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Mailbag time

September 20, 2017, 4:32 PM ET [45 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
I had to make a decision for today's blog. Overreact to a preseason game that nobody was able to watch or do a mailbag. Mailbag it is.




If the officials stick with this standard then it is the player's fault for not adjusting. I can't fathom how anybody could possibly complain about penalties being called tight in the preseason. Would they rather this trend continue?



There is going to be an adjustment period. The preseason is meaningless. Player's aren't stupid. They will get the hint. They will adjust. Less penalties will be called, but less true infractions will be happening on the ice. The flow of the game will improve markedly. I'm 100% on board with there being "too many" penalties at the very beginning of the year. If the standard is consistent everybody will be extremely happy with the product by the end of the year. Definitely a sacrifice worth making. That won't stop people from being blind to the logic and the long term impact this implementation would have if successful.




I would imagine if they got to that point there really wouldn't be a choice. Somebody with ability would have to take over that position. The answer ain't Gregg McKegg




Somewhere else




Adios. As I stated above I want more penalties called, but only the ones that have an impact on the flow of the game. Nobody wanted or asked for more infractions off of the faceoff.




I am going to go with Mark Scheifele. He's at the height of his powers and I don't believe that Draisaitl will be playing with Connor McDavid anymore. After his raise they will probably use him as the second line center




I'm going to assume that I make my selection within the realm of possibility ie: not Connor McDavid.

Talent wise I would be comfortable paying Jordan Staal's 6M cap hit. I don't think it is bad value and I think he is grossly underrated. However, I don't see a deal to be made with Carolina.

I think Tyler Bozak makes the most sense as a band-aid. I think Radek Faksa would be the kind of player you would want to target if you were trying to fill that position long term.




That is the nature of being in a salary cap league with some high end players on the payroll. You have to be creative and sometimes the clever moves you make (Bonino for Sutter) are only for the short term. I think Jim Rutherford has done a nice job so far of not committing long term to the wrong players and yes Bonino would have been one of those. His next real test will be the Hornqvist contract.




General managers get into trouble trying to find three different things. A top line center, a top pairing defenseman, and above average goaltending. Pittsburgh has two of the first one and during the playoffs last year they had two of the third one. The Penguins rode a pretty great PDO train to their second straight championship. I don't have confidence that they could replicate the same success again with how their underlying numbers worked. A top defenseman is way more important.




I think they've really done a great job. John Chayka inherited a unique situation. A team with a woefully low payroll that needed to hit the cap floor. He used that to his advantage by taking on bad contracts and gaining some assets. His trades have made a lot of sense.

Instead of gambling on hitting on the seventh overall pick he got a top six center in Derek Stepan and a starting goalie in Antti Raanta

Their top four defense is totally revamped and on the surface it looks pretty decent.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson now has some other players to work with Niklas Hjalmarsson, Alex Goligoski, and now Jason Demers. This is light years ahead of where it's been. I still don't know what Chicago and Florida were thinking?

Max Domi, Clayton Keller, and Dylan Strome are an interesting group of young forwards.

The Pacific Division isn't loaded and I wouldn't rule out Arizona sniffing around the eighth and final playoff spot this year in the west.



Thanks for reading!
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