MTL says no

Why would Montreal do that?

No, no it’s not. Montréal has no room or cap space for Pettersson beyond this season, and no reason to swap Drouin with Zucker.

As unreliable/overpaid/soft as Drouin has been and will likely continue to be, I doubt MTL does this.

I know Boyle is on a PTO, but 36 yrs old and didn;t play last year professionally and hes your 3C? I just cant see him being better than lafferty or some other scrub, and highly doubt theres enough speed and health there to be more than your 14th-15th forward.

I see a lot of AGM's sending LHD's to MTL and I think it's premature. That MIGHT be a need, but until we know what they plan to do with Chiarot I think it's safe to say they're not out for another LHD.

Actually... Drouin, apart from injury and the well-being break he took... was playing a grittier game lately. He`s been one of our top point producer when healthy. He might not be a Gallagher... but he is not softer than most players with talent and good hands... by your metric, Jack Hughes and Cole Caufield are pansies...

If MTL doesn't think they're going to keep Chairot then I think that opens the door for Pettersson or any other LHD they may be interested for that matter, but right now that's the big x-factor I think with you guys.

Actually... we are overloaded with LHD... we need RHD in the pipeline... thats the need in the near future.

Surplus: bottom six LW, top 6 RW and LHD prospect and players

Wants: C, top 6 LW, Top 4 RHD

We have Romanov, Ghule, Norlinder, Struble, Harris on LHD. The kids need spots in the lineup.

Gotcha, but how ready are those prospects? You guys are definitely in more of a win-now mode instead of waiting it out I'd imagine?

Also, I'm probably one of the few Pens fans not ready to give up on Zucker. Even top players have bad years and despite Zucker not having good production for many reasons other than just him, he still plays a very solid all-around game and brings good speed and sandpaper. I think people are too quick to dismiss him when it comes to trades on here.

Norlinder, Harris and Guhle, in the pipeline, Edmonson and Romanov, LHD isn't needed

Maybe soft was the wrong word, but his best 3 years in the nhl he was a -31, -28 and -8. Hes smallish and fairly one dimensional, and that is when he is playing.

He has 38 pts total the past 2 years, so you can give him a break? So saying "apart from the injury and the well-being break" is a free pass, for a guy whos been pretty underwhelming for 5.5mil the past 2 years. He was one of your top point producers 3 seasons ago, but most look at him now as your 2nd line LW if healthy, and who knows if his well being is sorted out. The other forwards in MTL now are far better than before.

For 5.5mil I'd want some reliability and balanced play and thats just not Drouin. Hes two seasons removed from a good year, but expecting that hes kept good trade value is not being honest, based on his reliability. Like Domi, Drouin if healthy and on his game he is a solid top six forward, but drouin hasn;t been one of those the last 2 seasons.

How far off are they though from making an impact?

Maybe Norlinder and Guhle next year as #4-5 defense

I would do this trade (With Petterson 1M+ AAV RETAINED) because I love's Zucker's grit and hate Drouin, well, not showing up.

Petterson would help to solidify the Dcore with Weber gone.

When you talk about Norlinder, Harris and Romanov, you forget 2 things:

1) Dmen need time to developp and shouldn’t be top 4 yet next season with Chiarot leaving obviously.
2) They can all play RD, and even prefer that position.

Petterson around 3M would help on the defensive side short term (way better than Kulak /Romanov) , still develop his offensive side and could be flipped eventually.

You can't be serious petting them on the top 4. If it's the case, it would be a "Victor Mete" level of bad Dcore depth.

One of them getting the #6 spot for half the season would be way more realistic.

Norlinder is an option this year for the roster. Guhle is very talented, he's big, fast and efficient, maybe 2 years, but he'll be a # 2-3 in the show. Mete ceiling and Guhle ceiling are very far

That is what I was hinting at. MTL wants to compete NOW and unless one of those guys comes right in and steals the show, MTL will need address the left side if they aren't going to keep Chiarot.

Norlinder never played a game on small rinks as far as I know.

Gonna take 2 years, at least. Some veteran need do the job until then. It's not about the potential. Even very good players need time to developp (see : Kotkaniemi). You can't ask a (non elite) 20 years old to be on the top 4 and be succesfull.

No it doesn’t. The cap space from Chiarot is going directly to Suzuki, and his roster spot is going to Guhle/Norlinder.

He's about a -7 goal differential per season at even strength. He's supposed to more than make up for it on the PP, but Montreal's PP has struggled mightily in recent years. He's still a net positive every year but 19/20 (-3 goal differential).
That -31 is actually a -13 btw. The -28 was his first year in Montreal as a center. Still a positive (+6).

Yes, overpaid and low trade value. He's smallish and soft. He's not defensively reliable. He's also not as bad as he's made out to be.

Yes it does. Money aside, losing Chiarot creates a need. Neither of those guys are going to be NHL-ready right now.

We’re talking next year. And yes, they both will be NHL ready a year from now.

Plus you can’t put money aside. The habs are going to be very tight to the cap for the next 5 years, at least until it moves up significantly.

I'm not even talking about Pettersson at this point. If Chiarot doesn't re-sign, you'll have a major hole.

Not to be a dick, but to say two players with no NHL experience will be NHL-ready is honestly just wrong and shows me you don't quite grasp player development. You have no idea what-so-ever how ready they will be.

Sure I’ll give you Norlinder, but Guhle is just so solid.

And if you want to see it this way, Romanov is taking Chiarot’s spot in the top 4 and one of Guhle/Norlinder is taking Romanov’s spot on the 3rd pair (Although I do expect Romanov to play with Savard in the top 4 this year anyways). So expecting that at least one rookie (Or at least a cheap UFA) can play 3rd pair isn’t a stretch at all.