This might cover the retention your asking for here + the Granlund cap dump

3.2M x 4 year = 12.8M + the ~3M from Henrique = ~15.8M

Ducks decline, missing a fair bit of value here, or drop the Gibson retention and Pickering.

We have Mintyukov, Zellweger, LaCombe, Hinds coming up + Fowler signed 3 more years on the left side. ANA has a top 3 defensive pipeline in the league and I would argue the best in the league so he isnt really "needed" here and his value to PIT is high so it would make sense to take him out if the Gibson retention is removed

No, we won't be retaining 50% on John Gibson; since he still has four seasons left on his contract, it's unlikely that we'll be retaining even 20%. Which obviates any discussion about value, except to note that not one of those players is attractive to Anaheim, for different reasons.

Idk man - the way I see it is you gave up two 1sts, two 2nds, two 3rds, and two 4ths and the goalie situation isn't any better.

But I doubt ANA wants to retain anything on Gibson, if they're even willing to trade him at all, so they might not even accept anyways

That's a bad trade with Anaheim, giving up our whole future, for I'll admit a great 3C, but a goalie that hasn't been doing well himself. This team wouldn't make the playoffs because the defense is the same. Old, slow, easy to play against, and can't defend. While I don't think you improved this team to be a contender, I don't know if anyone could. It's not really a doable task unless we somehow get much much younger which can't really be done in an offseason. It's over with this group I think, time to accept that and rebuild

Yeah, the ANA trade is throwing a lot of stuff at the wall and hoping Gibs just looks bad because he's on a bad team, and the D-group we have.... how do you move any of it?

I thought "fix that during the season after you see what's happening with the other elements." You can move Petterson, but you don't really want to do that.

More than anything you'd like to see the core with a group that can at least get out of the first round of the playoffs next year, so these guys don't run out their time in Pitt feeling miserable and listless.

Hope for a lottery pick at this point, I guess.