Is there a player weaker on the puck than Sutter? Maybe Johnny Gaudreau but he's like 150 lbs.

Is there a player weaker on the puck than Sutter? Maybe Johnny Gaudreau but he's like 150 lbs.
- jfkst1

Dont have to look far...BB is damn weak on the puck too.

Is there a player weaker on the puck than Sutter? Maybe Johnny Gaudreau but he's like 150 lbs.
- jfkst1

I think his highlight of the year is losing the puck to a guy with no stick. That's just ridiculous. Watching him makes my skin crawl.

I think his highlight of the year is losing the puck to a guy with no stick. That's just ridiculous. Watching him makes my skin crawl.
- madmike71

I'll go insane if I have to watch him for another season.

I'll go insane if I have to watch him for another season.
- jfkst1

x2

I'll go insane if I have to watch him for another season.
- jfkst1

god i miss jordan staal.

Pens management really (frank)ed up this team.. horrible contracts for average players and aging players ruined this year's team. The fact that jr didn't get rid of them at deadline for pucks makes it worst... utter embarrassment

Pens management really (frank)ed up this team.. horrible contracts for average players and aging players ruined this year's team. The fact that jr didn't get rid of them at deadline for pucks makes it worst... utter embarrassment
- nh4442

Injuries messed up this team. I've got no love for either of them, but I'm not blaming Johnston or Rutherford for something that is out of their control.

Injuries messed up this team. I've got no love for either of them, but I'm not blaming Johnston or Rutherford for something that is out of their control.
- jfkst1

Shero started it with not drafting depth wingers, bylsma helped by not playing the youth and thinking the older guys were better, Jr didn't help by trading for spaling and signing him and by not trading a big contract out for picks.

Now they play with 5 D and barely 3 lines which only a few select guys score...

The fact that they are so limited on players if someone gets injured should have flickered a light bulb in the 3 to 4 gms the pens have...

Now they are a team stuck in playoffs with no hope but to make a first round exit less dull and more exciting by hopefully forcing a game 7. Bc no matter who their opponent is the pens aren't making it pass the 1st rd

Injuries messed up this team. I've got no love for either of them, but I'm not blaming Johnston or Rutherford for something that is out of their control.
- jfkst1

I don't see how you can look at it any other way. No team has the depth to replace the kind of players we're missing. Going to be a short spring if Malkin is down.

By the way, Tiops is saying they can call up a D for Saturday.

Shero started it with not drafting depth wingers, bylsma helped by not playing the youth and thinking the older guys were better, Jr didn't help by trading for spaling and signing him and by not trading a big contract out for picks.

Now they play with 5 D and barely 3 lines which only a few select guys score...

The fact that they are so limited on players if someone gets injured should have flickered a light bulb in the 3 to 4 gms the pens have...

Now they are a team stuck in playoffs with no hope but to make a first round exit less dull and more exciting by hopefully forcing a game 7. Bc no matter who their opponent is the pens aren't making it pass the 1st rd
- nh4442

So far I like what Rutherford has done more than Shero. There are certainly things I wish he did differently like trading RFAs Sutter and Spaling and replacing them with cheaper options like Perreault, Santorelli, and/or Winnik in UFA. Not trading Goc for Lapierre and Despres for Lovejoy would have been more ideal to me as well.

The Pens are one of the most injured teams in the league (5th in MGL and 3rd in TMITT). No GM/coach in the cap era can account for that. It's simply unrealistic to expect them to.

As it stands now with no Dupuis, Maatta, Letang, and Ehrhoff, I don't think the Pens are contenders either. I think they need Letang and Ehrhoff to come back and even then it is hoping for a lot to have players return in top form.

So far I like what Rutherford has done more than Shero. There are certainly things I wish he did differently like trading RFAs Sutter and Spaling and replacing them with cheaper options like Perreault, Santorelli, and/or Winnik in UFA. Not trading Goc for Lapierre and Despres for Lovejoy would have been more ideal to me as well.

The Pens are one of the most injured teams in the league (5th in MGL and 3rd in TMITT). No GM/coach in the cap era can account for that. It's simply unrealistic to expect them to.

As it stands now with no Dupuis, Maatta, Letang, and Ehrhoff, I don't think the Pens are contenders either. I think they need Letang and Ehrhoff to come back and even then it is hoping for a lot to have players return in top form.
- jfkst1

I don't have a problem with JR. Hated the Despres move, but other than that, he's done well. He can't waive a magic wand and fix some of the obvious flaws in one year.

I can't hold Sutter against him either. He had the playoffs of his life last year. Who knew he'd be complete puke this year. I honestly didn't expect him to be this bad.

You cant control injuries but when year after year you are trading draft picks for players like Winnick, Lapierre, Goc, Stemniak, Morrow, Murray etc., etc., this is what you get. There is no help coming, now or in he future. Sundqvist doesn't project to be more than a 3rd liner and apparently Kapanen is our savior. Good luck with that.

Round One games 1 & 2 go on sale tomorrow Better get there early because the crowd is going to line up early, maybe even camp out overnight. More overpriced tickets for the suckers, Ha

Man do you guys overreact to one game. As I saw on Twitter, all this game really means is a slightly lesser chance Philly gets McDavid.

