by Pucks_and_Pols on Thu Jul 05, 2012 2:48 pm
Pens Options going forward as I see it:
A) Don’t make any more major moves, go to camp with what we got, play our game (good enough to stay in contention for sure) and see what comes available at the trade deadline (hello Jerome, would you like to take a run at the cup sir?). This may be the most prudent course of action, but man, seeing TK take regular shifts in the top 6 is going to give me some major heartburn from October through February.
B) Give up whatever it takes to grab Shea Weber. Its going to take a ton. But it just might be worth it. Would Nashville consider this “Godfather” offer: Paul Martin, Tyler Kennedy, Eric Tangradi, our next two year’s 1st round picks, Despres and Dulomin (nearly NHL ready prospect we picked up in the Staal trade)? Yes. That is a ridiculous boatload of an offer, and will never ever actually happen. But I actually would be willing to serve that up right now, in the wake of Nashville losing one of their franchise cornerstones for absolutely nothing, to bring in one of the top defensemen on the planet to play with Letang.
C) Work with the Goldwater Institute in Arizona to make sure that the Coyotes ownership situation is a total disaster. Make a big 3 year offer to Shane Doan. Look up his numbers and transpose them with Billy G right before he came to Pittsburgh. Getting Doan for a few more seasons when he is 36 instead of 39 would be a big coup in my book. And he brings that veteran combination of skill, savvy and grit that would mesh perfectly with Crosby’s game. I’ve always been a big admirer of Doan since a random game I saw him absolutely take over when Versus was showing a late night Coyotes-Sharks game instead of their usual Gopher Hunting marathon. The Yotes were down few goals in the 3rd, and Doan just morphed into the incredible Hulk and single- handily willed his squad back to an OT victory. It was like there were 9 other guys skating around randomly, and Shane Doan on the ice commanding everything around him for every shift he took that period. IF the Pens can get even 75% of that player, I will take that signed in blood for a few more years.
D) The “Satan” route. This is similar to option A, but with a slight twist that they at least find someone who can come in and give them something for the financial and roster space that is “unfortunately” available. Possible guys I can see fitting into this role: via free agency: Fedetenko, Semin, or a Kostitsyn. Via a possible trade: Malone, Hemsky, or Stafford (3 guys who have fell out of favor with their teams and whose contracts don’t look quite as bad in light of the way the Cap has gone up recently).
E) Swing a deal with the Wings (who are really looking to fill in a top 4 D spot and have a slight overabundance of forwards) Paul Martin for, say Justin Abdelkader or Darren Helm.
F) Find some way to get Rick Nash out of Purgatory. I don't think he is worth the King's Ransom Columbus is asking for, but maybe someone can convince Craig Patrick over there to pull a "Eddie Johnson with Hartford" move to help his old squad out.
It sucks that Parise didn’t want to come here to play with Sid, but we are still in better shape then a lot of teams going into this season. Would have loved to have seen him here, but moving on we still got the two biggest offensive forces in hockey on our team. Locking up Geno long term should now become Shero’s #1 priority, and anything after that is a bonus.