I have no idea how the Pens will improve their team as their bottom 6 forward is questionable at best, but I had a few thoughts on trying to make it a bit more well rounded and competitive. This also plays with some of my season predictions on how some of the players will turn out and I'll go into details as to why I made these "educated" trades.
Kap will be OK, but won't be a fixture in the top 6 and the Pens will shop around to try and find an immediate replacement hence the trade with Vegas. Now, I am unsure if this is an underpayment (probably is) but sending McCann, Laf and two seconds seem to be "enough" for a player of March's calibre. This will be an early trade and March will end up being one of the best wingers that Crosby has ever had and Kap will be demoted to the third line to where he will thrive with new linemates in a more reserved role.
The Pens will also make a trade for a third-line center as they will soon regret having Jan in the line-up and he will be a healthy scratch most nights. The Pens make an early blockbuster trade with TO with the Leafs getting a steady blueliner as well as getting rid of Engvall who might be in need of a fresh start (as reported). The price will be Kerfoot and this newly introduced third-line with all ex TO players will be a major improvement to what the Pens will ice on opening day.
The Pens will give Sceviour a chance and will show some flash, chipping in a few points, but with ZAR coming back, they will need to shed his salary. A team like the Devils (or any "lower-tier team") will try to bank on his successes with the Pens and give up a pick for his services.
The first line of JG, SC and JM will be one of the best in the NHL and the JZ, EM, BR line will also be an offensive threat, but it is the fourth line that will be one of the most dependable lines for the Pense and Blueger has an amazing year earning him a contract extension at 1.5 mil for three years. The third line will be serviceable and be far more adequate than last year and this early season, but will still prove to be the Pens weakness as Kerfoot and Engvall have a bit of a down year, but Kap will play up to his contract and be praised for his work on this line.
Jarry will be great for the Pens and be one of the better goalies in the East and given that the Pens lucked out and do not play many back-to-backs this season, he will have more time to rest up between games. DeSmith will be OK, but not great, so the Pens make a gamble and sign Howard for the year as part of the taxi squad. Howard plays a total of three games and wins them all impressing the Pens enough to consider him as a potential back-up moving forward, but won't make a move until the off-season when they can shed DeSmith's cap. The Pens also try Legace, but it doesn't work out as well as Howard and he is relegated as a taxi-squad fixture. D'Orio also gets a chance to play and does well in his only showing, but is ultimately sent down to WBS after the Pens sign Howard.
It may look like I had put a whole ton of thought into all of this, but in all honesty, these are just spitball ideas and scenarios that ultimately won't come true. I'd be interested to see what people have to say on the trades themselves and if these are the players that the Pens should be attempting to target.
Yeah, IDK how to value MP tbh. The Pens seem to like him a lot but at the same time, he is stuck behind Dumo, Letang and Marino. He could definitely be part of the Top 4 but just thinking of potentially losing him for nothing to Seattle seems like the wrong course of action and hopefully, they can maximize his value before then.
This actually isn't too far from being reasonable. for all teams involved. Like you said, this is for later in the year, so a lot of things can change before then.
The only reason why I chose Vegas as a trade partner was over the fact that there were rumors that they were looking to shed some salary at some point and finding a way to make them younger and cheaper seemed like a reasonable idea.
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