Ryan Wilson: State of the Penguins State of the Penguins

Posted previously, but two hours and my thoughts have not changed:

I have admittedly not watched as many games this year. Here are, however, my thoughts.

1. It is the regular season. Who cares how they play as long as they qualify for the playoffs. The past five years the Pens have rolled through the regular season. What do they have to show for it. This team has and will continue to be judged on its play in April and May. Perhaps, the players also know this.

2. Sid needs to be better, but...I would rather he be fully healthy come April. He has enough regular season awards.

3. You will never get equal value back when trading Malkin. Name me one time a superstar (generational star in the case of Malkin) has been traded away and equal or greater value came back. Jagr-no, Seguin-no, Thorton-no, Gretzky- no, Hossa-no

Ryan, I like the players you want to acquire, but do we have the assets to get it done? What do think it would cost to get those guys?

Posted previously, but two hours and my thoughts have not changed:

I have admittedly not watched as many games this year. Here are, however, my thoughts.

1. It is the regular season. Who cares how they play as long as they qualify for the playoffs. The past five years the Pens have rolled through the regular season. What do they have to show for it. This team has and will continue to be judged on its play in April and May. Perhaps, the players also know this.

2. Sid needs to be better, but...I would rather he be fully healthy come April. He has enough regular season awards.

3. You will never get equal value back when trading Malkin. Name me one time a superstar (generational star in the case of Malkin) has been traded away and equal or greater value came back. Jagr-no, Seguin-no, Thorton-no, Gretzky- no, Hossa-no
- Tiogadog

Trade Malkin to Buffalo for their 1st round (assumed #1 overall) pick. Rig the lottery. Get McDavid. Hide the Evidence.

New Crosby/McDavid :p

Excellent blog. Can't argue with one point. The only thing I'd add is I'm not sold that some of these D should be given free reign to jump into the play. The players inability to play the dump and chase are resulting in ton's of turnovers at the blue line these days.

The playoffs are about getting pucks on net and defending. Right now I see very little of that.

Posted previously, but two hours and my thoughts have not changed:

I have admittedly not watched as many games this year. Here are, however, my thoughts.

1. It is the regular season. Who cares how they play as long as they qualify for the playoffs. The past five years the Pens have rolled through the regular season. What do they have to show for it. This team has and will continue to be judged on its play in April and May. Perhaps, the players also know this.

2. Sid needs to be better, but...I would rather he be fully healthy come April. He has enough regular season awards.

3. You will never get equal value back when trading Malkin. Name me one time a superstar (generational star in the case of Malkin) has been traded away and equal or greater value came back. Jagr-no, Seguin-no, Thorton-no, Gretzky- no, Hossa-no
- Tiogadog

I missed the game yesterday and have not watched many this yr as well. I think I can safely assume that the Preds game plan was Mike Fisher and Weber matched against 87 the entire day and they basically could have put cones out for the other lines. I don't think you can say 87 doesn't care when he is still near the top of the pt race despite the depletion of the team. thats a cop out.

Regarding fair value in a Malkin trade. I go back to Madden's proposal a 1st, Max Pacraioty, and Galenychuk from MTL. Malkin is 51 pts for $9.5 mil, those 2 from MTL are 73 pts for $5.4 mil. I think that is a realistic trade proposal that is fair to both clubs.

First of all I don't believe the Pens as they are right now are a serious Cup contender. Sure they could still win it this year but I think their chances are less than they have been in quite some time. This is why I think it is wrong for them to be a big buyer of rental players at the trade deadline.

The three biggest problems the team has are responsibility with the puck, lack of skilled defensemen, and size/fragility. Responsibility with the puck is their biggest problem and it starts with their forwards, including Crosby, making bad passes in both the neutral zone and even defensive zone that get intercepted and put both the defense and Fleury in bad and in cases impossible situations. If the pass isn't there they shouldn't be trying to force it.

As far as defensemen go, the only skilled defensman on the team right now is Letang. Martin and Harrington are decent but can't feed the offense as effectively as Letang. Maatta is probably the second best but he is of course out for the season. Pouliot may be as good as Letang some day but he is just a rookie now. Despres makes lots of mistakes. Perhaps this can be put down to Byslma not developing him properly but in any case he needs to play much more responsibly. The rest...

