Pens trade for Jason Zucker

[Pabst]

Pens trade Galchenyuk, Calen Addison, and a conditional 1st round pick.

Zucker has a $5.5m cap hit through 2022-23

[Obviously]

Pens got fleeced. The worst part is losing Addison who is a great prospect.

[Orangesteel]

Galchenyuk did fuck all this season; just wasn’t a good fit.

Zucker has good hands and is fast; I feel like he fits in with how this team is built right now. I pumped by the move. GMJR never rests on his laurels, that’s for damn sure.

[Donnie Brasco]

Funny...I called that yesterday in the other thread lol

This is what I believe

- This was the initial proposal for quite some time: Minny wanted significant assets since they knew JR was hot for Zucker forever
- JR countered with something lesser and was holding out hope Minny would fall out of the race or Zucker's performance went south, prompting Minny to blink first
- Marino going down was the spark that made this happen. JR saw another piece fall off and while he didn't replace a defender, he figured the best way to keep his defense afloat was to out possess the opposition

[Donnie Brasco]

Pens got fleeced. The worst part is losing Addison who is a great prospect.

He's a fine prospect, but it won't really matter in a few years when Sid/Geno are done
Not saying we won't miss the asset but it's win now or not for a very very long time. Plus we have a cost controlled player for the next few years, which is super important.

No reason a move can't be both the right call and an overpayment in terms of the usual market.

[fractalsteel]

Pens got fleeced. The worst part is losing Addison who is a great prospect.

He's a fine prospect, but it won't really matter in a few years when Sid/Geno are done
Not saying we won't miss the asset but it's win now or not for a very very long time. Plus we have a cost controlled player for the next few years, which is super important.

No reason a move can't be both the right call and an overpayment in terms of the usual market.

I'm with Brasco on this.
Pens needed to add skill and they had to pay for it.
Addison is an intriguing prospect but he is small and more of a 'move' defender. I'd rather give him than Poulin.
Not crazy about giving up the first rounder but the window is tight. This had to happen.

The last few years SF posters have been clamouring that the Steelers needed to make bold moves to give Ben a shot at winning the SB before he was done. While this isn't a 'bold' move it is a good move to help the Pens this year and the next one.

Also, they got rid of Galchenyuk and his salary which is big because the guy did squat here.

[Louis Lipps Service]

After reading Rutherford’s comments, I’m definitely on board with it.

He flat out said that as much as they liked Addison, he didn’t feel he fit into their window with the current core of players.

Zucker has 3 more years on his deal after this one, which likely is about the remaining time left for that window to be open. So it doesn’t just make sense for this season, but in the ensuing seasons as well.

[Ice]

We unloaded an awful fit at $4mm per year in Yuck, and got back a consistent 20+ goal scorer, with 3 years of reasonable (5.5mm) term. You're not getting that trade with only a first round pick; and the Pens don't really have the prospects in the organization to compete with other offers without giving up one of our top guys. Being 28th-ranked in terms of prospects in the NHL will do that to you. Like Donnie said, by the time we'd be missing Addison, Sid and Geno will be past it, and we'll have higher-level prospects to worry about.

Also, you have to look at this deal from Minny's (and old pal GM Bill Guerin's) perspective. That's a team that has been playing pretty inspired hockey recently, really competing for a playoff spot, and to sell off a high-level, consistent, complimentary winger (though they definitely have a prospect in the pipeline), he has to be able to show better return than Galchenyuck and a likely bottom 1/4 of the draft 1st rounder. He's trying to keep his job, too.

If you want to see real overpayments, wait till the UFA market at the actual deadline. This is basically a straight-up hockey trade, which is kind of JR's modus operandi.

[Pabst]

The Wild need to blow it up. Some of the contracts they have on that team are asinine: The signed Mats Zuccarello to the exact same terms as Jake Guentzel. Think about that for a second....Now remember that Parise, Suter, and Spurgeon are getting $7.5m/season for the next 5 years. Then there's Victor Rask.

They're not in Red Wings territory, but yeah. They're screwed.


For the Pens - I think this gives a clear picture of where they'll be moving forward. Schultz isn't coming back, and neither is one of Jarry/Murray. Next year looks something like this:

Guentzel - Crosby - Simon or Kahun
Zucker - Malkin - Rust
McCann - Bjugstad - Hornqvist
Aston-Reese - Blueger - Tanev

Dumo - Letang
Pettersson - Marino
Johnson - Riikola

Jarry or Murrary - Desmith

[Louis Lipps Service]

The Wild need to blow it up. Some of the contracts they have on that team are asinine: The signed Mats Zuccarello to the exact same terms as Jake Guentzel. Think about that for a second....Now remember that Parise, Suter, and Spurgeon are getting $7.5m/season for the next 5 years. Then there's Victor Rask.

They're not in Red Wings territory, but yeah. They're screwed.


For the Pens - I think this gives a clear picture of where they'll be moving forward. Schultz isn't coming back, and neither is one of Jarry/Murray. Next year looks something like this:

Guentzel - Crosby - Simon or Kahun
Zucker - Malkin - Rust
McCann - Bjugstad - Hornqvist
Aston-Reese - Blueger - Tanev

Dumo - Letang
Pettersson - Marino
Johnson - Riikola

Jarry or Murrary - Desmith

Yeah, and that's a pretty damn good lineup for next year. Although Tanev on the 4th line seems crazy to me. I think you'd have to drop Simon/Kahun to the 4th line, but I dunno if Sid will go with that. Or you're going to have a guy or two switch sides, which I don't typically like either.

The only issue is we really don't have a whole lot of depth after the guys listed here. If we have anywhere close to the same amount of injuries next year that we've had this year, it's going to be very hard for us to keep pace with the rest of the division.

But...I think it's a gamble worth making.

[fractalsteel]

Agozzino, Lafferty and Angello all have NHL experience and have filled in this year. Add in Poulin(maybe a year away)Hallender(a year away?) and Legare(a year away?) and there is some flexibility with forwards.
We have Ruhwedel under contract one more year after this season.

Seems like when the injuries come they find someone from WBS to fill in.

[Pabst]

I think the Pens can bring both Dominiks back next season. Simon in particular is a great option as a 13th forward.

[Ice]

The handwriting is currently on the wall for Bjug, Murray, likely Horny (his NTC becomes a bit more flexible after this season), and probably Schultz.

Still leaves us with a high quality top 9, along with our excellent 4th. Defense may require a bit of retooling.

Pick for Murray could offset some of the draft capital recently lost.

[Donnie Brasco]

The handwriting is currently on the wall for Bjug, Murray, likely Horny (his NTC becomes a bit more flexible after this season), and probably Schultz.

Still leaves us with a high quality top 9, along with our excellent 4th. Defense may require a bit of retooling.

Pick for Murray could offset some of the draft capital recently lost.

I agree that the next person on the block is Bjug. He'll probably leave for a depth F and/or depth Dman. Think Jesper Fast/Nate Thompson

[Ice]

Heard somebody mention Girgensons as a depth F addition at the deadline, and you could have Daley back as a depth D for pretty cheap, which is about what we can afford till the offseason.

Can't see them not adding at least depth at D with all the guys out.