Pouliot flashes the skills we drafted him for.

He just looks tentative at times too. I think he just needs experience preferebly not playing against the number 2 team in the league during the playoffs.

Pouliot flashes the skills we drafted him for.

He just looks tentative at times too. I think he just needs experience preferebly not playing against the number 2 team in the league during the playoffs.
- sditulli

think the same. pouliot has looked average and below average at times. but I know he has it in him to be a great top 4 if not even a top2 (really reaching there) defensmen. just give him time here in the nhl and FRANKING PLAY HIM INSTEAD OF SITTING HIM!
and to be fair I agree and completly understand that pouliot as he is now should NOT play in the playoffs. we need the best team possible atm.

Watching Finland v Belarus right now and holy poop I never want to watch a hockey game that's not announced in Finnish ever again. I demand Doc Emerick learn Finnish.
- Victoro311

Many say Finnish is the roughest language to learn next to English.

Pouliot flashes the skills we drafted him for.

He just looks tentative at times too. I think he just needs experience preferebly not playing against the number 2 team in the league during the playoffs.
- sditulli

But yet, you maintain he is a 4 million dollar player in two years.

Many say Finnish is the roughest language to learn next to English.
- Oneonta Penguin

to be fair english is not that hard to learn... finnish is FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR harder. I mean seriously Epäjärjestelmällisyydellistyttämättömyydellänsäkäänköhän is one word and it means "something that is unsystemetic"

think the same. pouliot has looked average and below average at times. but I know he has it in him to be a great top 4 if not even a top2 (really reaching there) defensmen. just give him time here in the nhl and FRANKING PLAY HIM INSTEAD OF SITTING HIM!
and to be fair I agree and completly understand that pouliot as he is now should NOT play in the playoffs. we need the best team possible atm.
- martox

I agree with that. He's only 22, two years younger than Dumoulin and prob ahead of Dumoulin development wise at the same age. Obviously you can't assume he'll be Dumo 2.0, but Pouliot still has another year on ELC to figure out what to do with him. He's a cheap asset. If Pouliot wasn't picked #8 overall and Maatta seamlessy being a regular on the team, then maybe people wouldn't be so quick to call him bust or wanna trade him. He's fine Defensive depth for the time being with high upside.

I agree with that. He's only 22, two years younger than Dumoulin and prob ahead of Dumoulin development wise at the same age. Obviously you can't assume he'll be Dumo 2.0, but Pouliot still has another year on ELC to figure out what to do with him. He's a cheap asset. If Pouliot wasn't picked #8 overall and Maatta seamlessy being a regular on the team, then maybe people wouldn't be so quick to call him bust or wanna trade him. He's fine Defensive depth for the time being with high upside.
- tpcg402

Its not so much thinking Pouliot is a bust. Its more so that he was certainly a reach at where we got him, and theres really no room for him in the top 4 unless he, Maatta or Dumoulin can learn to play the right side, which isn't the easiest thing to do. And I personally think that if he reaches somewhere close to his ceiling and becomes a legit top 4 guy, he's worth more to us in a trade than playing bottom line minutes.

Furthermore, the "DP NEEEDS TO PLAYYYYYYY " pundits are so (frank)ing insufferable to the point that I feel like I'm starting to dislike Pouliot the player because I associate him with his fanboys' arrogance.

Pouliot flashes the skills we drafted him for.

He just looks tentative at times too. I think he just needs experience preferebly not playing against the number 2 team in the league during the playoffs.
- sditulli

In the last game he was definitely not confident in the defensive zone.

Justin Williams forced him into mistakes a few different times.

Clearly he can skate very well...just needs to be confident in his ability.

Its not so much thinking Pouliot is a bust. Its more so that he was certainly a reach at where we got him, and theres really no room for him in the top 4 unless he, Maatta or Dumoulin can learn to play the right side, which isn't the easiest thing to do. And I personally think that if he reaches somewhere close to his ceiling and becomes a legit top 4 guy, he's worth more to us in a trade than playing bottom line minutes.

