I'll reserve thoughts on Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak.
What I know: With Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, the organization's best-suited goaltender to get these Penguins back to the Stanley Cup playoffs ... was in Pittsburgh. That goaltender will now be in Wilkes-Barre. Sergei Murashov's now 22, same age as Matt Murray with his first Cup, and he leads the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage. But he's in Wilkes-Barre.
For me, it's never about evaluating a trade as if it's a transaction unto itself. It's about context. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and this vibrant version of Erik Karlsson are here right now. A fair amount of the kids are here right now, with others getting closer. It's a good team, and it'd be a better one with so much as a sliver of support from above, not least of which could be the $13 million in cap space that Kyle Dubas and the Fenway Sports Group don't appear to be intent on spending. (And can't be carried over to the following season, by the way.)
I keep getting surprised that this season doesn't seem to matter all that much internally to anyone outside the locker room, but maybe I shouldn't be.
THE ASYLUM
DK: Does 2025-26 matter at all?
I'll reserve thoughts on Stuart Skinner and Brett Kulak.
What I know: With Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, the organization's best-suited goaltender to get these Penguins back to the Stanley Cup playoffs ... was in Pittsburgh. That goaltender will now be in Wilkes-Barre. Sergei Murashov's now 22, same age as Matt Murray with his first Cup, and he leads the AHL in goals-against average and save percentage. But he's in Wilkes-Barre.
For me, it's never about evaluating a trade as if it's a transaction unto itself. It's about context. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and this vibrant version of Erik Karlsson are here right now. A fair amount of the kids are here right now, with others getting closer. It's a good team, and it'd be a better one with so much as a sliver of support from above, not least of which could be the $13 million in cap space that Kyle Dubas and the Fenway Sports Group don't appear to be intent on spending. (And can't be carried over to the following season, by the way.)
I keep getting surprised that this season doesn't seem to matter all that much internally to anyone outside the locker room, but maybe I shouldn't be.
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