2024 NHL Trade Deadline Discussion

[Cow_Master66]

Yeah, because deliberately selling in a situation where prices have fallen to the floor just to make the fans happy is definitely a strategy that he should have taken.

He brought in a bunch of trash over the summer. It is now trash that nobody else wants and they are stuck with it.

Theyre a bunch of trash, so you’re mad that they didn’t sell them because nobody wants them because they’re a bunch of trash, so you’re mad that they didn’t sell them because nobody wants them because they’re a bunch of trash, so you’re mad that they didn’t sell them because nobody wants them because they’re a bunch of trash?

No, I am saying he has had a terrible first year, as evidenced by him being unable to offload said trash.

I bet you were fine with the moves in the off season back in October. Did anyone really think acquiring Smith for a 3rd was bad move? Did anyone think Graves would come in here and suck out loud??? Yes the term on the contract wasn't great but you overpay on July 1st. I am not exactly sure who you thought was trash back on October 13th? Please enlighten us.

There's no reason at all to think Graves won't be better next season...The 1 year adjustment period literally happens constantly with Dmen but it seems very foreign here for some reason.

[Sigwolf]

If we finish at 8-12 I'd give them this year's draft. Next year's draft I believe is deeper and obviously we are due for our bi-decade bingo ball win.

I don't believe they have a choice if they finish in a lottery position. They must keep this year if it's a lottery pick, and they lose next years even if it is #1 overall.

[SteelCityFan]

Jake, Ruhwedel and Helleberg?

That's it? I feel one of those Chevy Chase "Christmas Vacation" rants coming on.

Where's the Tylenol?

Love that rant! Especially the end… “Hallelujah! Holy ****! Where’s the Tylenol!”

[Antonio]

Pretty underwhelming. If Sullivan was gone, I'd be able to get a little more interested at the possibility of maybe developing one of this guys into... something. With him still here, the biggest issue this team has remains unsolved.

[SteelCityFan]

Meh, it is what it is. It was a buyers market. No need to sell off everyone for sub standard returns when you can wait until the offseason and see what the offers are.

Plus, Sullivan should be gone after this season. Let’s see what some of these underachievers can do under a competent coaching staff if there are no worthwhile trades available.

[FLPensFan]

Purposely stayed away today. Wasn't in a good space mentally after the Guentzel trade fell short IMO. But, here's my quick thoughts on the last 2 days:

--The prices around the league were awful. Players that likely would have gone for a 2nd or 3rd in years prior were going for 4th-6th. For that reason, I'm fine that we didn't move much else. The only UFA that I would have hoped had been dealt was Nedeljkovic. It's telling that Hellberg went, due to cost I believe. Jake Allen got a 3rd...maybe Ned could have got that. I won't hold Dubas to the fire over not dealing Ned, and it sounds like teams didn't want to take on term for mid-range players like Smith or Eller.

--Still not happy about the Guentzel trade return. Did I really expect to pull Hoglander and Lekkerimaki, or Chytil/Kakko AND Othmann, or Nikishin AND Blake/Nadeau...no, I didn't. But I did expect ONE of those types of pieces coming back in a trade. Not necessarily the BEST prospect any team had, but one of their top 3 for sure. That was my expectation of trading Jake...to acquire a very high end young asset to help improve the team. I didn't expect it to be a Jake-level replacement. So, for me, that was the big letdown for me yesterday, that Dubas failed to do that. Seeing the prices that continued on today, I'll raise Dubas's trade grade on this a little, because they were awful league wide. Very few unconditioned 1st round picks traded were traded over the past few days.

--Having said that about the Jake trade, the other reason I'll raise my own take on Dubas's trade grade from a D- to a C- is in the clip below. Start at the 3:10 mark to the 3:20 mark. If you didn't catch it, it sounds to me like in addition or as part of trying to make a shakeup move earlier this year, he was targeting younger players. Based on what he says in these 10 seconds, I'm guessing he got a lot of pushback from other teams by not having the prospects needed to make those types of deals. If Dubas can use the acquisition of these 3 players to help him get one or two more young NHL level players, then that may raise the grade a little more for me.