Furthermore, the "DP NEEEDS TO PLAYYYYYYY " pundits are so (frank)ing insufferable to the point that I feel like I'm starting to dislike Pouliot the player because I associate him with his fanboys' arrogance.
- Victoro311

I think Pouliot will be good to go next season when he actually gets some seasoning in him. He should no doubt be the 3LD next season opening day. If not, then yes there will be more concerns.

Now that leads to the next point, we would have 3 good LD's. Of course you can keep them all, but if DP proves he's top 4 worthy early on, would Olli then become expendable? How about a Vatanen-Maatta swap? Both players seem to fit the others play style more than they do the original teams...

Its not so much thinking Pouliot is a bust. Its more so that he was certainly a reach at where we got him, and theres really no room for him in the top 4 unless he, Maatta or Dumoulin can learn to play the right side, which isn't the easiest thing to do. And I personally think that if he reaches somewhere close to his ceiling and becomes a legit top 4 guy, he's worth more to us in a trade than playing bottom line minutes.

Furthermore, the "DP NEEEDS TO PLAYYYYYYY " pundits are so (frank)ing insufferable to the point that I feel like I'm starting to dislike Pouliot the player because I associate him with his fanboys' arrogance.
- Victoro311

I dont think he was much of a reach. I thought Forsberg was the obvious pick and was pissed they didnt take him but he, Trouba and Maata were all ranked closely. Just so happens in retrospect the other two guys turned out better to this point.

Like it or not, DP does need to play. Not in the playoffs right now but next regular season. He has all of the ability, its just impossible to get your game together stepping in off the practice squad in the playoffs.

Its not so much thinking Pouliot is a bust. Its more so that he was certainly a reach at where we got him, and theres really no room for him in the top 4 unless he, Maatta or Dumoulin can learn to play the right side, which isn't the easiest thing to do. And I personally think that if he reaches somewhere close to his ceiling and becomes a legit top 4 guy, he's worth more to us in a trade than playing bottom line minutes.

Furthermore, the "DP NEEEDS TO PLAYYYYYYY " pundits are so (frank)ing insufferable to the point that I feel like I'm starting to dislike Pouliot the player because I associate him with his fanboys' arrogance.
- Victoro311

Fair enough. I think Dumo could prob switch sides if needed. For me Maatta is a question mark as well. You can't have enough quality Dman. As of right now Pouloit should be odd man out. Pens prob won't be able to afford Lovejoy or Schultz for that matter, so Pouliot will get his chance next season.

In the last game he was definitely not confident in the defensive zone.

Justin Williams forced him into mistakes a few different times.

Clearly he can skate very well...just needs to be confident in his ability.
- icedog97

He looked great in the season moving the puck, circling back in his zone to set up the perfect break out at times avoiding forecheckers. Being thrown into the playoffs against Washington after not playing for a month and a half isn't the easiest thing to do... If he stays in the lineup into next round or even later in this series and doesn't look much better, then it's not rust.

Watching Finland v Belarus right now and holy poop I never want to watch a hockey game that's not announced in Finnish ever again. I demand Doc Emerick learn Finnish.
- Victoro311

Sebastian Aho

Many say Finnish is the roughest language to learn next to English.
- Oneonta Penguin

It's brutal. There is no sentence structure. Only suffixes added to the end of words to change their meanings.

Oh, and pronouncing the double vowels or consonants (glottal stops) is crucial.

I dont think he was much of a reach. I thought Forsberg was the obvious pick and was pissed they didnt take him but he, Trouba and Maata were all ranked closely. Just so happens in retrospect the other two guys turned out better to this point.