You cant control injuries but when year after year you are trading draft picks for players like Winnick, Lapierre, Goc, Stemniak, Morrow, Murray etc., etc., this is what you get. There is no help coming, now or in he future. Sundqvist doesn't project to be more than a 3rd liner and apparently Kapanen is our savior. Good luck with that.
- all-pgh

why the hell do people keep saying "apparently Kapanen is our savior". I've literally not heard a single person say that. THe only time I hear anything about that, its people saying some blanket statement and assuming thats what everyone else is thinking

Rutherford took a gamble on cap space, and lost, simple as that.

He deserves the backlash he is getting for only being able to dress 5 D, but a lot of bad luck went into that.

If Ehrhoff wasn't in and out of the lineup (resetting his LTIR eligibility), or Letang was two feet further from the boards (or got hurt a couple games prior, making him LTIR eligible), we aren't having this discussion.

Also, I find it mind-numbing that some of the same people who have been critical of Shero/JR moving so many draft picks & young players out, are so eager to dump Beau Bennett for the cap relief for a couple games of Taylor Chorney or Brian Dumolin.

Bennett has been bad this season, no doubt, but that is stupid asset management.

Looks like the Pens season is heading into the Agia Irini waters.

Rutherford took a gamble on cap space, and lost, simple as that.

He deserves the backlash he is getting for only being able to dress 5 D, but a lot of bad luck went into that.

If Ehrhoff wasn't in and out of the lineup (resetting his LTIR eligibility), or Letang was two feet further from the boards (or got hurt a couple games prior, making him LTIR eligible), we aren't having this discussion.

Also, I find it mind-numbing that some of the same people who have been critical of Shero/JR moving so many draft picks & young players out, are so eager to dump Beau Bennett for the cap relief for a couple games of Taylor Chorney or Brian Dumolin.

Bennett has been bad this season, no doubt, but that is stupid asset management.
- rival22

Everyone has to accept what position we are in - it's that simple. Like it or not nothing is going to change, we will probably go under .500 to finish the 82 game season but what does that matter? The real season starts when the games are 'playoff' games & from there bring it on, no salary cap, no excuses, no hope - oops, no hoping this or that happens because game on ladies & gentlemen (& everyone on here ). Bring them on with whatever Pens team is left to play them!

Edit: let's hope BB does his best Forest Gump impersonation (early in the film for those that have no clue what I'm talking about) & RUN Forest, (frank)in RUN!

7 games without Malkin, crosby has 8 points the rest of the team 2. Depth is as bad as last year if you ask me.

Injuries messed up this team. I've got no love for either of them, but I'm not blaming Johnston or Rutherford for something that is out of their control.
- jfkst1

I actually disagree with this point.

This team has had this injury issue for the past 5 seasons. This is no longer a freak series of events or even accidental.

They have a roster full of soft, fragile players who constantly get injured and cant play. At what point do you begin to attempt to move on from these guys?

I love Letang but the dude is constantly injured. Erhoff is soft. Malkin is injured was to often. Martin usually misses a chunk of time. Maatta has had issues both seasons I believe. Duper had issues even before his latest issue.

I love Horny but the way he plays isn't conducive to playing a full 82.

I actually disagree with this point.

This team has had this injury issue for the past 5 seasons. This is no longer a freak series of events or even accidental.

They have a roster full of soft, fragile players who constantly get injured and cant play. At what point do you begin to attempt to move on from these guys?

I love Letang but the dude is constantly injured. Erhoff is soft. Malkin is injured was to often. Martin usually misses a chunk of time. Maatta has had issues both seasons I believe. Duper had issues even before his latest issue.

I love Horny but the way he plays isn't conducive to playing a full 82.
- 87_71_11_29

I wanted Letang traded because he is injury prone. The return Shero would have gotten would have been massive. But it's too late for that now. Crosby, Malkin, Martin, Letang, Neal are/were all injury prone which hurt since basically the 5 best skaters on the team were always on the IR. Dupuis until last year was an iron man. Kunitz has been an iron man. I definitely think the organization could do a better job identifying and moving injury prone players, which is just another application of analytics BTW, but again Shero was worse than GMJR in that regard.

Dont have to look far...BB is damn weak on the puck too.
- taleisyreXIII

Bennett got his job by default. He is the best of the worst

Bennett got his job by default. He is the best of the worst
- holeinone

I gotta say i have seen quite a few of you guys rag on BB this year and after last nite i couldnt agree more. He literally just glided around the ice last nite, weak on the puck and literally just looked disinterested. Malkin returning for the playoffs obviously changes the entire dynamic of this team so i wouldnt be counting yourselves out by a long shot especially if Letang can make an appearance. Overall the Pens team just seemed flat last nite, guessing from the game having no real bearing on anything except the Flyers having a slightly smaller chance of shocking the world and winning the lottery.

was that an April fools joke last night ? or did it count ? normally a game like this I wouldn't care as much but we need to get confidence moving into the playoffs, not lose it.