--The rest of this season should be about giving DOC, Puustinen, Puljujarvi, Poulin, Bemstrom, and Gruden as much ice time as possible. They need to see what roles they can handle, and what their place is on this team moving forward because I feel like a few of them are a bit redundant...Puustinen and Bemstrom are players known for their shot and not much else...DOC has been coming on, but when he's off, he's a solid forechecker like Puljujarvi. Can Gruden elevate his game enough to be a 4C next year. Where is Ponomaryov going to fit in with this group of younger guys? The Penguins are likely going to need to determine which guys fit their system or show the most level of consistency over a 20 game stretch. They will likely need to move on from a few of these guys.

--Penguins are currently 11th worst overall. As bad as it sounds...I want them to lose and get into the top 10, preferably around 7th-8th overall. I saw earlier someone said they'd want to give this pick to SJ no matter what. Disagree. Is this draft strong? No, it's not, but it's more shallow than weak. The first 20 or so picks are not where it is weak. This year's draft will drop off significantly after around pick 20-25. So if you are picking in the top 15-20, you are still getting a player just as strong as in any other first half of the first round. Guys picked late 1st into the 2nd or 3rd may be a half round to a round ahead of where they'd be picked in a deep draft. But if we can get into the top 10 of this draft, there is zero reason to give up the pick.

[Three Stars]

Oops?

[thehockeyguru]

Purposely stayed away today. Wasn't in a good space mentally after the Guentzel trade fell short IMO. But, here's my quick thoughts on the last 2 days:

--The prices around the league were awful. Players that likely would have gone for a 2nd or 3rd in years prior were going for 4th-6th. For that reason, I'm fine that we didn't move much else. The only UFA that I would have hoped had been dealt was Nedeljkovic. It's telling that Hellberg went, due to cost I believe. Jake Allen got a 3rd...maybe Ned could have got that. I won't hold Dubas to the fire over not dealing Ned, and it sounds like teams didn't want to take on term for mid-range players like Smith or Eller.

--Still not happy about the Guentzel trade return. Did I really expect to pull Hoglander and Lekkerimaki, or Chytil/Kakko AND Othmann, or Nikishin AND Blake/Nadeau...no, I didn't. But I did expect ONE of those types of pieces coming back in a trade. Not necessarily the BEST prospect any team had, but one of their top 3 for sure. That was my expectation of trading Jake...to acquire a very high end young asset to help improve the team. I didn't expect it to be a Jake-level replacement. So, for me, that was the big letdown for me yesterday, that Dubas failed to do that. Seeing the prices that continued on today, I'll raise Dubas's trade grade on this a little, because they were awful league wide. Very few unconditioned 1st round picks traded were traded over the past few days.

--Having said that about the Jake trade, the other reason I'll raise my own take on Dubas's trade grade from a D- to a C- is in the clip below. Start at the 3:10 mark to the 3:20 mark. If you didn't catch it, it sounds to me like in addition or as part of trying to make a shakeup move earlier this year, he was targeting younger players. Based on what he says in these 10 seconds, I'm guessing he got a lot of pushback from other teams by not having the prospects needed to make those types of deals. If Dubas can use the acquisition of these 3 players to help him get one or two more young NHL level players, then that may raise the grade a little more for me.



--The rest of this season should be about giving DOC, Puustinen, Puljujarvi, Poulin, Bemstrom, and Gruden as much ice time as possible. They need to see what roles they can handle, and what their place is on this team moving forward because I feel like a few of them are a bit redundant...Puustinen and Bemstrom are players known for their shot and not much else...DOC has been coming on, but when he's off, he's a solid forechecker like Puljujarvi. Can Gruden elevate his game enough to be a 4C next year. Where is Ponomaryov going to fit in with this group of younger guys? The Penguins are likely going to need to determine which guys fit their system or show the most level of consistency over a 20 game stretch. They will likely need to move on from a few of these guys.

