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Vermette Not A Suitable Replacement For Cullen

August 2, 2016, 9:39 AM ET [66 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Yesterday in somewhat of a surprise move the Arizona Coyotes put Antoine Vermette on waivers for the purpose of a buyout. The Coyotes are clearly making room on their roster so that they can get some younger players an opportunity to get more minutes. It makes sense from their standpoint as they are not a contending team right now. Finding Dylan Strome minutes is a much better priority than giving them to an aging depth forward playing above his appropriate role.

Given that Antoine Vermette is available I was asked if he would be a good replacement for Matt Cullen. The answer is no. Vermette is the kind of situation the Penguins have been trying to get away from. Playing a veteran for the sake of playing a veteran. When Pittsburgh signed Matt Cullen last year his underlying numbers were that of a player still making positive contributions. Here is what Vermette has looked like the past few years. The chart on the left is 2016 centric while the one on the right is also Vermette but 2015 centric.



He hasn't had it for a couple of years now. There is no reason Pittsburgh should be looking in his direction. Oskar Sundqvist may not be 100% ready for the challenge but it is hard pressed to think that he would do significantly worse than Vermette at this stage of the game. To me you let the younger guy play in situation like this.

Matt Cullen showed some decline on the possession front this past year but there is an argument to be had that his usage (heavy defensive zone starts) were doing him no favors. Bringing back Matt Cullen is a way different proposition than signing Vermette as his replacement.

Pittsburgh is fine moving forward with exactly what they have right now. If Oskar Sundqvist doesn't make the most of his opportunity the team still has Eric Fehr capable of playing the fourth line center position. In fact it might not be a terrible idea to start the year with Fehr as the fourth line center to create a spot for Scott Wilson to make the lineup instead of Sundqvist.

It would be nice if Pittsburgh could get Matt Cullen back on the cheap, but it isn't necessary. The defending Stanley Cup champions are still in a good spot regardless. They certainly don't need to be seeking out veteran depth players who are past their due date.

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I wrote about Evgeni Malkin paying people's medical bills with his new foundation that was just created. This apparently isn't a new thing for him. It is something he has been doing for some time now.




He's been doing this for awhile already. A few cases I randomly get to know about, he acquired a prosthesis for a girl who lost her arm and he helped several people who had cancer to find money for a surgery. He's also helping big time for another charity here in Russia and supports an orphan house in his hometown. And he's not just sending money, every summer he and his friends are buying toys and go to visit kids. He also has visited kids in hospitals and boarding schools in different cities when they asked him to come. He's a truly good human.


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