The only one who might be of use here is Bailey. In a lesser role I think he'd fair well here. Pulju hasn't been good anywhere and Patrick is done with pro hockey.

Bailey could serve an older team like Pittsburgh very well in limited minutes. Nieto could take care of the speed on that line and as long as Bailey is only needed to handle the puck he would be fine. Nieto and Acciari would need to start the cycle by themselves to allow him time to enter the zone, and I don't mean that as a joke or hyperbole. That's straight up what would need to happen.

Do we know for sure that Patrick is done though?

Yeah, like 99% sure

Bingo. And even in the rare instance when Patrick was healthy he was garbage, not worth an invitation.

I'd be ok with Pulju because if anything he is a strong bottom 6 defensive player. I think Patrick is done. I don't think Bailey would get a spot out of camp.

To be fair, Puljujarvi just put up 36 points in 65 games the year before last and is a great forechecker and fantastic defender. Saying he hasn't been good anywhere is a bit of an exaggeration. Just hasn't been good for where he was picked. I'd probably take a shot at him over Bailey depending on how his hip recovery is looking

He's struggled to produce even when he played with guys like Drai and McDavid and the only outlier was a 30pt season almost two years ago. His D metrics look good because he can't do much else on the ice.

And in a very defensive, possession driven system in Carolina he could barely crack a full roster spot and lost his spot (even when they were injury ridden) to guys like Martinook and Noesen.

Could he still be a low risk/high reward option...maybe? But that hip injurie is not doing him any favours.

It was a 45 a point pace. Sure it was bumped up by playing with McDavid, I get that. I'm not saying he's elite by any means - but it's just a league min PTO. You don't have to score at a point per game pace to be good or valuable - especially if it's in a bottom 6 role. His D metrics look good because he's good defensively. Not everyone is going to score a ton of points - there's other roles. At worst you get a young, great 4th line caliber player(like a ZAR from a few years ago). But could also turn out to be a good middle six complement winger that's good on the forecheck and defensively.

The hip injury is definitely cause for concern - I had actually written him off for a while because of it. But the more I think about it, given his age, I don't think it's a major deal. And if it was a lingering injury that he was playing through, he might come back even better. I just don't really see an issue with giving him a PTO. It definitely seems low risk/high reward to me. I guess I've always had a soft spot for the do the little things right guys too haha. I guess good is a bit subjective. Was he good for the 3mil contract he signed last year? No. Would he be good for league min? I'd say yes.

My thoughts are, given how our bottom 6 needs some help, don't be afraid to give out PTO's to higher risk guys. Invite them to camp and see what happens. Worst case they don't make the team.

Agreed - feel the same way. I wouldn't say he's really any worse overall than guys like Johnsson and Hinostroza that they signed. He's still young, a good skater, forechecker, and great defensively. There's very little risk - like we've all mentioned here. Realistically I think he could be like ZAR from a few years ago. Nieto/Eller/Puljujarvi sounds like a solid shutdown 4th line to me. I know they said Eller was 3C, but I somewhat expect Acciari to take that spot.

Best case scenario he somehow clicks with Crosby or Malkin - a la Penguins legend Dominik Simon lol