imo this Dejan guy has literally no idea what he's doing. Paywalling his work on a Wordpress blog is essentially asking everybody to not read his stuff.

Also, you can just copy and paste the posts and change the font.
- BulliesPhan87

Yeah... No one is paying to read sports stuff, no matter how good it is. I saw that DK's site will let you read 10 columns a month for free... That's plenty to see the "important" ones or the ones getting attention.

Yeah... No one is paying to read sports stuff, no matter how good it is. I saw that DK's site will let you read 10 columns a month for free... That's plenty to see the "important" ones or the ones getting attention.
- rival22

It takes balls to venture out on to your own. With all the free information available I can't see many folks paying for his site. I believe he said he has a corporate sponsor so that helps. None the less I wish him well I always liked dejan.

as long as it's not Ryan Wilson I'll be happy.. Let's talk about how he said Spaling had bad possession numbers on a team that has bad possession numbers, I'm sorry I thought he was gonna lead the league in CORSI on Nashville's 3rd/4th line and PK with all talented players they had
- Gmac158

Lets see your articles. You must write phenomenal stuff to be able to pop up out of nowhere and female dog like that.

I know most folks didn't like Rossi. I however thought he was a good read and good listen when he was on with Madden.

I'll say this...I remember back to the Pens Cup run in 2009. I remember listening to Rossi at the time. During the Caps series, he mentioned how he believed the Pens would win it but it would take 7. He thought Sid would have a great series and gave compelling evidence as to why. Spot on.

Then, during the Final vs Detroit, even as Pens fell down 2-0, he felt they would win it. Even after falling down 3-2, still felt they would win it. He discussed the reasons why. Stall, MAF, and the secondary guys would win the series for the Pens. Spot on again.

Even in recent years, he was been more right than wrong.

The Pens should have fought for a second round pick instead of acquiring Nick Spalling. He might work hard and have the ability to play all three positions, but he isn't that good of a player. He isn't worth anything north of 1.5 to me.
- Oneonta Penguin

Please...you would have been female doging about getting a 'not as good' forward and a draft pick for Neal. Even the money savings of 725K a year wouldn't have made that seem any better to you.

Face it - in today's NHL, unless you have a guy on an ELC who is consistent...(the Penguins seem to be remarkably thin on those when it comes to the forward positions)...

For 1M you get a guy who plays 3rd/4th line minutes and sometime sits in the press box because he just doesn't offer you enough every night.

For 2M you get a guy who is essentially the same as above - but he has shown the ability to play above that ranking (2nd line at least) and he's more consistent in what he offers you and so he plays every game (unless he is hurt).

The Pens needed more of that second type of guy...and at 25 (26 when the season starts) and having shown some upside potential, Spaling seems like a decent guy to give that money to.

It's a slight risk...but only about 500K in my opinion.

They have a 5M risk in goal and a 7M risk on D.

It takes balls to venture out on to your own. With all the free information available I can't see many folks paying for his site. I believe he said he has a corporate sponsor so that helps. None the less I wish him well I always liked dejan.
- dbell646

I have no idea how advertising money works online, but if he has some ad revenue and some sponsor money, it could work... I'm guessing that there are some good bloggers that made decent money. I just don't see the subscription side of it doing well.

I mean, he's good at what he does, but if he has any really good columns, the good parts are going to get tweeted out and/or reposted anyway.

I have no idea how advertising money works online, but if he has some ad revenue and some sponsor money, it could work... I'm guessing that there are some good bloggers that made decent money. I just don't see the subscription side of it doing well.

I mean, he's good at what he does, but if he has any really good columns, the good parts are going to get tweeted out and/or reposted anyway.
- rival22

Yea I have no idea what kind of money he can produce but we both agree its going to be difficult.

as long as it's not Ryan Wilson I'll be happy.. Let's talk about how he said Spaling had bad possession numbers on a team that has bad possession numbers, I'm sorry I thought he was gonna lead the league in CORSI on Nashville's 3rd/4th line and PK with all talented players they had
- Gmac158

I'm not familiar with the Preds 3rd and 4th line but numbers don't lie.

Please...you would have been female doging about getting a 'not as good' forward and a draft pick for Neal. Even the money savings of 725K a year wouldn't have made that seem any better to you.

Face it - in today's NHL, unless you have a guy on an ELC who is consistent...(the Penguins seem to be remarkably thin on those when it comes to the forward positions)...

For 1M you get a guy who plays 3rd/4th line minutes and sometime sits in the press box because he just doesn't offer you enough every night.

For 2M you get a guy who is essentially the same as above - but he has shown the ability to play above that ranking (2nd line at least) and he's more consistent in what he offers you and so he plays every game (unless he is hurt).