Like it or not, DP does need to play. Not in the playoffs right now but next regular season. He has all of the ability, its just impossible to get your game together stepping in off the practice squad in the playoffs.
- MacPatty

He needs to play in the sense that he needs to earn his right to a roster spot and start doing something for this organization and work his way out of this development stall he's on. I don't subscribe to this Josh Bailey syndrome that he needs to play because he was a high first rounder and he needs a spot based on his pedigree. This notion that pedigree = skill and players with good pedigrees just need the playing time in order to develop is stupid entitled bull poop that is no better than the idea that vets need to play over young guys because they have experience and #gritness. Fact is, this season, Pouliot didn't make the most of his chances (which were substantial) and vanilla Ben Lovejoy, second half Ian Cole, and derelict bust Justin Schultz were just flat out better hockey players this year than DP.

I understand if two players are pretty close to a wash you play the one with more upside. But if one player is clearly better than the other and you're a playoff team, you put your team in a position to win. The DP fanboys don't disagree with that statement in principal, but are blind when it comes to DP and the arrogance with which they talk about how much better Pouliot is than Lovejoy/Cole is anger inducing.

He needs to play in the sense that he needs to earn his right to a roster spot and start doing something for this organization and work his way out of this development stall he's on. I don't subscribe to this Josh Bailey syndrome that he needs to play because he was a high first rounder and he needs a spot based on his pedigree. This notion that pedigree = skill and players with good pedigrees just need the playing time in order to develop is stupid entitled bull poop that is no better than the idea that vets need to play over young guys because they have experience and #gritness. Fact is, this season, Pouliot didn't make the most of his chances (which were substantial) and vanilla Ben Lovejoy, second half Ian Cole, and derelict bust Justin Schultz were just flat out better hockey players this year than DP.

I understand if two players are pretty close to a wash you play the one with more upside. But if one player is clearly better than the other and you're a playoff team, you put your team in a position to win. The DP fanboys don't disagree with that statement in principal, but are blind when it comes to DP and the arrogance with which they talk about how much better Pouliot is than Lovejoy/Cole is anger inducing.
- Victoro311

He's twenty freaking two. And today nobody is saying he should play over Cole, Lovejoy, or Schultz. Pouliot proved that with his game on Wed.

It's brutal. There is no sentence structure. Only suffixes added to the end of words to change their meanings.

Oh, and pronouncing the double vowels or consonants (glottal stops) is crucial.
- BINGO!

You speak Fin? Call me impressed if you do.

You speak Fin? Call me impressed if you do.
- Oneonta Penguin

Enough to fuddle my way through a short conversation but not fluent by any stretch of the imagination.

I didn't say 4.
I said I expected between Cole and Maata money depending on how he plays next year. Yes we could maybe do 1 year 1.5, but if you want to lock him up a little longer like a 3 yr deal it will take Cole money.

As far as development. I believe most young defenseman need to play to develop. He shows NHL skill level. It's getting use to NHL players and decision making he needs to improve. That means he needs to play and gain experience.

I'm resigning schultz. Buyout kunitz if we need to. I think we can resign schult for 3 years 7.5 to 9. Next year Id like to sully rotate the dmen more. We should not be fighting for a playoff spot till late like we were this year. Try to play our 7d each around 60-70 games depending on injuries.

Playoffs are a different animal. Play your best 6. Regular season we can work on developing Pouliot and to a lesser extent schultz.

I believe what is lacking in DP's game is tenacity. He needs to be more bulldog and less greyhound.

Ill er on the side of caution to keep my banless streak in tack and simply say
- Reverend Killtaker

I got banned once for saying "I wished ryan Wilson would stop xxxxx McDavid"


Xxxx= blowing.

Honestly I didn't think it was that bad.

I got banned once for saying "I wished ryan Wilson would stop xxxxx McDavid"


Xxxx= blowing.

Honestly I didn't think it was that bad.
- pensfan024

Banned.

Not banned yet

So looks like Caggiula is going to Edm... Yet I haven't seen anything about pens being out of it other than a rumor he isn't going to US team...but nothing official