Canucks pass.Hoggys a keeper.

It's weird Pittsburgh fans and other teams fans keep dumping bad contract on Minnesota. Minnesota says no

Rust at 5 mil is a bad contract. Rust at 3.5 is not

Minnesota isn't taking on any older players. Nor Taking on long term contract or winger, so please stop with this. It's not happening. It's still dumping no matter what. Keep him

I feel sad for Rust and DeSmith. No love for two really good players.

Okay that's fine, Minnesota won't. But someone would take Rust at 3.5 mil. It's not a contract dump though. He had an off year this year but he was a PPG player the year before and close to that 2 years ago. Was last year the start of his decline or an off year? I dont know, but some team would give up a pick at that low of a price.

It's not that there's no love for Rust. Great player with a bad contract. 5 mil for 5 more years is not a good contract and it will hurt us years from now. And Desmith it is what it is. He's an inconsistent goalie who has been great at times and not great at times. A great backup for teams with elite/great starting goaltending, but we need something more stable. This team needs changes, can't keep everyone. And can't just trade bad players for good players. If we want to change up the team gotta trade players with value to get a return. That's just the reality.

You will regret paying Pierre Engvall 4 million dollars. And like MAYBE as a deadline deal if something changes but as of now we don't really need Guentzel.

Trades rust because 5 years 5 million is a bad contract.
Proceeds to give Pierre Engvall a multi year contract at 4 million per year.
That’s taking 1 step forward and 3 steps back

2 years for Engvall. More aav for less term. Rust we have 5 more years. Big difference

The Jackets probably just hold onto Roslovic and flip him half-retained at the deadline for a 2nd.

leafs accept

But Rust is wayyyyy better than Engvall. I mean we can’t complain about Granlund’s contract or Kappy’s contract then go sign someone like Engvall to an equally bad one. Rust is actually a top 6 player too btw

I meant in general. I don't think Rust is on a bad contract. He had a not great year but a lot of that was bad luck. His expected goals for was 28. He still drove play well. I think he will have a good year next year.

I agree that they need to get better but to me that means getting rid of bad contracts (Rutta, Granlund, Petry). If Rust's contract becomes bad in 4 years, who cares, the Pen's will be bad then.

We already are bad. It's concerning when a player declines the same year they sign a massive 6 year contract. Yeah he could bounce back next year, but he could also have the same or worse production. It's a risky gamble to take when there's 5 years left and that contract could be completely un-tradeable in 1-2 years. I think he's a great player, has always been one of my favorites, but the team needs a massive shakeup. Getting rid of Rutta, Granlund, and Petry wouldn't make us better. Rutta and Petry were both out for periods of time this year and we still stunk. The team is just beyond stale and desperately needs to get younger. And we can't get much younger in free agency with every player being over 27. Only way is to trade players with value like Guentzel and Rust for prospects and picks. I dont mean to be too critical of Rust, he's a Penguins legend and will never forget how he helped win us those cups. But for a team that needs youth and will have to rebuild soon, a 31 year old with 5 years left who showed signs of decline is a prime trade chip. Now whether he'd waive his NMC is a whole new conversation

It's not completely just about whose better or worse. We need youth and more speed, which Engvall would be good for. He's versatile and could play anywhere in lineup. He could probably get 3-4 year contract in free agency. If bumping the salary from like 3-4 would bring the term down 1-2 years I think it's worth considering. Granlund's contract is way worse. He's just not a fit for this team at all and the fact we gave up a 2nd for him is absurd. He's slow, small, and doesn't have a scoring touch. Not to be too critical, he'd be fine in other systems, but not a fit at all.

Pens are in a very bad spot. With a rebuild 1-2 years away we can't be dishing out 4 year contracts unless it's for a really special player. And trying to sign players to less term will naturally cost us more.

I hear what you're saying but Rust had good numbers analytically. He was unlucky to the tune of like 8 or 9 goals. Which puts him at nearly 30 goals. A 30 goal scorer for his contract isn't bad. That said, I can understand the speculation that maybe it wasn't bad luck and maybe he is declining.

Trading Petry, Granlund, and (especially) Rutta would make them better because it would free up 14MM on cap that can be used on players that fit the Pens system.

Petry could be replaced with Smith.

Granlund could be replaced with Puustinen (if you want to go offense first) or O'Connor (if you want to go defense first).

Rutta can be replaced with a garbage can.

I don't know if they need to get younger. But they do need to get better.

But Rust isn’t slow. If you want youth and speed. Why not trade Crosby, Malkin, and Letang for more young overpaid bottom 6 players to get youth and speed. Youth and speed mean absolutely zero if you aren’t producing and facts are that that Rust at 5 million over the next 2 years is wayyyyy better value than Engvall at 4 million. Any gm that gives Engvall 4 million over any term should be fired immediately and honestly never allowed to even watch an nhl game again much less manage one. The idea that Engvall could play up and down the lineup is just absolutely silly. So could any other player. But ability to produce is key. You’re paying Engvall what ERod would likely get and ERod can actually produce. Long story short…paying a player 4 million who only got 30 points on a really good team makes Hextall look like GM of the year. And you can’t claim “youth and speed” then sign Hathaway who is 31 going to be 32 next season to 3 million per year.