--Penguins are currently 11th worst overall. As bad as it sounds...I want them to lose and get into the top 10, preferably around 7th-8th overall. I saw earlier someone said they'd want to give this pick to SJ no matter what. Disagree. Is this draft strong? No, it's not, but it's more shallow than weak. The first 20 or so picks are not where it is weak. This year's draft will drop off significantly after around pick 20-25. So if you are picking in the top 15-20, you are still getting a player just as strong as in any other first half of the first round. Guys picked late 1st into the 2nd or 3rd may be a half round to a round ahead of where they'd be picked in a deep draft. But if we can get into the top 10 of this draft, there is zero reason to give up the pick.

Do you see someone in the 8th overall to 10th overall spot that you would target?

[KG]

Welcome back FLP! I figured this was your silent protest of the Pens for not being around today lol.

Losing Jake is tough, but seeing what others went for, including Toffoli, who is a real solid top 6 wing, it was a buyers market for sure. I'm most frustrated at the "insiders" planting these seeds about us asking for all of these great top blue chip prospects etc. Rentals never get back both a 1st round pick and a great prospect.

So all in all, it's underwhelming but its a working progress. Let's see what changes Dubas does in the summers when there was more flexibility around the league. I'm actually low-key excited about Bunting. We haven't had a forward with some snarl and net-front presence in quite some time.

We needed to change things up.

[FLPensFan]

Spoiler:

Purposely stayed away today. Wasn't in a good space mentally after the Guentzel trade fell short IMO. But, here's my quick thoughts on the last 2 days:

--The prices around the league were awful. Players that likely would have gone for a 2nd or 3rd in years prior were going for 4th-6th. For that reason, I'm fine that we didn't move much else. The only UFA that I would have hoped had been dealt was Nedeljkovic. It's telling that Hellberg went, due to cost I believe. Jake Allen got a 3rd...maybe Ned could have got that. I won't hold Dubas to the fire over not dealing Ned, and it sounds like teams didn't want to take on term for mid-range players like Smith or Eller.

--Still not happy about the Guentzel trade return. Did I really expect to pull Hoglander and Lekkerimaki, or Chytil/Kakko AND Othmann, or Nikishin AND Blake/Nadeau...no, I didn't. But I did expect ONE of those types of pieces coming back in a trade. Not necessarily the BEST prospect any team had, but one of their top 3 for sure. That was my expectation of trading Jake...to acquire a very high end young asset to help improve the team. I didn't expect it to be a Jake-level replacement. So, for me, that was the big letdown for me yesterday, that Dubas failed to do that. Seeing the prices that continued on today, I'll raise Dubas's trade grade on this a little, because they were awful league wide. Very few unconditioned 1st round picks traded were traded over the past few days.

--Having said that about the Jake trade, the other reason I'll raise my own take on Dubas's trade grade from a D- to a C- is in the clip below. Start at the 3:10 mark to the 3:20 mark. If you didn't catch it, it sounds to me like in addition or as part of trying to make a shakeup move earlier this year, he was targeting younger players. Based on what he says in these 10 seconds, I'm guessing he got a lot of pushback from other teams by not having the prospects needed to make those types of deals. If Dubas can use the acquisition of these 3 players to help him get one or two more young NHL level players, then that may raise the grade a little more for me.



--The rest of this season should be about giving DOC, Puustinen, Puljujarvi, Poulin, Bemstrom, and Gruden as much ice time as possible. They need to see what roles they can handle, and what their place is on this team moving forward because I feel like a few of them are a bit redundant...Puustinen and Bemstrom are players known for their shot and not much else...DOC has been coming on, but when he's off, he's a solid forechecker like Puljujarvi. Can Gruden elevate his game enough to be a 4C next year. Where is Ponomaryov going to fit in with this group of younger guys? The Penguins are likely going to need to determine which guys fit their system or show the most level of consistency over a 20 game stretch. They will likely need to move on from a few of these guys.

