NHL Rumors: On What the Pittsburgh Penguins Should be Looking to do
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The Fourth Period: David Pagnotta and Dennis Bernstein talk about the Pittsburgh Penguins and which other players not named Jake Guentzel could be made available if they fall further out of the playoffs. What should they be looking to do?

** NHLRumors.com transcription

Pagnotta: “Well, another team that, DB, is also getting and generating a lot of interest, especially after their GM Kyle Dubas acknowledged to the media that you would like to get younger, is listening, and outside of the big boys in Pittsburgh, he’s willing to listen on some of his other players.

Now aside from Jake Guentzel, and that decision to me still, my understanding is that will be made closer to the deadline. They’ve got more games ahead of deadline day. When Dubas made his comments, they had eight. They’re from there, let’s see if they can build off that.

But it’s not really going to change things with respect to some of their other players. And some of the names making the rounds we know of Reilly Smith, but also Rickard Rakell, as I mentioned last week. Marcus Patterson on the blue line with another year left on his contract. And we saw the reports over the weekend that yeah, both Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic are generating interest as well.

There were a lot of different moving parts here. We know as we said, they want to get younger. They want to add to this team, they’re not going to sell off everybody. Some of these guys like Rakell, they’ve got some term on their contract, so it might take a little bit of creativity on both ends to make some of these moves work. But what should Pittsburgh be doing at this stage DB?

Bernstein: “Well, when you guys like Reilly Smith, Reilly Smith’s got term left. He’s got one more year left and he’s got a limited no-trade clause. It’s not going to be that easy, in the next you know, less than two weeks to trade a player like that.

Here’s what I think they should do. I think they should maintain course. Keep things, this team together right now. And when or if you missed the playoffs, then you make your wholesale changes. I really don’t see, other than Guentzel because I get it. He’s unrestricted walk away. You get three three great assets for him.

You just can’t quit on the season. It’s the Pittsburgh Penguins and the expectations are when you, I go back to the beginning the season you’re trading for Erik Karlsson, he’s got a $10 million cap and now you’re going to kind of retrench and rebuild and get younger. Like at least see it through one season. Like you never know what happens.

I wouldn’t trust the team in the playoffs anyway, if they got there Dave because the history since ’18 has been terrible. But I think you keep this team together, other than Guentzel, the rest of the guys that you want to move, it’s not going to be easy moves. And it’s going to cost you probably a lot of capital. So I will just wait and see how it finishes and the make, hav Dubas make his decisions on players more so in the offseason there right now before March 8th.

Pagnotta: “You mentioned three assets for Guentzel. That seems to be the price tag right now. You’re looking at a first-round pick. a top prospect, and an additional piece. Depending on how the others work out and obviously, the equivalent value of a first versus another player, things like that will come into play. But that, that’s the parameters of what may happen there if they decide to move Guentzel. But the initial feeling still is that the wait closer to the deadline.