid out... but trading for EK in the first place doesn't say that to me. Dubas has also made it a point to say that the core as of now is Sid, Geno, Letang, and EK. Rust too b/c they <3 him

You build around that.

SADLY he also signed Jarry and Graves to terrible deals so....

DOESN'T LOOK GOOD

Unless they go on an absolute late season heater.... so much for that lol

Karlsson has had an elite level season. Pittsburgh just isn't good for some reason. Their depth is seriously lacking.