--Penguins are currently 11th worst overall. As bad as it sounds...I want them to lose and get into the top 10, preferably around 7th-8th overall. I saw earlier someone said they'd want to give this pick to SJ no matter what. Disagree. Is this draft strong? No, it's not, but it's more shallow than weak. The first 20 or so picks are not where it is weak. This year's draft will drop off significantly after around pick 20-25. So if you are picking in the top 15-20, you are still getting a player just as strong as in any other first half of the first round. Guys picked late 1st into the 2nd or 3rd may be a half round to a round ahead of where they'd be picked in a deep draft. But if we can get into the top 10 of this draft, there is zero reason to give up the pick.

Do you see someone in the 8th overall to 10th overall spot that you would target?

There are 4 players I'd be looking at, and these 4 have moved around from being ranked 4 to as high as 14th.

--LW Cole Eiserman - Considered the top LW in the draft. Considered a potential 40-50 goal scorer, but his defense isn't great.
--LW/C Berkly Catton - 3rd leading scorer in the WHL with 103 points (Yager has 76 points in WHL). Good two-way player, too.
--RW/C Konsta Helenius - On pace for 40 points in Liiga as a 17 year old. Only Barkov and Granlund have produced that much at that age.
--LW Cayden Lindstrom - 6'4" 215 Power forward. Some scouts have him at #2 behind Celebrini. I've seen him as high as 14th in some ratings.

If we can even finish 10th, we may have a got shot at any one of these 4 players. What could prevent that is two Russian players in the top 10, one of which compares to Matei Michkov and the other a defenseman. If teams have concerns about getting these guys out of Russia, that could mean the 4 above get picked sooner.

[Guinness]

Chad for a 4th is good. Needed to be ejected anyway and that's a decent return.

Get my boy out yo mouff!

[Guinness]

I am so over Dubas. I am stunned did nothing meaningful after the Guentzel stupidity.

Yeah, because deliberately selling in a situation where prices have fallen to the floor just to make the fans happy is definitely a strategy that he should have taken.

He brought in a bunch of trash over the summer. It is now trash that nobody else wants and they are stuck with it.

At the time, those signings seemed decent, especially with the cap space he had to work with.

NO GM was going to move Malkin or Letang. It just wasn't going to happen. No way, no how. And that's the only way he could have freed up the money to bring someone other than Acciari or Nieto in. We have 1 more month until Jeff Carter comes off the books, and that idiot Hextall giving him a NMC affectively handcuffed GMKD.

This season was a wish and a prayer from the get-go. It was never going to be more than HOPING to catch lightning in a bottle. Next season is really GMKD's real first season as GM.

[Puck-Lurker]

I am so over Dubas. I am stunned did nothing meaningful after the Guentzel stupidity.

Yeah, because deliberately selling in a situation where prices have fallen to the floor just to make the fans happy is definitely a strategy that he should have taken.

He brought in a bunch of trash over the summer. It is now trash that nobody else wants and they are stuck with it.

At the time, those signings seemed decent, especially with the cap space he had to work with.

NO GM was going to move Malkin or Letang. It just wasn't going to happen. No way, no how. And that's the only way he could have freed up the money to bring someone other than Acciari or Nieto in. We have 1 more month until Jeff Carter comes off the books, and that idiot Hextall giving him a NMC affectively handcuffed GMKD.

This season was a wish and a prayer from the get-go. It was never going to be more than HOPING to catch lightning in a bottle. Next season is really GMKD's real first season as GM.

I had hopes this team would somehow have one last playoff showing, maybe win a round, or if by some miracle two. GMKD made a go for it, adding pieces that should score for the top end and guys that should grind and keep us falling apart at the lower end. It wasn't good enough, but in fairness, we all knew (or should have known) the window had closed and we were living on hope and a dream.

I'll judge Dubas for what happens next. I felt he was brought on to rebuild at the time more than to have "2-3 more years of playoffs success".

[Guinness]

I am so over Dubas. I am stunned did nothing meaningful after the Guentzel stupidity.

Yeah, because deliberately selling in a situation where prices have fallen to the floor just to make the fans happy is definitely a strategy that he should have taken.

He brought in a bunch of trash over the summer. It is now trash that nobody else wants and they are stuck with it.

