Hextall has been the GM of one team. That team lost patience and what I feel was a mistake, they fired him. Before that, he has an extensive resume including as the assistant GM under Lombardi in LA. That team won 2 Cups. I believe he was following the LA model in Philly before he was derailed.

Honestly I feel the bigger and more important discussion is if it is the right move for the Pens to try and milk another Cup. They are numerous pieces away. What assets do the Pens have to add that? Can they be active enough in free agency? Who should they trade?
- MJL

Hence why Burke is there to drive the win now narrative, I don't watch the Penguins on a regular basis (especially this year since the cbj aren't in the metro), you probably keep Guetzel , but trade Rust ,Zucker who could be replaceable via FA for actual defenseman , Marino seems like he needs to find his game and Letang well...he's 33 , also not sure how good Matherson is .

Consider Burke's last few 1st round picks:

2008 (Tor) Luke Schenn - 5th overall - Fringe defenseman
2009 (Tor) Nazim Kadri - 7th overall - Third line center
2010 1st round pick (3rd overall) traded away in package for 3rd line winger
2011 1st round pick (9th overall) traded away in package for 3rd line winger
2011 (Tor) Tyler Biggs - 22nd overall - ECHL foreward
2011 (Tor) Stuart Percy - 25th overall - AHL Defenseman
2012 (Tor) Morgan Riley - 5th overall - 1st pair defense
2014 (Cgy) Sam Bennett - 4th overall - 3rd line centre
2015 1st round pick (15th overall) traded for bottom pair defenseman
2016 (Cgy) M. Tkachuck - 6th overall - 1st line foreward
2017 (Cgy) J, Valimaki - 16th overall - 4th line foreward

- Jackie Daytona

This is prime time cherry picking at its best. I'm not here to defend Burke, as I'm only familiar with some of his success and failures, but this is cherry picking.

Schenn was a consensus top five pick that year and we're also talking about a draft where you saw Boedkker go 8th and John Carlson go 26th. The 6th overall pick was Nikita Filitov. Who? Exactly. So a fridge NHL defenseman is much higher than someone nobody ever heard of.

2009. Kadri is a solid player. Palmieri didn't even get selected until 26.

2010 the third overall pick was Gudbranson and as much as I liked his brief stint with the Pens, that doesn't sound like Burke did badly it what was largely mediocre 1st round.

Drafts are a funny thing to judge GM's on and I'm not saying you SHOULDN'T, but they need lots of context. By and large he did pretty ok drafting in the examples you gave. Could it have been better? Totally, but you can say that for a lot of seasoned GMs.

I have no idea how aggressive Hexy (and Burke) are going to be out of the gate. Likely they will tinker and make any major moves in the offseason. But when a new regime comes in, all GMs will makes contacts to see where they are at with all players.

I'd love to see a couple of these happen:

Geno to Vegas. Geno & Desmith for Glass, Fleury, Reaves! and a lottery protected first this year and a conditional 1st in 2022. *Conditional on Malkin playing 2/3s of their games and Vegas winning the cup in either of the first two years.

Matheson and Rust for Ericsson and Virtanen. Or Dumo for Virtanen and Juolevi but I like the first one better.

Letang to ??? I honestly don't know given his NTC. He is the guy out of all of them I would like to move the most but the teams I think he would go with don't need him. Letang to Buffalo for Ristolainen (or Miller) and a first round pick.
- MacPatty

I think any GM when they look at a player like Brian Rust they think that's a player that I don't want to trade.

I have no idea how aggressive Hexy (and Burke) are going to be out of the gate. Likely they will tinker and make any major moves in the offseason. But when a new regime comes in, all GMs will makes contacts to see where they are at with all players.

I'd love to see a couple of these happen:

Geno to Vegas. Geno & Desmith for Glass, Fleury, Reaves! and a lottery protected first this year and a conditional 1st in 2022. *Conditional on Malkin playing 2/3s of their games and Vegas winning the cup in either of the first two years.

Matheson and Rust for Ericsson and Virtanen. Or Dumo for Virtanen and Juolevi but I like the first one better.

Letang to ??? I honestly don't know given his NTC. He is the guy out of all of them I would like to move the most but the teams I think he would go with don't need him. Letang to Buffalo for Ristolainen (or Miller) and a first round pick.
- MacPatty

So you think Letang's limited no trade clause is this big obstacle, but Malkin's full no trade clause doesn't matter and we can just ship him off to Vegas for a good prospect, a bad contract, a 4th liner, and a low 1st? That proposal right there is an exercise in why you don't trade Malkin.

Not to mention you want to bring in Ristolainen who is just a godawful player on an inflated contract.

Fortunately we have Hextall, who is smart, and won't do any of this bullpoop.

All I said was, "They didn't give Jagr what he wanted so he went elsewhere." That's it.

