Some people saying Spaling looks really good. Take it for what's its worth ( a few practices). But mgmt may have bigger plans for him than the rest of us...
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Spaling and Hornqvist played junior together, and have familiarity from being on Nashville and playing that system. Maybe the chemistry comes from those two who know each others tendencies and Malkin just gets to do his thing.
Also they aren't paying Spaling 2.2 to play on the 4th line. If the third line is Sutter Downie Bennett, guarantee Spaling starts the season on the second line.

Dupuis is not top 6 on this team plz stop. Age plus injury he is better suited for 3rd line and pk duties... let the kids play.

Also both preseason tickets are for sale. I'm unable to attend. Face value sec 201 row C seats 17 & 18
- nh4442

Listen, I am the first person to say Dupuis should be on the third line, but with the roster we have at the moment, there is just no way that he is not on Crosby's wing. Who else do we have? Duper is better than Downie any way you cut it, Johnson's obsessed with the idea of playing Bennett on the third line (something I strongly disagree with), and Kapenen will not make this team. Dea and Zlobin have to really wow to get a serious look, and even though they had good prospect tournies, it would be asinine to call one of the up, play them on the first line, and move Dupuis down.

Dupuis is a funny player. Everyone either crucifies him despite his play because they don't see him as worthy of Crosby, or irrationally defend him despite facts, e.g. his age, his major injury, and the fact that upgrading the top 6 via trade and sending him to the third is very, very doable. Rare is the person that puts aside their gut feelings and evaluates him for the asset he is.

Listen, I am the first person to say Dupuis should be on the third line, but with the roster we have at the moment, there is just no way that he is not on Crosby's wing. Who else do we have? Duper is better than Downie any way you cut it, Johnson's obsessed with the idea of playing Bennett on the third line (something I strongly disagree with), and Kapenen will not make this team. Dea and Zlobin have to really wow to get a serious look, and even though they had good prospect tournies, it would be asinine to call one of the up, play them on the first line, and move Dupuis down.

Dupuis is a funny player. Everyone either crucifies him despite his play because they don't see him as worthy of Crosby, or irrationally defend him despite facts, e.g. his age, his major injury, and the fact that upgrading the top 6 via trade and sending him to the third is very, very doable. Rare is the person that puts aside their gut feelings and evaluates him for the asset he is.
- Victoro311

I know its summer and we have nothing to talk about, but I don't understand why so few people think that Sid RW is Dupes until someone else proves they belong there more.

Listen, I am the first person to say Dupuis should be on the third line, but with the roster we have at the moment, there is just no way that he is not on Crosby's wing. Who else do we have? Duper is better than Downie any way you cut it, Johnson's obsessed with the idea of playing Bennett on the third line (something I strongly disagree with), and Kapenen will not make this team. Dea and Zlobin have to really wow to get a serious look, and even though they had good prospect tournies, it would be asinine to call one of the up, play them on the first line, and move Dupuis down.

Dupuis is a funny player. Everyone either crucifies him despite his play because they don't see him as worthy of Crosby, or irrationally defend him despite facts, e.g. his age, his major injury, and the fact that upgrading the top 6 via trade and sending him to the third is very, very doable. Rare is the person that puts aside their gut feelings and evaluates him for the asset he is.
- Victoro311

Exactly! I don´t get why so many people bash Dupuis. We all know he would be better (or perfect) on a 3rd line, but with this roster and the cap situation, he WILL be next so Sid to start the season. Should he stay there? No, but they have time to find a solution for that problem. But the guy works his a$$ off and he is the better option than any of the guys probably.

In a perfect world Scuderi would be traded to clear space and to add another Top 6 option later, but unfortunately this is not fantasy hockey. It almost makes just too much sense to trade a guy like Scuderi. The young guys are ready and need playing time (Dumoulin, Harrington). Without that contract, much needed cap flexibility would be available.

so we're gonna have comeau playing on sids wing? look I'm all for adding depth to this team, but we can't ignore the fact that theres a major hole in the penguins top 6, and between the facts that bennett is as injury prone as he is, we have no idea how dupuis will return, and we're just assuming hornqvist is a perfect fit despite never having played a game in pittsburgh, i'd like a little more elite security than dan carcillo.
- neilsonnn18

Sid needs a younger dupuis not a bobby ryan.

Sid needs a younger dupuis not a bobby ryan.
- Grinder47

Sid needs a younger Kunitz. Everyone is forgetting he is getting up there in age and may not be around for too much longer. A guy like Bobby Ryan adds security in the top 6 for some time.

