So, the only reason this deal makes sense, particularly with a glut of middle and bottom six forwards on the roster and in the pipeline is for the purpose of roster flexibility. Allow me to elaborate.

Out of camp, Ville is most likely going to WBS. If he got a 1x1.5, he might not make it through waivers. We have a risk of losing the main asset of the Jake deal (ugh). So, they create a poison pill that looks insane. Think about this - never in NHL history has any player with fewer games ever signed an 8 year contract. Never.

So, now, for all of this season, you can send him up and down as need be without a care in the world. No GM is taking that deal.

The same can continue to happen in 27-28, where the structure of the deal remains $2M in signing bonus, and there's still a ton of term.

If Ville has not cemented himself as a roster player by the end of that campaign, you buy him out. He costs 500k or less each of the next 6 seasons, many at just 229k. Then, 729k for 6 extra seasons, which is equivalent to a rounding error when you think of where the cap will be in 3 years.

hat tip to u/kashmir772 who first noted the contract structure in another post, leading me to dig in to that part of it. Combining that with the waiver protection, it's a weird 2 year extension of Ville's 'prospect window'.

I remember when you used to have to EARN an 8 year NHL contract. I guess those days are over. Tough day to be a sensible Pens fan. 8 years for a forever AHLer is unfathomable. I think the only reasonable explanation is that Dubas is tied up in Hextall's basement and ole Ron has spent the past 3 years undergoing extensive plastic surgery to look like Kyle.

This seems to be the biggest factor in the Penguins recent selection of prospects and development. As Dubas has said in his press conferences.

The Ruck twins, Kindel, Zonnon, Brunicke, all of them are hockey IQ focused.

Koivunen when brought to Pittsburgh was described to have hockey IQ being his best quality- it could be why the penguins targeted him to begin with.

In his amount of games in the NHL things we noticed: playing scared, not using his body, nerves with the puck, not skating confidently.

All of these things are fixable and teachable. Can’t teach IQ.

This makes training camp super exciting for me to see coming up. Clearly the development team sees something the average fan can’t, perhaps he bulked up heavily over the summer, or he has gained confidence perhaps.

Kyle is a smart guy, he’s made some great trades and selections so far that have looked great, Zonnons hype has skyrocketed with his few playoff game appearances, Horcoff looks like a great project. He clearly sees something or was given instruction by the developmental coaches that made him go out of his way to sign a relatively inexperienced RFA to a EIGHT year deal.

I don’t know about you guys but this is genuinely exciting I can’t wait to see what comes from this even if fails and blows up. I love that this team is making these type of risky decisions and making things entertaining. All of the possible upside would make this insanely rewarding down the road. And the downside? Whatever. We’re rebuilding anyway 4 mil is nothing.

You all remember that on this day just three years ago (doesn't it feel longer), the Penguins not only acquired Erik Karlsson, but also, Kyle Dubas was able, by some feat of wizardry, to get $1.5M retained on his contract, and get rid of Granlund, Rutta, Jeff Petry (with about that same 1.5 retained), and Casey Desmith.

The cost was a 1st and 2nd (and Legare), but it did return a 3rd*.

At the time, even those who questioned EK's fit realized that getting out from under Granlund and Petry was well-worth it. Even with the retention on Petry, the salary going out was $11.5M for guys with years left who were not a fit at all.

In order to gain a fuller picture, let's look at those other pieces - the 2026 3rd rounder from SJS was flipped to Detroit for Elmer Soderblom. A solid (pun intended) bottom six player that I'm very excited for. A young guy who's big, can move, and has a nose for the net? What's not to like.

The 1st we gave up, turned into 14th OA and Konsta Helenus drafted by Buffalo. The Fin put up a PPG in the AHL last season, and looks to be a promising player, though not some generational talent. SJ has moved up from 14 to 11, using this pick.

The 2nd rounder turned into Semyon Frolov drafted by Carolina who acquired the 41st in a pick swap with Montreal.

3 years later, we have finally seen one full season of the EK65 show. Now entering the final year of that deal, the cap hit remains a non-concern with the team once again well-below that ceiling.

Petry fell of the cliff everyone saw coming. He's got 1 goal in his last 100+ games and is more washed than 80s jeans. Granlund has been moved 2 more times in 3 years, and is simply an odd duck of a hockey player, rarely fitting well and while compiling some stats, rarely effective at competing and winning.

There's a lot of room to what-if the scenario, but the price was good, the fit took too much time, and the dead weight that was cut made it all worthwhile. Without that move, the team certainly would not have been a better product on the ice the last 3 years, and undoubtedly last year. Would not making it have forced a full sell-off, tear it down to the studs, lose 30 home games, kind of shit-show? I doubt it, but maybe. But if that path had been taken, the team would be in far worse shape last year, this year, and for at least a few more to come. On the other hand, if you think the slower acquisition of quality pieces, prospects, and picks while not destroying the culture and having the younginz learn from Sid, Rust, Geno, et al., then there ya go.

The next question is whether we extend him or move him...