Why was Jagr disgruntled and why did he want to leave? Who is to say Malkin is not disgruntled and doesn't want to leave? Yes, I know no two situations are exactly alike. Of course they aren't. But I get annoyed with these bombastic, declarative statements like, "Yes. I'm guaranteeing you right now that if Geno wants to continue playing in the NHL that it will be with the Penguins and they will give him what he wants." It is way over the top and nobody knows what Rino claims to know for certain.

As for what Malkin has said and maybe truly felt, that's fine. Like you say, he could easily change. He may be disgruntled like Jagr and has been for years but is coached to say the right things and is more savvy with the media. Nobody knows for sure. Yes, I agree, it is improbable that Malkin goes before his contract is up but not impossible as Rino "knows" it is. Maybe Malkin wants to play with Panarin in New York before that. Maybe the Pens won't want him back when he is 36 years old and don't "give him what he wants." Nothing would be that shocking or even surprising really.
- Hockey66

I think one of my biggest dislikes of the nhl is the lack of personality. You will be fined or reprimanded somehow for actually sharing an opinion. Very few people speak their mind. As much as I dislike torts because he’s anti-penguin and I do like him for his honesty. You should be able to call out anyone in an interview: coach, opponent, refs, the league, etc. Sid is the poster boy for robotic interviews. It’s a waste of time in this league to even do an interview because every answer is so generic.

I gotta say I loved Hextall's hiring. Burke is old school and friends with Mario for years. I'm pretty sure this will be an interesting mix.

As for the trading, I don't expect Malkin to go anywhere and hope it doesn't happen. Letang, Dumoulin, Pettersson and Rust/(or) Zucker I could see leaving, no doubt.

I still would like to see what Matheson can do but if you have someone to take him right away, you do it.

I don't know a ton about Burke. I remember some controversial stuff over the years. I've heard good and bad things. I'm not trying to go all JJ, but I'm going to wait and see how this shakes out based on the dynamics between him, ownership and Hextall.

I'm taking everything I've heard people mention, so I'm cautious, but I'm waiting to reserve judgement until this season ends or the first few changes.

I gotta say I loved Hextall's hiring. Burke is old school and friends with Mario for years. I'm pretty sure this will be an interesting mix.

As for the trading, I don't expect Malkin to go anywhere and hope it doesn't happen. Letang, Dumoulin, Pettersson and Rust/(or) Zucker I could see leaving, no doubt.

I still would like to see what Matheson can do but if you have someone to take him right away, you do it.
- Barnaby36

Yeah I’d take Matheson for even lucic, Erickson, or Neal. They are bad but can be buried on a 4th line and have much shorter contracts.

So you think Letang's limited no trade clause is this big obstacle, but Malkin's full no trade clause doesn't matter and we can just ship him off to Vegas for a good prospect, a bad contract, a 4th liner, and a low 1st? That proposal right there is an exercise in why you don't trade Malkin.

Not to mention you want to bring in Ristolainen who is just a godawful player on an inflated contract.

Fortunately we have Hextall, who is smart, and won't do any of this bullpoop.
- Victoro311

Yes, I believe Malkin would waive his NTC to go to Vegas. It's a really good team in a warm weather state with low taxes.

Glass is an elite prospect who is about a year away from being a really good 2C. The Pens goaltending has been poop and Fleury has been great. Reaves is to match cap impact. Add in 1-2 1sts and this is a massive win for the Pens. Not sure how you argue that?

For the record, I dont really love that Buffalo deal I proposed either. I was just throwing something out that would see the Pens get a replacement player, a 1st and some cap space.

To me AZ makes sense in terms of trading partners for Matheson. Yes, they're trying to cut spending, so on that part which is a big one, they seem like a poor fit, but here's my train of thought...

They need draft picks and prospects.
They have two LD's coming off the books in Gogo and Hjarl, not to mention most of their D.

Now I'm not sure if they're on a rebuild track, retool, etc..., but here's what I'm thinking.

TO AZ: Matheson + 2020 2nd
TO PIT: Gogo or Hjarl + Lawson Crouse
This can be tooled around with, but is the basis. Maybe McCann makes sense to them as well? Throw him in?

Now, let's say the Pens are souring on Jarry and there's truth to them wanting a vet, then maybe there's a bigger deal here involving Jarry and Kuemper.

I'm not saying my proposed deals are great on paper, but I think there's something here if we send some picks and prospect to AZ. Maybe Blomqvist and Legare as well. Who knows.

Yes, I believe Malkin would waive his NTC to go to Vegas. It's a really good team in a warm weather state with low taxes.

Glass is an elite prospect who is about a year away from being a really good 2C. The Pens goaltending has been poop and Fleury has been great. Reaves is to match cap impact. Add in 1-2 1sts and this is a massive win for the Pens. Not sure how you argue that?

