Hey did anyone hear or see the Kessel to pens trade rumor on twitter. Saw one thing but not sure where it came from
- nh4442

Yeah man, spalling dumo and next years first. Paul Martin and scuds back to LA for Williams and their first. Then LA's first and Pouliot to Edmonton for Hall and their first overall. So grit, many wins, such depth wow!

Hey did anyone hear or see the Kessel to pens trade rumor on twitter. Saw one thing but not sure where it came from
- nh4442

I did see that. It was on the hockey insiders twitter... dunno how credible they are tho.

Everyone here keeps saying trades but I feel like the reason you don't have forward depth is because you keep trading your picks. Depth is grown, hard to trade or add in FA unless you have massive amount of cap space, which you guys never will with Letang/Crosby/Malkin.
- Danformo

you have to understand the cycles of franchises.

1. Your early years. Your core has all been drafted, but they aren't ready to make a huge difference yet. You have a number of younger exciting guys who will be talents in the league but right now you are still struggling. You typically sign FAs to one year deals and then trade them at the deadline and get picks. The key is to keep the fanbase satisfied and stay relevant.

2. The beginning of the core. By now all of your core is in the league. Some are doing better and have adjusted well and you're finally in the position to make a splash. You bring in a couple cheap veterans at the deadline, give up some later round picks or loser prospects and you enter the playoffs for the first time in a while. You get your butt kicked in the first round but you gain experience and get people excited for the future.

3. Your turning point year. This is the year where your team goes from a pretender to a contender. Most common you see a team make a big move and trade for a good player who is in his upper 20s. You show your fans and players that youre ready for primetime. You don't just make the playoffs, you make a splash in the playoffs but probably fall short of the cup. This begins that phase where it is common to trade a first round pick and even more.

4. Your prime years. This has been the penguins for the last several years now. This is when your core is in their prime, you have some younger players, but a lot of your players outside of your core is FA signings and trades. You are usually willing to trade 2 out of 3 top 3 round picks to get better. You sacrifice long term draft projects for short term success in the hopes of winning the Cup.

5. Your off years. Your core is getting older. Your better years are behind you and now you have 3 choices. 1) Sell the farm and try to make one more run at it. 2) Hold onto the farm, give it what you have and try to get lucky. 3) Admit that the core's time is done and try to trade a member of your core to a contender and get some future pieces back.

the penguins are in their prime right now. Trading 1st round picks for guys like Iginla isn't great management, but trading 1st round picks for guys like Perron are very smart moves. Problem was Shero failing to draft forwards who can make a difference. Our defense will have 4-5 guys next year who were drafted and brought up through the system. Our top 6 has guys who were brought in through trades. Our problem is that we dont have the forwards to answer the call. We continue to have to use guys like Craig Adams. That is the problem.

I did see that. It was on the hockey insiders twitter... dunno how credible they are tho.
- j.boyd919

meh 8 million is too tough. would need TOR to retain 2-3 million and i doubt they do that.

meh 8 million is too tough. would need TOR to retain 2-3 million and i doubt they do that.
- SuperHenderson13

There are very few players that I'd want less than Kessel on this team.

I did see that. It was on the hockey insiders twitter... dunno how credible they are tho.
- j.boyd919

Oh haha. Same guy who had jagr parise hemsky all signed with pens.. ok nm thanks

The Habs handles the Isles pretty easily tonight so they are not invincible.

The Habs handles the Isles pretty easily tonight so they are not invincible.
- powerhouse

The Pens lost that game through poor team D not talent deficiency. Can't even blame the typical whipping boys. No doubt MJ recognizes the problems........the question remains how and if he can fix them.

Still early but not liking the trend against the metro.

The Habs handles the Isles pretty easily tonight so they are not invincible.
- powerhouse

Isles were gassed. Can't put too much into a back to back in different countries.