The Pens needed more of that second type of guy...and at 25 (26 when the season starts) and having shown some upside potential, Spaling seems like a decent guy to give that money to.

It's a slight risk...but only about 500K in my opinion.

They have a 5M risk in goal and a 7M risk on D.
- icedog97

Completely agree... Spaling has and will be a target by some fans because of his cap hit, but like you said, he'll be about $500k overpaid. If he was making $1.1 mil, no one would care.

If your team's "problem contract" is third liner making under $2 million, things are good... Besides the Fleury and Letang risks, this team has a $3.375 million black hole in Scuderi.

Hooks Orpik over at Pensburgh wrote a spinoff of Ryan's blog and it's a good read as well (http://www.pensburgh.com/...rgh-penguins-nick-spaling)

I didn't read too far into the comments, but this reply by Hooks stood out to me:

"Spaling wasn’t a full-time 2nd line player, but he was known as a “line fixer” player that Barry Trotz would rely on to fill any role on any line in order to give it a bump. He would shuffle around the ice (as revealed by his linemates, spending no more than 382 of his 905 minutes last year with any one player, but playing 100+ minutes with 9 different forwards)."

You gotta wonder with Dupuis getting up in age, and Kunitz as well, do the Pens see Spaling as an eventual replacement of those players? And a decent swiss army type of player who can really play any forward position any line during the season, is a pretty valuable player to have for a coach. If a top six guy leaves the game with an injury in the first period, or you have a guy out for a game or too, it's nice to be able to plug in a guy like Spaling short term and not screw up the top two lines much.

Yeah... No one is paying to read sports stuff, no matter how good it is. I saw that DK's site will let you read 10 columns a month for free... That's plenty to see the "important" ones or the ones getting attention.
- rival22

I laugh at paywalls on big publication websites, let alone... this. Nothing against the guy, I know almost nothing about him, but this business model is dumb imo.

Completely agree... Spaling has and will be a target by some fans because of his cap hit, but like you said, he'll be about $500k overpaid. If he was making $1.1 mil, no one would care.

If your team's "problem contract" is third liner making under $2 million, things are good... Besides the Fleury and Letang risks, this team has a $3.375 million black hole in Scuderi.

Hooks Orpik over at Pensburgh wrote a spinoff of Ryan's blog and it's a good read as well (http://www.pensburgh.com/...rgh-penguins-nick-spaling)

I didn't read too far into the comments, but this reply by Hooks stood out to me:

"Spaling wasn’t a full-time 2nd line player, but he was known as a “line fixer” player that Barry Trotz would rely on to fill any role on any line in order to give it a bump. He would shuffle around the ice (as revealed by his linemates, spending no more than 382 of his 905 minutes last year with any one player, but playing 100+ minutes with 9 different forwards)."

You gotta wonder with Dupuis getting up in age, and Kunitz as well, do the Pens see Spaling as an eventual replacement of those players? And a decent swiss army type of player who can really play any forward position any line during the season, is a pretty valuable player to have for a coach. If a top six guy leaves the game with an injury in the first period, or you have a guy out for a game or too, it's nice to be able to plug in a guy like Spaling short term and not screw up the top two lines much.
- rival22

I did read the article and I think it is interesting because advanced stats are helpful but there is certainly some question as to how much you can rely on them, particularly when it comes to building a team.

While you would clearly avoid...say an aging veteran whose stats look bad on a good team (uh...Scuderi maybe)...you might not have the same take on a 25-26 year old whose stats don't look so good on a non playoff team but whose play has been viewed positively by his former coach and front office.

As much as we might hate the notion...when you have 2 top tier salary guys on your team...you better get as many swiss army knife type players as you can because until the cap rises or you can trade some talent on defense for some talent on offense, you are going to need them.

I laugh at paywalls on big publication websites, let alone... this. Nothing against the guy, I know almost nothing about him, but this business model is dumb imo.
- BulliesPhan87

He would surely be hired back to a big paper if this doesn't work out so its not like he's really risking everything. He got 3.3 million page views last year. If he can generate ad revenue on top of a subscription service, he'll be fine. He might get 2-3 thousand subscribers.

I did read the article and I think it is interesting because advanced stats are helpful but there is certainly some question as to how much you can rely on them, particularly when it comes to building a team.

While you would clearly avoid...say an aging veteran whose stats look bad on a good team (uh...Scuderi maybe)...you might not have the same take on a 25-26 year old whose stats don't look so good on a non playoff team but whose play has been viewed positively by his former coach and front office.