For the record, I dont really love that Buffalo deal I proposed either. I was just throwing something out that would see the Pens get a replacement player, a 1st and some cap space.
- MacPatty

Easily. You're trading a franchise player and the only good piece that's coming is a prospect that is not a proven anything in the NHL yet. Unless you're talking prime Henrique Lundqvist, goaltending is super volatile that you shouldn't tie up over $6 mil in and Fleury has been the poster child of volatility his entire career. There's a bigger chance that Fleury comes back to Pittsburgh and sucks behind a trash defense that you're proposing to make even worse by exchanging Letang for Ristolanen than it is him putting up the near 95% save percentage necessary to justify a $7 mil AAV. You'd have to be absurdly high on Cody Glass as the next face of the franchise for this to be a win since he's really the only valuable commodity coming back in the trade.

Malkin was playing at an MVP caliber last season. This season could very well just be due to a bad offseason. It's much wiser the gamble on on Malkin still being a high end player than take back this low of a return.

If Malkin says he wants out, then sure. Go try to find the highest rated prospect possible and gamble on potential and do a full scale rebuild. But if you're justifying this trade to try and and get another Cup out of Crosby, this is bad.

Letang for Petry+ is one I thought was possible for years but I think Petry has been really good for them so I question why Montreal would take the risk. Not to mention, the way this season is going the Pens might need to add to the deal.
- MacPatty

Lol the + is on the wrong side of that trade.

Easily. You're trading a franchise player and the only good piece that's coming is a prospect that is not a proven anything in the NHL yet. Unless you're talking prime Henrique Lundqvist, goaltending is super volatile that you shouldn't tie up over $6 mil in and Fleury has been the poster child of volatility his entire career. There's a bigger chance that Fleury comes back to Pittsburgh and sucks behind a trash defense that you're proposing to make even worse by exchanging Letang for Ristolanen than it is him putting up the near 95% save percentage necessary to justify a $7 mil AAV. You'd have to be absurdly high on Cody Glass as the next face of the franchise for this to be a win since he's really the only valuable commodity coming back in the trade.

Malkin was playing at an MVP caliber last season. This season could very well just be due to a bad offseason. It's much wiser the gamble on on Malkin still being a high end player than take back this low of a return.

If Malkin says he wants out, then sure. Go try to find the highest rated prospect possible and gamble on potential and do a full scale rebuild. But if you're justifying this trade to try and and get another Cup out of Crosby, this is bad.
- Victoro311

Glass is going to be a great player. Maybe not a superstar but a legit 1C.

Fleury is more to a team than save %. It's not a coincidence that when he left Vegas became the team that was having fun and winning and the Pens stopped showing up.

I can live with a 1-2 year retool. By the time Malkins contract is up, he can come back on a discount contract as the 3C.

Yes, I believe Malkin would waive his NTC to go to Vegas. It's a really good team in a warm weather state with low taxes.

Glass is an elite prospect who is about a year away from being a really good 2C. The Pens goaltending has been poop and Fleury has been great. Reaves is to match cap impact. Add in 1-2 1sts and this is a massive win for the Pens. Not sure how you argue that?

For the record, I dont really love that Buffalo deal I proposed either. I was just throwing something out that would see the Pens get a replacement player, a 1st and some cap space.
- MacPatty

lol why the (frank) would Vegas do that?

Lol the + is on the wrong side of that trade.
- Feds91Stammer

That was my point. The + used to be attached to Petry and now it might be with Letang.

That was my point. The + used to be attached to Petry and now it might be with Letang.
- MacPatty

It seemed like you were proposing unrealistic trades

lol why the (frank) would Vegas do that?
- Feds91Stammer

So on one side Vic says I'm nuts and the Pens wouldn't do it and you say the opposite that Vegas wouldn't.... think I'm onto something.

Pens would do it because it gives them a better chance to win in 2-3 years and onward. Vegas does it because they have a legit chance to win the next 2 years.

So on one side Vic says I'm nuts and the Pens wouldn't do it and you say the opposite that Vegas wouldn't.... think I'm onto something.

Pens would do it because it gives them a better chance to win in 2-3 years and onward. Vegas does it because they have a legit chance to win the next 2 years.
- MacPatty

Yea you are onto something that's for sure...

So on one side Vic says I'm nuts and the Pens wouldn't do it and you say the opposite that Vegas wouldn't.... think I'm onto something.

Pens would do it because it gives them a better chance to win in 2-3 years and onward. Vegas does it because they have a legit chance to win the next 2 years.
- MacPatty

Or it's a dog poop trade for both teams.

Yea you are on something that's for sure...
- 668710

Fixed^

Crack cocaine.

Fixed^

Crack cocaine.
- j.boyd919

Lol

So what happened to Geno at practice? He left today and didn't return...

So what happened to Geno at practice? He left today and didn't return...
- 668710

Traded to Vegas to be the man.

Traded to Vegas to be the man.
- MattStrat

Lol

So what happened to Geno at practice? He left today and didn't return...
- 668710

He found out Matheson was traded to AZ for Phil.