I actually wouldn't hate that return for Guentzel because I expect at least one of those 1sts to be a lottery pick.

Many teams would beat that offer for Guentzel

Jake only costs a 2nd and 4th half retained... deal...

Boston has a way of hanging around

They do, but they aren't going to forever. No team does and I am willing to gamble that they are falling off in the near future.

The Ullmark trade is terrible.

Not enough for Debrusk.

Philly looking to extend Seeler, but that would likely do it.

Not trading for Guentzel. If Sweeney wastes a pile of assets on a rental then he should be replaced.

Yeah but knowing the Pens, they won't keep the picks. They will trade them for young players. They need guys who have upside but are closer.

Their core players are young enough where I wouldn’t see this happening. That said, trading two firsts for any pending free agent is a dumb move especially when you are giving DeBrusk away for a late 2nd.

I will also say that Lohrei, Poitras, and Lysell look like legitimate NHL players that add some very interesting youth to the table with Lysell being a pretty large X factor with risk/talent.

If they want Guentzel, July 1st.

I look at this and don’t see Masterclass

It's a stupid plan. Only way trading roster players for value works is in getting long term futures. Contenders aren't giving up young players/close to NHL prospects because they want those young players either this year or next in the competitive window. PIT needs to pick a path because retooling with a core whose average age is 36 is really just procrastinating a rebuild.

Hi there, Cam Neely here. Don, you're fired.

😢

I’ve been told Mercer or Holtz or Kaliyev or anyone else who is young and good is too much for Ullmark so I compromised here. Like I have no idea what his trade value is anymore

Is their a parrot in the room? Cause I’ve heard this for about 4 years straight now lol

Mercer is not on the table.

Holtz would be the target from NJ, if they pass move on.

Kaliyev is trash

I heard it in 2015 and 2016 from Bruins fans too that were proven wrong. Every team goes through cycles. Boston has been very good at staying competitive. Not so good at actually winning SCs.

What part of the Don Sweeney masterclass covers having three first-round picks in a row and taking Zboril, DeBrusk and Senyshyn over Barzal, Conner and Chabot?

The Flyers likely do that. Philly was looking to extend Seeler but apparently his demands are a little steep.

What does that have to do with this?

Chabot and Barzal would have been mistake picks anyway. Just better mistakes.

Nobody expected Connor to be a 40 goal scorer. 30 sure. 40 no. There were 6 LW’s with 1st round grades and Don will always pick the best skater when push comes to shove. Hence Debrusk.

Zboril was higher rated than Chabot. Chabot was smaller all offense zero defense, exactly what they did not need.

They were never going to draft a center there. They tried to trade down but could not find a deal. Should have taken Boesser or Konecny. Senyshyn was a bad reach. Barzal was never an option with Bergy and DK locked in top 6 roles for years. If they went center there Aho or JEE would have been better choices.

I am far more pissed about taking Urho 2 years later instead of R.Thomas or J.Norris than I am 2015.

It's a stupid plan? Logically, I agree. But, humans aren't logical, they're emotional. Emotionally, their plan is to compete until one of the best players to ever play in the NHL retires. Are they cooked? Maybe, but they were also cooked and doomed to fail in 2014 according to all the pundits. We all know how that turned out

Anyone that thought they were doomed in 2014 was an idiot. They had no depth. A great core can be re-tooled around. They do not have a great core any longer. And the reality is at their ages, any and all could completely age decline in a season like Ovechkin has this year. If they want to give the core another chance, then they can't worry about youth. If they want to add youth, then they can't worry about being competitive with this core. It's a binary path option.