Hockey Trash Talk & BS thread

I agree. You can for sure see that team trending the right way. And their playstyle is impressive, when they execute it.

 

Not much to brag about here either, Canes have struggled with Svech and Pacioretti injured. Just hoping for a win against the Panthers thursday to stay at 1st in the Metro.

 

Well Pens are out now with the Islanders win.

 

Yep. Bummer. 16 year streak is over. I think Hextall needs fired tomorrow. And I also would look for a new starting goalie. I wish we could somehow get Gibson out of Anaheim. Would also be nice to get rid of a couple of the bad contracts but I have no idea how you do that.

 

With that food Pittsburgh fan base the Pens ought to be competing hard every year. Hope you get the changes needed.

 

The worst part is, everyone was questioning whether we could be competitive with our 3 older core guys. Those 3 all ended up staying healthy and playing well. All 3 played above what their market value is, in my opinion. It was just the bottom 6 being terrible, along with the D and goalies being so inconsistent. Feels like a missed opportunity, because having Sid, Geno and Letang all healthy for a full season just seems like not something to take for granted, at this stage of their careers. And at some point those guys will probably dip below their pay's expected performance, as they age. Just seems like a few big mis-steps from management did them in, this year. That being said, it still falls on the players (and coach to some degree) not to blow leads on a routine basis. And we should beat Chicago, considering what was on the line. So I guess plenty of blame. And every team has things to look back on after their year ends. But with the Pens, it was just hard to see them miss the playoffs at this stage of the era, when our big 3 were all healthy and playing well. That just shouldn't happen.

 

As you know, Jarry is a UFA. I am torn on re-signing him to a long term, expensive contract, given his injury history and his inability, in my opinion, to carry a team by making that big stop in crucial situations. The Pens have some big decisions to make. Another is Zucker. He had a great year and stayed healthy. What kind of terms will he want to stay, and should the pens re-sign a guy in his early 30s and a history of injuries?

 

Ya it's going to be very interesting. Earlier in the year, there was talk of upwards of 6mil/yr. For me that is totally off the table. His career numbers are pretty good and even this year's stats aren't terrible. But he is injured so often and he just has a tendency to slump badly or give up bad goals at key times. I think he could be solid if you have an established guy to tandem with him. How we are set up right now is he's your clear number 1 and you pay Desmith next to nothing and get very good value out of him. But he is a good spot-start guy and hasn't been able to take over and give consistency when needed. So they either need to get a Gibson type to start and keep Desmith or try to re-sign Jarry for like 4mil and upgrade your number 2 who can carry 40% of the load and start if needed. That's how I look at it.

I'd like to see Zucker stay. But I'm sure he wants a deal with some term and this team just can't afford to add another guy like that. But if he would do 2-3 years then I'd do it if the price is right. He was awesome all year.

 

Dumo is a UFA. He played better as the year went on, but he is another who has been beaten down playing the game as the years have gone on and they can't afford to resign him. And, of course, we have one more year with Carter, who will be 38 next year. he played better on that revamped 4th line with O'Connor and Archibald (there's one the pens need to resign) but Carter sure is an expensive 4th line center.

 

I agree Dumo looked better as the season went on. I gues it just depends, with him. I wouldn't mind him back with the right contract. Carter they should've never re-signed. I just don't understand that. And I like the guy, in terms of his career. But that was a bad signing. I do like O'Connor and Archibald. And the other bad move was the Granlund deal. I just didn't like it and I think it ended up being a very bad move. Now we are paying him term to do basically nothing.

 

In defense of Granlund, he's on a line without much hope. He's a playmaker and he has no finisher, basically like Carter was when he was on that line. I thought he played well, certainly with some urgency on most every shift, which is more than you can say about others.

 

That's fair. Maybe with the right supporting cast we will see some production. I still just think in 20 games, 1G and like 4 or 5pts total is unacceptable for a guy that you are paying 5mil +, but that's just me. I just didn't want the move for him, so maybe I am biased in a negative way. He has some detail in his game, which is nice. But I also saw him puck watching in the D zone too, so I'm not sure that his overall play is good enough to excuse his lack of production on the scoreboard. Again, just my opinion. But I think your point is still valid.

 

Similar problem with the Canes, we really needed to get a big time front line scorer at the trade deadline we had plenty of cap space with Pacioretti out on LTIR. Don Waddell said “we like our team” and instead picked up Gostisbehere (Defense) and Puljujarvi (a work in progress who has not scored). Then Svechnikov, one of if not our best player/scorer was injured and lost for the season. Absolutely no insurance for possible injuries by paying the price and getting a scorer at the trade deadline. A poverty cheap ass decision by the front office.

 

Pens' Cup winning window with current core is closed

 

Pens just delayed the inevitable rebuild by signing their core 3 to deals that are way too long. They'll be lucky to make the playoffs again and won't be a cup contender anytime soon.

 

I disagree. If they are healthy and play as they did this year, they produced at or above what their cap hit is. Letang making 6mil is a great deal. Sid at under 9. Geno at 6. Those aren't monster cap hits and all 3 played great. Those guys are at the bottom of my list of worries, at least this year.

 

Ya it sounds like they liked where they were at for most of the year and were afraid to mess with anything. Then they suffered a major injury and are paying the price. Sometimes it's tough to plan for that but it is nice when the GM is pro-active and finds an "insurance policy" to help with injuries. I guess it just all depends what they are willing to pay.

 

They are challenged by having traded away top draft picks and young talent over the years, so there is little in the organizational pipeline for at least a few years, maybe more. We need to stop trading #1s and #2s for rentals. Joseph and Smith have promise among the D. O'Connor is promising as a bottom 6 guy. The top 6 still look very good, especially if Zucker takes a year or two at a reasonable rate. We are going to need to wisely sign free agents and that includes the UFAs currently on the roster. Goalie is the biggest worry at the moment.

 

The thing is, when you make the playoffs for 16 years straight, your first rd pick isn't going to grab the top talent anyways. So since I wouldn't consider this a full on rebuild, if they are smart about how they surround the core, it's still very doable to win. Now if those 3 guys were making top tier money, to the point of it being a bad contract, then no, you can't get veterans around those guys because you have no cap space. But for what the core is taking up, it leaves them with plenty of room to work with. Especially when Geuntzal, Rakell, Zucker all produced at a pretty friendly cap hit. I'm just saying it can happen. But some of the decisions made this year, made it very tough. And also, like you mentioned the goalies have hurt us now 2 years in a row (with injuries in 1st round last year.)

 

The pens core 3 will not win another cup. Simple as that. I wouldn't expect a Pittsburgh fan to agree but everyone else sees it.
Same thing I was hoping for when the wings were grasping at straws near the end of Zetterberg and Datsyuk's careers. The fact is Crosby, malkin, and letang aren't what they were and cant carry a team into the playoffs anymore.