I mulled over an Eller trade. You could keep him for his current contributions, but you could also trade him to a contender while his value is still high to get a younger depth player and a decent pick.
To Colorado: Parker Kelly and a mid/late pick. Eller has played for Colorado before, and they’re dealing with several injuries. Parker Kelly would be a great addition, as he’s 25, an excellent penalty killer, and a solid fourth-line player. This trade would yet again make the team younger and faster and bring in a player with qualities Sullivan likes. The Problem: Cap. The trade might need a third team to facilitate, and at that point, I’m not sure if it’s worth it.
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Hey Caleb,
To date our Penguins have 5 Ws, none of which came against a team with a winning record. The combined record of the teams the black and gold has beat is 21-31-6 for 48 out of a possible 116 points or a 0.414 Pts%; hardly numbers to get excited about.
Having written that, I do think under the right coach using the right players in the organization, this team could make the playoffs as a bubble team and potentially even get to the conference finals.
As an example of this Coach bungles his job, I give you his latest line shake up. The Captain Sidney Crosby was virtually invisible for the first 10 games of the season while Malkin was flying - just like last season. Rather than trying to find a way to get Crosby moving while keeping Geno on a roll, Sullivan disrupted the 2nd line to bolster the 1st. And just like last season when Sully broke up the 2nd line to get the first moving again, he destroyed the 2nd line. Before Sully's hack job with the lines the team had scored 32 G in 11 GP, since the line changes the team has 1 OTG, 1 ENG, and only 3 non OTG or ENG in 2 GP. They have gone from almost 3 G/GP earned to barely 1.5 G/GP earned + 1 charity G/GP.
Yes, I know Sully isn't going anywhere. He could have lost all 246 GP from the start of this season through the end of his contract and still get an extension. Therefore, I submit that any trades or other attempts to improve this team are simply studies in futility. The players are only a minor annoyance, they aren't the problem. Any trades would be throwing good money after bad.
Also, if you look at the standings, San Jose is below the Pens in the standings, so if the players you want off the sharks are so good, why are they below us in the standings. Granted, the players you are sending to the west coast do not represent much of a loss (all though the 2nd round pick could be what hurts the team. Dubas has a track record of screwing up all his picks except the 2nd, that is the only round he seems to get right). And I also understand that there could be a synergy effect. However, unless there is a change behind the bench anything else is shuffling the deck, not improvement.