I was thinking about Sturm too but I wonder if the Sharks signed him last summer to keep him around as a solid player during the rebuild.

3Cs I have in mind: Henrique, Acciari, Sissons, Sturm, Boyd, Suter. I think they definitely get out bid for O'Reilly.

I worry about O'Reilly only because he's just come back from injury and I feel like the Pens need to find as healthy players as possible lol.

Henrique would be great, but making the cap work on him doesn't seem feasible.

Acciari is very meh to me and I don't think upgrades this lineup at all, same with Sissons although he's a step up from Acciari.

Boyd I'm very high on, so I'd definitely be happy with that. Suter would be ok, too. He's not having a great year, but I'd take him on the cheap cheap.

To me Boyd and Sturm are the best options in terms of what it would take to get them along with their cap hits.

Trading a first round pick for a backup goalie seems a bit nutty.

Especially when he's more expensive and hasn't shown to be really any better than the current backup

I don't believe Vejmelka is a back-up. I believe he can be a possible replacement for Jarry moving forward. I don't know think he's as good as Jarry, but on a decent team I think Vejmelka is a well above average goaltender.

I just don't see where this Vejmelka hype has come from recently? 76 goalies have played 1000+ minutes the last 2 years per Natural Stat Trick. Vejmelka is 49th in save %, 64th in GSAA, and 42nd in high danger save %. Desmith is 29th, 30th, and 30th. Jarry is 5th, 6th, 33rd. I don't see how Vejmelka can be considered a viable Jarry replacement as a starter. He's struggling to even be considered a viable Desmith replacement.

The way I see it is you're either trading a 1st round pick and a player to get a worse starter - or at best an equal backup. To me, neither of those make sense.

First off, stop looking at last year. Vejmelka has a very solid GSAA this year for playing behind swiss cheese.

Second, watch him play.

Stop looking at 58% of his games? Either way - per Natural Stat Trick he's 35th in GSAA out of 71 goalies who have played more than 500 minutes this year.

Yeah, how weird of me to suggest looking at recent performance on a terrible team. My bad! He may be 35th, but he's still a positive on one of the worst defenses in the league. Context is important.

I included this year and last year combined - that is recent. Even when you look just specifically at this year - nothing about him says this is a good trade

Desmith faces more high danger shots against than Vej - so I guess we'll just use that excuse for him this year then. And he saves those chances at a higher rate

I just don't see how you justify giving up a first round pick for a backup goalie that isn't really even an upgrade - who may become your starter but is a downgrade from your current one that you can easily re-sign. Makes no sense to me. The team has actual needs - taking some flier on an average goalie in hopes he blossoms on a better team doesn't seem like something this team should be doing right now. If you're willing to give up a first round pick I would just hope it's used on something to actually improve the team. The trade doesn't help the team now - or the near future. That's all I'm saying