Their PK seems to be their Achilles, So should thrive in the post season where nothing ever gets called.

whoops doubled up

They've already added 2 veteran D-men in Boychuk and Leddy... They're pretty solid already, I would definitely say they are a cup contender already.. the Isles biggest problem was always not having a goalie, now with Halak, they are definitely a threat. I hope for an Isles/Pens playoff series. It'll be a blast to watch.
- j.boyd919

Injuries & or the mumps will slow them down (that's after the Habs did that today). They haven't been affected this year yet - I think Boychuck was out a couple of games & they struggled. Time will tell.

For a 1st round series between the Pens and Isles to happen, they'd need to be 2nd and 3rd in the Metro, thus leaving 1st place open for either us or the Caps. So yes, possibly not make the playoffs at all
- rangerdanger94

I'm actually amazed that you can work that out.

Meet me and find out.....
- Ur Not Me

There are very few players that I'd want less than Kessel on this team.
- madmike71

I like Kessel. Just don't see that ever ending well both in terms of what we'd give up and how much salary he would eat up.

I did see this...

Nick Kypreos ‏@RealKyper 8h8 hours ago

#Avs putting out feelers on Ryan O'Reilly as they search for D help. 2 teams showing interest include #Sabres #Leafs

The Habs handles the Isles pretty easily tonight so they are not invincible.
- powerhouse

I was surprised they played Halak in the B2B.

I just got done binge watching about 6-7 Isles games on the DVR. Things I've noticed about them..

1. Apparently Halak thrives in situations where there is no pressure on him to perform. Back in 2010, Price was dinged up, he came in, had nothing to lose, and performed well cept the ECF vs Flyers. He got to St Louis and cracked under the pressure. Isles weren't a preseason fav. Lets see how he responds when the pressure of the season ramps up. Apparently this is league known about him.

2. Isles are deep as sh*t. That 4th line of Clutter, Martin, and Czik is pretty good. Don Cherry (grain of salt here) called them "the best 4th line ever" last PM.

3. They have some sick young talent. Anders Lee is a PF in waiting. Strome, Nelson are beasts as well. Pens wont be able to handle their size/speed combo.

4. Their D is still suspect. Free reign in front of their net. Interesting to see how Horny performs against them. That's why I still say they need one more veteran d-man.

5. Teams that move the puck quickly do give them issues (i.e. Habs). Once again, I think due to their suspect D. Even with Leddy and Bychuk, that's a question mark.

6. Any injury during the post season to their D would be crippling. I am 100% cure Snow gets a d-man at the deadline.

Bringing my 5 yr old, birthday was yesterday, to his first pens game today...

Let's go pens

There are very few players that I'd want less than Kessel on this team.
- madmike71

Kessel is exactly who I would want on this team.

Going down to CEC. I'll be in section 108 if anyone else is going and wants to drop by and say hello

Going down to CEC. I'll be in section 108 if anyone else is going and wants to drop by and say hello

- HopintheCordoba

are you taking the cordoba?

Kessel is exactly who I would want on this team.
- j.boyd919

Well... a brief search Phil Kessel revealed these traits.... Lazy, disinterested in his own end, lollygagging, takes shifts off.

In fairness... I also read "dynamite goal scorer and play maker" "When he's on he's really on".

There's no denying he's talented, but if you have to worry about all of those bad traits, there's no way I'd want to bring that to a team...for 8 million dollars no less. No thanks.

Well... a brief search Phil Kessel revealed these traits.... Lazy, disinterested in his own end, lollygagging, takes shifts off.

In fairness... I also read "dynamite goal scorer and play maker" "When he's on he's really on".

There's no denying he's talented, but if you have to worry about all of those bad traits, there's no way I'd want to bring that to a team...for 8 million dollars no less. No thanks.
- madmike71

At what cost... to make it work Cap wise it would be Sutter, Spaling and Scuds going there way which is fine... but!!! They will ask for Poulliot and next years 1st

Well that was some quick bs

Not a great start, WTF?

Would Greiss have had that? probably.

I know it's all hands on deck but I would have liked to have seen Downie scratched as a statement from the nonsense against the isles.

I think Flower should rest until after the All Star game. That second one wasn't on him, but the first one should have been stopped. He needs a rest, and you don't want these bad games to start getting into his head. Plus the team needs a kick in the ass right now.