Pens say no to all these deals

Why? If they're out of contention by the trade deadline and Malkin and Letang aren't re-signing anyways then why not get value for them?

Rangers aren't interested in Malkin. Maybe If his price deflates significantly less to what you have here.

Letang said multiple times that Pittsburgh is his home. Were not trading him. Rust just became a father in PIT, were not trading him. Malkin could be traded but we could get more for him. And what the hell is that CGY trade? You just traded the guys that are gonna help the rebuild just to get Mangiapane?

That is very good value in return for Malkin. If we get a first and more its a deal we should take as opposed to loosing him for nothing. How do you know Rust wouldn't go for more money in the offseason. He said he loves Pittsburgh but will do whats best for his family at the end of the day. We can't afford to pay Letang and he shouldn't take a hometown discount. Darnell Nurse made over 9 million and Letang is better then that. He could make a ton in free agency and we can't afford to pay him as much. We'll see if the guys in the Calgary trade would've helped in the rebuild. POJ has not been impressive this season, Kapenen is inconsistant, and Marino had a good start but has fallen off. If Marino and Kapanen get more consistancy I'm all for keeping them, Kapanen is one of my favorite players and is extremely skilled. But it's not going to work unless they get more consistancy.

So you're trading all our young guys just to get older in the end? Dude this makes no sense. If we trade Malkin we have over 45 mil in cap space next year. We will have plenty of money to sign the guys we need to

Even if thats a bit of an overpay Mangiapane is simply not available

Nope, trading the young guys that haven't been producing and the older guys who are leaving anyway. If Marino continues playing bad we'll be stuck with a bad contract. Rutherford paid him too early. Kapanen can't get a pay raise unless his play improves. And POJ has been very disappointing, and we need to get bigger on D. Why would we pay Letang that much when our window is already closed? It's heavily rumored that he's not coming back and he deserves a chance to go to a contender and win a cup. Remember, these trades are if we continue to play bad and are out of contention by the deadline. At that point it's time to rebuild. They've been putting it off, but if they tackle it now, its better. If there are any lessons to be learned from past dynasties like Chicago and LA its better to trade your core while they have value, or else the rebuild will be much longer...

You're probably right, tried to overpay for him a little because I knew they probably wouldn't want to trade him.

Again, trading our young guys isnt gonna solve Much

I don't agree there. Traded the younger guys that aren't producing and haven't done anything to warrant pay raises or new contracts. By trading Malkin and Letang got two more first round picks in an extremely loaded draft. That will solve a lot.

For as long as Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are here, the Penguins are contenders. They'll probably at least be in a playoff race at the deadline, and they've gotten a single game out of the duo of Crosby and Malkin so far. Even in the near-impossible scenario where they aren't, I don't necessarily like the value we get back.
I think the Malkin deal is the best, assuming Kravtsov becomes the player NYR clearly lacks faith in if he still hasn't played this season.
Rust is a bona fide top 6 winger and was above a point per game in 2019-20, and we get a 3rd and a former 4th for that?
Again with Letang, a 1st is great, but the prospect this time is a former 5th. I think we could get more for him.
I think Jarry has gotten a lot more criticism than he deserves this season (except for the shootout). He's still a fairly young goalie with not a lot of games under his belt. He has had some consistency issues this season, but I think that he's going to be consistently solid, wanting to prove that his playoff performance was a fluke.
The Mangiapane deal hurts to think about, honestly. I think the guys we give up would help in a rebuild. It's a top 6 winger, top 4 dman, and 3 prospects (including one of out best) for a guy that the Flames frankly aren't interested in gving away. Mangiapane is also the oldest guy in the deal, even if not by much. I disagree with POJ underperforming for 1 reason: he's played 2 games. That isn't a lot of time to make a decision as to what to expect from a player.
As for whether or not we could pay our players, Rust we might lose, but I have serious doubts about Letang or Malkin playing anywhere else. As for Darnell Nurse's 9 million, I don't remember who set the market, but the price for #1 Dmen in the offseason was ridiculous and could be lower next season. Nurse was also signing a long contract in his prime, while Letang won't be. And why shouldn't he take a hometown discount? He said he wants to stay here, so he probably will.