Posted previously, but two hours and my thoughts have not changed:

I have admittedly not watched as many games this year. Here are, however, my thoughts.

1. It is the regular season. Who cares how they play as long as they qualify for the playoffs. The past five years the Pens have rolled through the regular season. What do they have to show for it. This team has and will continue to be judged on its play in April and May. Perhaps, the players also know this.

2. Sid needs to be better, but...I would rather he be fully healthy come April. He has enough regular season awards.

3. You will never get equal value back when trading Malkin. Name me one time a superstar (generational star in the case of Malkin) has been traded away and equal or greater value came back. Jagr-no, Seguin-no, Thorton-no, Gretzky- no, Hossa-no
- Tiogadog

No on trading Malkin under any circumstance. That does not mean we wont read pages of proposals. His return and pairing with Kunitz should give the Pens two solid scoring lines.

Agreed with Ryan... Perron is a LW and belongs on Crosby's left... Disagree with Ryan that "its a lazy accessment" to blame Crosby for the Pens consistent lack of offense recently... he is the leader of the team and the best offensive player in the league... need to step it up (the way we ve seen Malkin do it several times over the last few years)

Ryan is correct on Sutter... he s been terrible

First of all I don't believe the Pens as they are right now are a serious Cup contender. Sure they could still win it this year but I think their chances are less than they have been in quite some time. This is why I think it is wrong for them to be a big buyer of rental players at the trade deadline.

The three biggest problems the team has are responsibility with the puck, lack of skilled defensemen, and size/fragility. Responsibility with the puck is their biggest problem and it starts with their forwards, including Crosby, making bad passes in both the neutral zone and even defensive zone that get intercepted and put both the defense and Fleury in bad and in cases impossible situations. If the pass isn't there they shouldn't be trying to force it.

As far as defensemen go, the only skilled defensman on the team right now is Letang. Martin and Harrington are decent but can't feed the offense as effectively as Letang. Maatta is probably the second best but he is of course out for the season. Pouliot may be as good as Letang some day but he is just a rookie now. Despres makes lots of mistakes. Perhaps this can be put down to Byslma not developing him properly but in any case he needs to play much more responsibly. The rest...
- PghPens668771

Agreed!!!

I just can't figure out why Jason Karmanos was hired. For those of you that have forgotten, he was brought in with the Jim Rutherford tenure to focus on analytics, yet clearly he is doing a terrible job or Jim Rutherford is not listening to him. Either way, why are we paying him?

Agree with Ryan that a Bergenheim or Winnik would do wonders for our overall depth. Sutter hasn't passed the eye test lately but even his HERO chart is terrifying. Trade him while his last name still has some value..

Here's my list of players I think could really help for varying reasons:

S. Bergenheim
D. Winnik
A. Lowry
A. Roussel
D. King
M. Hanzal
M. Boedker

After watching the past few games, I do think the Penguins are a flawed team at the moment. However, as I have said before, I don't think unloading any significant asset* for a rental player is worth it. I personally don't see the Penguins being 1 player away from a perfect team.

I do, however, see them as being a few good UFA signings. Less Adams and Sill ($1.25M, combined), more Comeau and Downie ($1.7M, combined). I'm not saying the Pens shoudln't gauge the trade market to see what is out there, but I'd rather they play the long-game & look to add a few quality, low-dollar signings this offseason as the Canadian dollar continues to plummet than ship off a prime asset for a rental player.

* = I would define a 'significant asset' as any of the following: 1st or 2nd round pick, Pouliot, Harrington, Dumoulin, Jarry, Murray, Sundquvist, or Kapanen. In short, any player who will or could contribute in a significant way while on an ELC or RFA deal.

Ryan what are your thoughts on the Penguins playing sellers this year to get a pick in the draft? Its definitely an unpopular idea and i realize the time to win is now and everything, but with the deepest draft since 2003 it's painful to see us go in with just 1 pick in the top 90.

Maybe if Pouliot shows a lot of promise, shipping Martin for a mid tier d-man and a 2nd?

I dunno, probably not the wisest decision but just curious on your thoughts.

After watching the past few games, I do think the Penguins are a flawed team at the moment. However, as I have said before, I don't think unloading any significant asset* for a rental player is worth it. I personally don't see the Penguins being 1 player away from a perfect team.