As much as we might hate the notion...when you have 2 top tier salary guys on your team...you better get as many swiss army knife type players as you can because until the cap rises or you can trade some talent on defense for some talent on offense, you are going to need them.
- icedog97

Spaling basically replaces Jokinen. He might have less scoring touch but Jokinen's versatility was very useful (until he found his niche with Geno).

He would surely be hired back to a big paper if this doesn't work out so its not like he's really risking everything. He got 3.3 million page views last year. If he can generate ad revenue on top of a subscription service, he'll be fine. He might get 2-3 thousand subscribers.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

I agree. Eventually one of the papers would hire him back. One thing is certain, print news is a dying business model.

It takes balls to venture out on to your own. With all the free information available I can't see many folks paying for his site. I believe he said he has a corporate sponsor so that helps. None the less I wish him well I always liked dejan.
- dbell646

I'll give you that, he took a risk going independent.

One thing that does stand out about the Neal trade, is penalty minutes.

In the last 3 years, Neal has a total of 168 minutes (most of which were stupid minors), Spaling and Hornqvist combined had 120 minutes. That alone will help the Pens.

I laugh at paywalls on big publication websites, let alone... this. Nothing against the guy, I know almost nothing about him, but this business model is dumb imo.
- BulliesPhan87

Agreed. Folks have been trying this for years. Never works. Too many free alternatives to pay for anything.

I actually like where the Pens sit presently.

I hope they make no more moves until they see what they have with the Preds players, the young D, KK, and the FA acquisitions.

They are in a flexible position to make moves at the deadline, move some young assets, etc..

If MAF bombs, we have a nice backup.

Deep on D.

Actually have enough forward depth to survive the regular season.

Looking forward to the season starting...

Completely agree... Spaling has and will be a target by some fans because of his cap hit, but like you said, he'll be about $500k overpaid. If he was making $1.1 mil, no one would care.

If your team's "problem contract" is third liner making under $2 million, things are good... Besides the Fleury and Letang risks, this team has a $3.375 million black hole in Scuderi.

Hooks Orpik over at Pensburgh wrote a spinoff of Ryan's blog and it's a good read as well (http://www.pensburgh.com/...rgh-penguins-nick-spaling)

I didn't read too far into the comments, but this reply by Hooks stood out to me:

"Spaling wasn’t a full-time 2nd line player, but he was known as a “line fixer” player that Barry Trotz would rely on to fill any role on any line in order to give it a bump. He would shuffle around the ice (as revealed by his linemates, spending no more than 382 of his 905 minutes last year with any one player, but playing 100+ minutes with 9 different forwards)."

You gotta wonder with Dupuis getting up in age, and Kunitz as well, do the Pens see Spaling as an eventual replacement of those players? And a decent swiss army type of player who can really play any forward position any line during the season, is a pretty valuable player to have for a coach. If a top six guy leaves the game with an injury in the first period, or you have a guy out for a game or too, it's nice to be able to plug in a guy like Spaling short term and not screw up the top two lines much.
- rival22

Eh, the Pens are over paying Dupes by about a mil, Scuds by about 3, Spaling at 500 is fine. I think JR said I'm giving you 40g/yr, I need 40 coming back, PH=30, Spaling on the bottom 6 good for 10. He's a better option than anything before on the bottom 6, I think its a good trade.

With regards to Rossi, he was pretty bad. Not gonna miss him and he is pretty much everything wrong with journalism today. Not fact/source checking, opinionated, making himself part of the story. I thought Dejan was ok, surprised to see him gone, wasn't he given an exclusive with Lemieux and Burkle? Now Shelly Anderson is the bottom of the barrel of sports reporting. Not really sure how she has a job.

One thing that does stand out about the Neal trade, is penalty minutes.

In the last 3 years, Neal has a total of 168 minutes (most of which were stupid minors), Spaling and Hornqvist combined had 120 minutes. That alone will help the Pens.
- rival22

Yeah when Neal took that penalty on the PP in the offensive zone in gm 7 against the Rags, his days were numbered. I really don't see why anyone will miss him.

From TIOPS:
"NHL SOURCE: OILERS HAVE KEEN INTEREST IN SUTTER"

To which I respond....Good, give us Perron haha.

Note - the article has a picture of ROR so assuming the Avs have interest as well.

One thing that does stand out about the Neal trade, is penalty minutes.

In the last 3 years, Neal has a total of 168 minutes (most of which were stupid minors), Spaling and Hornqvist combined had 120 minutes. That alone will help the Pens.
- rival22

Depends if we can control Downie's dumb penalties....but yes, I agree.

Depends if we can control Downie's dumb penalties....but yes, I agree.
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Another factor is all the penalties Hornqvist will draw too.. He's certainly gonna earn us more power plays than Neal getting cross checked in front of the net all night and he doesn't retaliate