At the time, those signings seemed decent, especially with the cap space he had to work with.

NO GM was going to move Malkin or Letang. It just wasn't going to happen. No way, no how. And that's the only way he could have freed up the money to bring someone other than Acciari or Nieto in. We have 1 more month until Jeff Carter comes off the books, and that idiot Hextall giving him a NMC affectively handcuffed GMKD.

This season was a wish and a prayer from the get-go. It was never going to be more than HOPING to catch lightning in a bottle. Next season is really GMKD's real first season as GM.

I had hopes this team would somehow have one last playoff showing, maybe win a round, or if by some miracle two. GMKD made a go for it, adding pieces that should score for the top end and guys that should grind and keep us falling apart at the lower end. It wasn't good enough, but in fairness, we all knew (or should have known) the window had closed and we were living on hope and a dream.

I'll judge Dubas for what happens next. I felt he was brought on to rebuild at the time more than to have "2-3 more years of playoffs success".

Personally, I'd far rather miss the playoffs - by a wide margin, really - than win a round and get booted in the second... All that does is make your draft pick suck more.

It's time. It's now going to be 2 years missing the playoffs, 6 years not winning a round, and 7 years since we did. It's just time. Sully needs to go. He needed to go 3 years ago, but it's now just glaringly obvious that he is not the coach who is going to fix this mess.

This team needs someone who is going to "get" Sid, yet still be able to coach the inevitable cast of young players who are going to populate this roster next year. I don't know who that is, but then I guess that's why KD makes a F-ton more than I do. So... get to work, bro.

[Cow_Master66]

Welcome back FLP, always enjoy your posts.

I don’t agree with the logic of keeping this years pick whatsoever. Someone else mentioned we may have to if we are in the top 10, which I would bet a limb we will be. So could be moot if that’s true. But by all accounts next year will be a better draft, and I am certain we will be in the running for a top 5-7 pick. They are a Crosby injury away from a top 2…can anyone imagine this team without him for an extended period?

[Guinness]

Welcome back FLP, always enjoy your posts.

I don’t agree with the logic of keeping this years pick whatsoever. Someone else mentioned we may have to if we are in the top 10, which I would bet a limb we will be. So could be moot if that’s true. But by all accounts next year will be a better draft, and I am certain we will be in the running for a top 5-7 pick. They are a Crosby injury away from a top 2…can anyone imagine this team without him for an extended period?

NO! And don't you dare speak such a thing into the ether!

It's an interesting idea, and I'd be willing to wait until next year for that first, especially if we're going to suck as hard as it looks like... I guess we all want to get on with the retool/rebuild as soon as possible, but if a better draft class awaits next year, and we're more likely to draft higher than this year... well, yeah... do it.

[Puck-Lurker]

Personally, I'd far rather miss the playoffs - by a wide margin, really - than win a round and get booted in the second... All that does is make your draft pick suck more.

Going to have to agree to disagree here. I'll never be on board with that. I'd rather win a playoff round than tank until you can make it to the ECF.

(Doesn't make a difference as things stand. This team wasn't going to get out of the first round anyway. We've known this for months now.)

It's time. It's now going to be 2 years missing the playoffs, 6 years not winning a round, and 7 years since we did. It's just time. Sully needs to go. He needed to go 3 years ago, but it's now just glaringly obvious that he is not the coach who is going to fix this mess.

This team needs someone who is going to "get" Sid, yet still be able to coach the inevitable cast of young players who are going to populate this roster next year. I don't know who that is, but then I guess that's why KD makes a F-ton more than I do. So... get to work, bro.

Yes to the rest.

[penny lane]

My vote, Cayden Lindstrom. Power forward.

[FLPensFan]

My vote, Cayden Lindstrom. Power forward.

I like him too. The kid just turned 18 on Feb 3 and he's already 6'4" 215lbs. I think Berkly Catton is still my top choice if he's there, but would be hard to pass up Lindstrom, knowing this org badly needs a guy with some size, toughness, and a nose for the net.