I do think these are valid concerns, especially if we continue having injury issues. However, I think that it's incredibly unlikely that we'll be anywhere near this point. Even if this is necessary, I think we could get more for Malkin (maybe), Letang, and Rust, and that the Mangiapane trade is nonsensical in value for a contending team and worse for a rebuilding one.

I think Malkin could maybe get that, but that is a high-end return.. it also depends on how he plays.. If anything, I would take a 2nd, 3rd and Kravtsov.
You could get a much better return for Rust.
Letang I would expect a better prospect.
Jarry has played really well and if he keeps it up, he could get you a 2nd, but I would not move him just yet.
That CGY trade makes no sense for the Pens.
Zucker you can deal in the offseason and retain on him.

Honestly though, I am hoping this team can still push for the playoffs. We definitely have the players, but having injuries all the time and being in the toughest division does not make it easy at all..

I really like Mangiapane as a player, but I'll admit this wasn't the most realistic trade. But it's been reported Hextall is open to trading Marino depending on how this season goes, and Kapanen needs much more consistency before he gets a raise IMO. I really don't think the Pens are a contender this year and every year we put off a rebuild the longer the rebuild will take. If we don't trade away some core players while they have value we could be in for a long rebuild like the Hawks, Kings, or Red Wings. I think we had a shot at one last year of contending, but I really don't think the team improved in free agency. They basically did nothing and got slightly worse by loosing Tanev, Ceci, and McCann. We added no physicality and in my opinion should've upgraded at goalie. Jarry could be great all season, but the real test would be the playoffs. So I think now is the time to rebuild if the rest of this year dosen't go well.

I definitely see what your saying and can agree with the Malkin, Letang, and Rust parts. I really do want this team to succeed and win the cup, but I just don't see them being a true contender. It'll absolutely suck to loose Malkin and Letang, but realistically we can't pay them in the off season, and they deserve a chance to win another cup. If they take a hometown discount I'd love that, but just don't know if it's realistic. Us not making any moves at all in the offseason too really hurt us, if we we're really going all in again for one more year I wish we had been more agressive.

You could get more for the 35 yo with a 9.5M cap hit who is fresh off knee surgery and hasn't played in 6 months and just started skating that will be a UFA at season's end?

True. 6-7m makes more sense.

That's fair enough. There is an argument to be made that the Penguins have been the most successful NHL team of the 21st century, and our futures have been gutted in exchange for the present. Once the core is no longer dominant, they will struggle. But Crosby, Malkin, and Letang are still elite players, especially Sid. I agree that Marino and Kapanen need to get better, but imo that's going to happen and soon. Kappy looked a lot more confident last night, and Marino has been better offensively than he was last year. I think once the Pens are healthier, those two will start seeing more results.

As for free agency, it was tough. I do wish we picked up a true 3rd RHD, but I liked the moves Hextall and Burke made. I was really high on Heinen before we signed him, and so far he has exceeded my expectations (albeit he was forced into a more prominent role than everyone anticipated he would.) Boyle has been fairly quiet on the ice as of late, but from what I've heard, he brings a veteran presence to the team that a lot of the younger guys very much appreciate. And finally I think the line of ZAR-Blueger-McGinn has been the most consistent line we've had, although there is probably some bias there. Losing the guys we did sucked. I honestly believe that that team was the best one the Penguins have had since the cups. But the unfortunate truth is that we just could not have afforded to keep all three and were losing one to expansion anyway. Our signings have been great value for the price.

I do genuinely believe that this team will be a playoff team. Getting our stars back will go a long way. Health brings consistency, which brings confidence, drive, and ultimately success. We've definitely been struggling, but considering the guys who've been out from injuries and COVID, we could be doing a lot worse.