Looks spot on if all stays the same. Let Poulin and Ponomarev battle for 3C.

they finish between 5 and 10 in the draft.

I dont think they stay the same. They defo make moves, just depends what. What do you think?

My question is, what trade gets Smith out?

I don't think they can turn this team into a cup contender anymore.

Making the playoffs is the ceiling and honestly, do we really want to see them make it just to be swept like WSH was?
I am waiting on the trade of Sullivan. That's the first domino that has to fall.
There are just too many holes to fill on this team. The whole 3rd pairing, 1LW, 3RW, 3C, 4LW
Even if they play 1 or 2 of the younger guys, You need to bring in 3-4FA.
Batting 100% on those moves... just not happening.

It's time to start thinking about how they tank. I'd rather have a chance at 1OA in 26 then be mediocre and holding out hope that a 39 year old crosby and 40 year old malkin are going to make a run.

NSH. Even their fan base seems to like the idea. They need a rental LW to bring depth. They have the cap.

I think Puusty is good for the 3RW, good defensively, and can provide some offense, if he takes a step forward next year a line of DOC-Eller-Puusty could be very stingy and provide some offense. 4LW i think depends on nieto’s injury, i liked nieto and he didn’t really have a chance here, so if hes healthy id like to see what he can bring with someone who isn’t Jeff carter on the RW. I agree with the 3rd pairing, i can almost guarantee they are gonna run it back with a POJ-St Ivany 3rd pair which isn’t terrible, but again if both can take some sort of step forward it could be effective. The 1LW is definitely the biggest concern as well as some player (Graves) having bounce back years.

Puusty is a regular season warrior. You won't win in the playoffs with a guy like that so why bother. You look at those playoff games there are 50-60 hits in a lot of those games....per side. He's just not built for that. You need that in a 3rd and 4th line when you aren't going to get it out your 1st or 2nd.
If you aren't planning to be a playoff team, it's whatever. Otherwise you need guys with some size who can get in the dirty areas. That's not him.
DOC and Eller can play that game, but I'd rather see both Eller and Acciari on the 4th line. He's 34-35, he doesn't have the legs.
I don't think Nieto is coming back. I could be wrong. But his injury was 8 weeks to recover from. He was out like 16 or something. That doesn't look like a player coming back to me.

I just don't see how this team realistically competes for a cup at this point. It's a low bar to playoffs and they can't get there. Even if they did, they wouldn't stand a chance.
It's better to realize that. Make moves accordingly.
Don't get me wrong I've made a few acgm myself trying to figure out how to get there. Baring a lot of help from the youth with is really low odds. Or some probably not happening trades. It's pretty hard to make this team a real contender.

Not many, if any, changes at all. I think maybe you could make the argument to swap Puusty and Rakell. That's really the only thing I can think of.

To be fair, this lineup was 8th in the league in points %(4th in the East) from the trade deadline onward. Who knows what would happen if they figure out a PP. That being said, I hope they don't keep things exactly the same.

a 37 year old crosby can't play a whole season like he did in that small stretch of games.
When the tank ran out... so did their playoff chances.

Tons of small guys have found success, and puusty has shown he can play, also the 4th line is usually the more big and tough line, DOC and eller can play the hard nosed places, and were pretty good this year, i dont think its a stretch to say that if DOC and puusty take a step forward that a 3rd line of DOC-Eller-Puusty could be effective in the regular season and the playoffs. I’d agree that id rather see a 4th line for someone-Eller-Acciari though, i saw the Dubas comments on nieto so i am with you that he might be done which sucks, i watched him with the avs and liked what he can bring. I think the chances are less likely, but imo if we see some key changes and see some bounce backs and the ability to finish they could find themselves in a good spot next year. At this point it seems to be luck, which the team had very little of this past year IMO. I think the key here is what Dubas and FSG want, they seem to want to try to compete while not selling the future, so id guess no trades minus maybe trading smith out, and bringing FA’s in.

I think you can even retain, but I am sure there would be a suitor.