Ryan Wilson: Will the Capitals cause Pittsburgh to overreact again? Will the Capitals cause Pittsburgh to overreact again?

Are the Caps even happy about this trade? Makes a shaky D even more so.

One injury this playoff season derailed their D...now they rid themselves of Niskanen for another penalty magnet?

Better get Hags tied up for the PK with Wilson and Gudas racking them up.

At a quick glance, Gudas is at about the same penalty taken versus penalty drawn difference as Niskanen the past 3 seasons.

On Ferland, contract aside (granted, a big aside): isn't he actually a quality player in addition to being physical?

This move is also to free up space to sign Hagelin for the Caps. You could argue that it’s Niskanen for Gudas and Hags plus if they let Gudas walk it opens up cap room for Backstrom and Holtby moving forward

Are the Caps even happy about this trade? Makes a shaky D even more so.
- Doogs

Can you read at all?

Caps get the arguably better player at a lesser cap hit.

At a quick glance, Gudas is at about the same penalty taken versus penalty drawn difference as Niskanen the past 3 seasons.

On Ferland, contract aside (granted, a big aside): isn't he actually a quality player in addition to being physical?
- kingcong39

Nope.

Abdelkader 2.0

Requires top skill guys to create for him and becomes invisible in a bottom 6 role.

In my view... if trading to a division rival could net JR a better deal... (frank) it being a division rival.

Get the best trade, and best value... I hate that stigma of avoiding close competition. Do whats best for the team.

Idk how this would make JR have a knee jerk reaction, Gudas was already in the division, what’s changed?

He’s now in a divisional team that matters. Rutherford has specifically cited the capitals when making moves. The Flyers are not contenders and counteracting them in the playoffs is not on his radar.

I think Guddy is the guy they'll keep for his "mythical" pushback. I don't believe Ruth will get another tough guy. I am a little concerned about Ruth paying big money for Ferland however.

I think Guddy is the guy they'll keep for his "mythical" pushback. I don't believe Ruth will get another tough guy. I am a little concerned about Ruth paying big money for Ferland however.
- madmike71

I am still hoping the Pens get Hagelin back.

I am still hoping the Pens get Hagelin back.
- Doogs

I'm torn on this. I love Hags but bringing back old hero's hasn't worked for the Penguins historically. I sure as hell wouldn't pay him anything over 2mil. I currently have visions of Zucker playing with Sid or Geno. I wish Rutherford could figure a way to rework that deal to get him here. To your larger point, I want players that can skate. That's my top priority (other than scraping JJ off the roster).

Are the Caps even happy about this trade? Makes a shaky D even more so.
- Doogs

The big calculated risk was signing Jensen to a long-term, affordable contract before he had proven himself as a top 4. If he does nearly as well as he did as a third pair, they have a top 4 defenseman locked in at 2.5M for four years.

If only the Pens had a young defenseman with strong numbers on a third pair they coul lock in on a value contract like that...

I think Guddy is the guy they'll keep for his "mythical" pushback. I don't believe Ruth will get another tough guy. I am a little concerned about Ruth paying big money for Ferland however.
- madmike71

Agree on both points. This just makes it less likely they trade Gudbranson, which I don't think they were considering since he did everything they could have hoped of him.

And if they free up money for a UFA wing, I fear it will be Ferlund and give Malkin 2 wings that have a negative effect on driving play.

This is basically a salary dump on the part of the Capitals (and leave it to the Flyers to help them out). They freed up some salary for next season and a lot for the following season. There is a good chance they may also turn around and trade Gudas. Having him and Wilson on the same team may overwork their pk and not give Ovi the ice time he wants.

Niskanen is the better defensemen between the two of them (regardless of last year's stats) but he is very inconsistent. Also, the Flyers do not force the offense to the extent of the Capitals nor the Penguins. This puts more pressure on the defense, meaning that it is harder to play defense for the Pens and Capitals. Niskanen may end up being a very solid defenseman for the Flyers next season (but he could just as easily be really bad).

Agree on both points. This just makes it less likely they trade Gudbranson, which I don't think they were considering since he did everything they could have hoped of him.

And if they free up money for a UFA wing, I fear it will be Ferlund and give Malkin 2 wings that have a negative effect on driving play.
- Tojo.

I think Dzingal would be a great fit with Malkin. But, the price to get him is much more than the Pens can afford unless they move Johnson and Matta.

If JR overpays for another “tough guy”, when does ownership step in and say “we won 2 cups based on pure speed/skill, what the hell are you doing?”

Jake...Sid.... McCann/Rust
Bjugstad...Geno... Hornqvist/McCann
Hags... Zucker... Phil
Rust/Simon.... Blueger....Rask

Dumo... Letang
Ruhwedel.....Schultz
Pettersson... Gudbranson

So how about this? Try and trade for Zucker with Matta or Hornqvist. Or Matta and Rust. Pick up Hags in FA and maybe a better D than Ruhwedel if one is there for cheap. Also do the Rask/JJ swap as well. Don’t know if the money works but that would be a pretty good team to me. I would kill to see that 3rd line in action. Hags and Zuckers speed would keep up on the D side. Also if we kept Rust then our pk would be super hard to play against because of our speed. Our PP would remain close to the same.... So what do you guys think? Oh and what cheap d would you have in mind?

