This is pretty smart. Only thing is I'd get Poulin in lineup over Carter

This is a terrible half measure. Either go for it or sell everyone including Sid, Geno, and Letang. This just forces the core to carry a terrible lineup. No idea why you would sign Lafreniere if you are trying to rebuild.

First off selling Sid, geno, and Letang is incredibly unrealistic. Management wants them to retire as penguins (or at the very least don’t want to get rid of geno and Letang rn, but they definetly don’t ever wanna trade/lose Crosby). Plus they all have NMCs which make them hard to trade. Secondly, lafreniere is 21 and all your giving up is a 2nd for him and he is a piece that you could possibly build your next team around, or eventually trade away for more assets than what it took to acquire him if he does well in PIT.

I would do that too, I just bet that sully/management won’t want Carter and his 3M cap hit sitting as a healthy scratch

Management doesn't just want them to retire here, they want to compete. They won't do this while the core is here. This half measure is unrealistic.

Their first choice is to compete sure, but with how competitive the east/metro will be next year I wouldn’t be surprised if they look at their team and decide to take 1-2 years off in order to put young talent around the core in their twilight years. (Like LA did around Doughty and Kopitar). I wouldn’t completely rule out selling this season as a possibility.

I would be shocked if they did anything other than go for it all. They forced Hextall to sign the core and compete. When he failed and didn't have a plan to do so they fired him and his cronies. Also, they are so much closer than people think. Dump the dead weight Hextall forced onto the roster and bringing in a new goalie tandem would do wonders.

That’s where you and I (respectfully) disagree. I think this team is over the hump and there isn’t much you can do to change the team enough to be competitive because of all of the NTCs and NMCs. Id rather give the young players a chance and develop a new team identity. Also, a hot take of mine tho is that if Zucker stays, then granlund may have a somewhat decent year (in comparison to the standard he set last year). His metrics indicated that he was having a tough time passing to his line mates, and I think if he gets more time to develop chemistry he may play good enough to validate not buying him out.