Listen, I am the first person to say Dupuis should be on the third line, but with the roster we have at the moment, there is just no way that he is not on Crosby's wing. Who else do we have? Duper is better than Downie any way you cut it, Johnson's obsessed with the idea of playing Bennett on the third line (something I strongly disagree with), and Kapenen will not make this team. Dea and Zlobin have to really wow to get a serious look, and even though they had good prospect tournies, it would be asinine to call one of the up, play them on the first line, and move Dupuis down.

Dupuis is a funny player. Everyone either crucifies him despite his play because they don't see him as worthy of Crosby, or irrationally defend him despite facts, e.g. his age, his major injury, and the fact that upgrading the top 6 via trade and sending him to the third is very, very doable. Rare is the person that puts aside their gut feelings and evaluates him for the asset he is.
- Victoro311

Everyone also forgets the familiarity and chemistry he has with Sid and Kunitz. He does the little things right, he knows where to be, and he knows exactly what his role is to make him efficient on that line. He may not be a top 6 player skill wise, but he has a fairly high hockey IQ which makes him the best candidate as of now. Unless the pens make a trade for a big name top 6 player, I'm completely fine with dupuis on sids line. Let them play with what they have now and make some moves around the deadline. I think a team will be more likely to take scuderi at the deadline

Dupuis is good at playing the same straight line hockey that Crosby plays. Same as Kunitz, that is why they work so well together. Sometimes the best line doesn't have the sexiest names on it. I mean for a large part of Gretzky's career he played with Kurri on one wing and Semenko on the other. Sure it was to protect Gretzky, but Semenko was far from the most talented player.

Maybe having Dupuis who is defensively responsible first on his wing, has allowed Crosby to open up the offensive gates a little bit. Knowing that Dupuis is still in the zone may have allowed Crosby to leave the zone quicker.

Everyone didn't think Mattaa was going to make the team last yr. So why not kap. Pens need to trust the youth of this org. Or we will always have guys like scuds and adams, who everyone female doges about, on the this team.

Everyone didn't think Mattaa was going to make the team last yr. So why not kap. Pens need to trust the youth of this org. Or we will always have guys like scuds and adams, who everyone female doges about, on the this team.
- nh4442

I definitely agree that we need to utilize our youth if they are ready. That means NHL ready guys should be in the NHL and playing on their ELCs or traded (Despres, Dumoulin, Harrington)...unless we get traded Scuds.

and potential guys like Uher, Payerl, and Kapanen should be utilized IF they are ready. I don't think anyone is writing off Kapanen but he is a bit of a long shot. Back to the Dupuis thing, right now who is a better choice for the top line, Kap or Dupuis? I say give Kapanen his 9 game tryout and go from there...

Dupuis and kuni are both prob good to peerform for atleast the nect 3 years. Sid wilk need the same type of players though. give malkin the handsy flashy ones give sid the workhorses.

I definitely agree that we need to utilize our youth if they are ready. That means NHL ready guys should be in the NHL and playing on their ELCs or traded (Despres, Dumoulin, Harrington)...unless we get traded Scuds.

and potential guys like Uher, Payerl, and Kapanen should be utilized IF they are ready. I don't think anyone is writing off Kapanen but he is a bit of a long shot. Back to the Dupuis thing, right now who is a better choice for the top line, Kap or Dupuis? I say give Kapanen his 9 game tryout and go from there...
- YouMeAndDupuis9

More on that, I think the ideal forward lineup with the current roster is:

Kunitz- Sid- Kapanen
Bennett-Geno-Hornqvist
Dupuis-Sutter-Downie
Spaling-Goc-Comeau

Dupuis and kuni are both prob good to peerform for atleast the nect 3 years. Sid wilk need the same type of players though. give malkin the handsy flashy ones give sid the workhorses.
- Grinder47

You seriously want both of them on the top line at age 38 and beyond?

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that both will not get extended after their contracts are up which have them playing 3 more seasons, and most likely a good chance this is their final contracts.

I know its summer and we have nothing to talk about, but I don't understand why so few people think that Sid RW is Dupes until someone else proves they belong there more.
- stackthepads

I know they don't have any real options to replace Dupes at this point, but I just see it as putting regular fuel in Ferrari. Yeah it still works and is great, but you're missing out if you don't put something like 100ll in the tank.