I think Dzingal would be a great fit with Malkin. But, the price to get him is much more than the Pens can afford unless they move Johnson and Matta.
- nateca44

If they traded hornqvist, they could definitely afford Dzingel. They could bump Rust to the 3rd line as well.
McCann-Sid-Guentzel
Dzingel-Malkin-Kessel
Rust-Blueger-Bjugstad

I still think hornqvist has some value and maybe he could be traded to a team that loses out on Simmonds in free agency.

The Penguins have too many problems to be worried about what the Capitals or Flyers are doing. The Penguins have probably $12M+ in money that could and should be dumped.

I saw Friedman said that the Penguins have interest in Trouba. If only Shero selected him instead of bleeping Pouliot. I still get mad about that pick when I think about it.

Guys the Penguins should look to dump: Hornqvist (will be hard with a NTC), Gudbranson (nothing against him, he played okay, but okay isnt worth $4M), Johnson (they should just buy him out). Those are three guys that are not giving you much and could free up roughly $12.5M in cap. Going into FA, you'd have the following:

Top 6: Jake, Crosby, McCann, Malkin, Kessel, & OPEN
Bottom 6: Bjugstad, Rust, Blueger, Aston-Reese, Simon, & OPEN.

Defense: Maatta, Letang, Dumo, Schultz, Pettersson, & OPEN.

Some of those open spots might be filled by an internal guy like Wilson in the bottom 6 or Ruhwedel on defense, though I'm not in favor of those moves.

So now have plenty of wiggle room cap wise to solve one bottom 6 guy, one bottom pairing dman, & one top 6 winger. That is now a much more managable solution.

I have no doubt that Penguins will be very busy over these next few days & weeks. Rutherford is too implusive to sit back and do nothing. The question is how good or bad will the moves be. With his track record the past 2 years, I'm not feeling too good.

The Penguins have too many problems to be worried about what the Capitals or Flyers are doing. The Penguins have probably $12M+ in money that could and should be dumped.

I saw Friedman said that the Penguins have interest in Trouba. If only Shero selected him instead of bleeping Pouliot. I still get mad about that pick when I think about it.

Guys the Penguins should look to dump: Hornqvist (will be hard with a NTC), Gudbranson (nothing against him, he played okay, but okay isnt worth $4M), Johnson (they should just buy him out). Those are three guys that are not giving you much and could free up roughly $12.5M in cap. Going into FA, you'd have the following:

Top 6: Jake, Crosby, McCann, Malkin, Kessel, & OPEN
Bottom 6: Bjugstad, Rust, Blueger, Aston-Reese, Simon, & OPEN.

Defense: Maatta, Letang, Dumo, Schultz, Pettersson, & OPEN.

Some of those open spots might be filled by an internal guy like Wilson in the bottom 6 or Ruhwedel on defense, though I'm not in favor of those moves.

So now have plenty of wiggle room cap wise to solve one bottom 6 guy, one bottom pairing dman, & one top 6 winger. That is now a much more managable solution.

I have no doubt that Penguins will be very busy over these next few days & weeks. Rutherford is too implusive to sit back and do nothing. The question is how good or bad will the moves be. With his track record the past 2 years, I'm not feeling too good.
- SuperHenderson13

I don’t get mad about any of the Penguins picks because they won back to back cups a few years ago.

Watching this Zaitsev situation play out could be very telling on how to move JJ. Zaitsev is a pretty terrible hockey player, probably on par with JJ. I'm curious to see how this pans out.

If JR overpays for another “tough guy”, when does ownership step in and say “we won 2 cups based on pure speed/skill, what the hell are you doing?”
- drummer829

I'm not too worried about Rutherford making trades. I'm more worried about his free agency work. Since it's obvious JR is looking to rid JJ from the roster, it will be two years in a row where he grossly miscalculated a players value and abilities. If I'm Mario and Burkle, I'm asking about that.

I still contend his trade of Hunwick and Sheary was brilliant. Unfortunately he followed it up with the absurd JJ contract. Probably gonna cost an asset to move him. I had this random thought of pairing Simon and JJ and see if anyone bites....like the Sheary deal. I like Simon more than I did Sheary, but I'd do that move for 4mil in cap space.

I'm not too worried about Rutherford making trades. I'm more worried about his free agency work. Since it's obvious JR is looking to rid JJ from the roster, it will be two years in a row where he grossly miscalculated a players value and abilities. If I'm Mario and Burkle, I'm asking about that.

I still contend his trade of Hunwick and Sheary was brilliant. Unfortunately he followed it up with the absurd JJ contract. Probably gonna cost an asset to move him. I had this random thought of pairing Simon and JJ and see if anyone bites....like the Sheary deal. I like Simon more than I did Sheary, but I'd do that move for 4mil in cap space.
- madmike71

Except now the Pens miss someone like Sheary, but to your point, the follow-up was terrible.

I think we all know how this plays out. The Pens will free up space by moving out Maatta and/or JJ then go sign Ferland.