Dupuis is good at playing the same straight line hockey that Crosby plays. Same as Kunitz, that is why they work so well together. Sometimes the best line doesn't have the sexiest names on it. I mean for a large part of Gretzky's career he played with Kurri on one wing and Semenko on the other. Sure it was to protect Gretzky, but Semenko was far from the most talented player.

Maybe having Dupuis who is defensively responsible first on his wing, has allowed Crosby to open up the offensive gates a little bit. Knowing that Dupuis is still in the zone may have allowed Crosby to leave the zone quicker.
- Ben37

In Lemieux's 199 point season, he played mostly with Rob Brown and Bob freakin' Errey. Brown was the scorer (great hands and more importantly could read Lemieux better than most players). And Errey was pretty much Pascal Dupuis. Both were 50 goal scorers in junior, so they understood the offensive side of the game well enough to play with elite players, and both were effective because of their wheels and tenacity.

As long as Dupuis skating is close to what it was before surgery, there is no reason to break up that first line to start the season.

Spaling and Hornqvist played junior together, and have familiarity from being on Nashville and playing that system. Maybe the chemistry comes from those two who know each others tendencies and Malkin just gets to do his thing.
Also they aren't paying Spaling 2.2 to play on the 4th line. If the third line is Sutter Downie Bennett, guarantee Spaling starts the season on the second line.
- stackthepads

I don't mind Spaling on the second line at all. The more important thing is if Hornqvist and Malkin click. If those two play well together, a straight line, decent all around player (like Spaling) is all you need on the other side. Malkin is carrying the puck 80% of the time when he's out there anyway. If Spaling can track down loose pucks and force turnovers and Hornqvist can provide traffic in front and bury some goals, that line could work well.

Dupuis and kuni are both prob good to peerform for atleast the nect 3 years. Sid wilk need the same type of players though. give malkin the handsy flashy ones give sid the workhorses.
- Grinder47

Interesting, I think it should be the opposite. Sid is an elite distributer. One of the all time great facilitators, in fact. He should be the one to have the scorers on his line so he can facilitate the offense and rack up assist after assist.

Geno on the other hand is a pure scorer and more of a one man recking machine. I'd give him the work horses. Guys that he can defer to when he attracts all of the defense's attention and guys that will get to the dirty areas to collect his rebounds.

This is why I wanted to see James Neal's pure sniper talent on Sid's line and why Kunitz was such a hoss on Evgeni Malkin's line. Looking forward to the potential Hornqvist-Malkin pairing this year, and why I think Bennett should be a main stay with Sid if he can prove he can stay healthy. It never occurs to people to do this, but I think moving Duper to Malkin's line may actually work out well if Kapenen or Bennett get promoted to top 6 duties.

Interesting, I think it should be the opposite. Sid is an elite distributer. One of the all time great facilitators, in fact. He should be the one to have the scorers on his line so he can facilitate the offense and rack up assist after assist.

Geno on the other hand is a pure scorer and more of a one man recking machine. I'd give him the work horses. Guys that he can defer to when he attracts all of the defense's attention and guys that will get to the dirty areas to collect his rebounds.

This is why I wanted to see James Neal's pure sniper talent on Sid's line and why Kunitz was such a hoss on Evgeni Malkin's line. Looking forward to the potential Hornqvist-Malkin pairing this year, and why I think Bennett should be a main stay with Sid if he can prove he can stay healthy. It never occurs to people to do this, but I think moving Duper to Malkin's line may actually work out well if Kapenen or Bennett get promoted to top 6 duties.
- Victoro311

I agree that Sid should have a sniper, but Beau Bennett is more of a playmaker than a sniper. That is another reason why I like him (Bennett) on a third line with Sutter too.

Kunitz, has become basically that sniper by default. He's scored more goals in the past 3 seasons than guys like Hossa or Patrick Kane, Bobby Ryan, etc., so it's not like he's struggling in that role.

Has anyone said when the Pens will start making cuts? I'm guessing after tomorrow's game, but I haven't heard or read anything.

It will be a bit easier to see what lines/pairings Johnston likes when plugs like Taylor Chorney, Reid McNeil and Leblond aren't clogging things up.

How exactly would it work for Adams if he loses his spot? Is he put on waivers, just buried in the pressbox? I get the feeling he has a good shot at losing a job.

The game tonight is on local Pittsburgh TV a CBS channel, WPCW. Not sure if it's on Center Ice or not.