I do, however, see them as being a few good UFA signings. Less Adams and Sill ($1.25M, combined), more Comeau and Downie ($1.7M, combined). I'm not saying the Pens shoudln't gauge the trade market to see what is out there, but I'd rather they play the long-game & look to add a few quality, low-dollar signings this offseason as the Canadian dollar continues to plummet than ship off a prime asset for a rental player.

* = I would define a 'significant asset' as any of the following: 1st or 2nd round pick, Pouliot, Harrington, Dumoulin, Jarry, Murray, Sundquvist, or Kapanen. In short, any player who will or could contribute in a significant way while on an ELC or RFA deal.
- s0rcerer1984

You do realize all of your "significant assets" are the only thing of value that the Pens can move for anything coming back of value? Sutter, BB aren't worth the practice jerseys they wear, Martin won't fetch much and with Maata out, thats a no go now. But with any move the Pens will need to shed salary, so Sutter has 3+ and Martin 5. How else you gonna make a significant move?

You do realize all of your "significant assets" are the only thing of value that the Pens can move for anything coming back of value? Sutter, BB aren't worth the practice jerseys they wear, Martin won't fetch much and with Maata out, thats a no go now. But with any move the Pens will need to shed salary, so Sutter has 3+ and Martin 5. How else you gonna make a significant move?
- sammy87

Pooling from the guys below could get likely net us some players from the list I posted a few comments back...

Sutter
Spaling
Harrington
Dumoulin
Bortuzzo
Adams & Scuderi (duh)
2015 mid round pick
2016 as high as 2nd round pick
Wilson/Megna/Archibald/D'Agostino as throw in prospects

As long as they wait to address the teams issues once the playoffs start I'm fine with the state of the team. There is no reason to worry about anything when the end goal is simply to expect everything to magically come together in round 1 game 1.

You do realize all of your "significant assets" are the only thing of value that the Pens can move for anything coming back of value? Sutter, BB aren't worth the practice jerseys they wear, Martin won't fetch much and with Maata out, thats a no go now. But with any move the Pens will need to shed salary, so Sutter has 3+ and Martin 5. How else you gonna make a significant move?
- sammy87

Yes. That is the point. I would not give anything of value up for a rental player. If that means not making a significant move, so be it. Roll with what we have & see what happens. Maybe I am the outlier here, but I just don't see how 20-some games of Daniel Winnik is going to suddenly make the Penguins into a team that has a significantly better chance of beating the Rangers, Islanders, or Capitals in the Playoffs.

I do, however, think hanging on to guys like Dumoulin, Pouliot, & Sundquvist while adding some low dollar, quality depth UFA signings this offseason while the Rangers, Islanders, and Capitals lose some significant players to UFA significantly increases the chance of beating the Rangers, Islanders, or Capitals in the Playoffs next year and going forward. Like I previously said, I'd rather see them play the long game than try to force the issue this season with over-priced rental players.

Yes. That is the point. I would not give anything of value up for a rental player. If that means not making a significant move, so be it. Roll with what we have & see what happens. Maybe I am the outlier here, but I just don't see how 20-some games of Daniel Winnik is going to suddenly make the Penguins into a team that has a significantly better chance of beating the Rangers, Islanders, or Capitals in the Playoffs.

I do, however, think hanging on to guys like Dumoulin, Pouliot, & Sundquvist while adding some low dollar, quality depth UFA signings this offseason while the Rangers, Islanders, and Capitals lose some significant players to UFA significantly increases the chance of beating the Rangers, Islanders, or Capitals in the Playoffs next year and going forward. Like I previously said, I'd rather see them play the long game than try to force the issue this season with over-priced rental players.
- s0rcerer1984

I agree 100%. I just laugh when the whipping boys on this club (Sutter, BB, Spaling, Scuds, Adams) have a return of like Boedker, Hanzel etc....Then they argue against the counter of trading away Pouliott and the only defense is well Rob Rossi said he was good and he had 1 nice goal in the NHL and a great highlight from the AHL.

Pooling from the guys below could get likely net us some players from the list I posted a few comments back...

Sutter
Spaling
Harrington
Dumoulin
Bortuzzo
Adams & Scuderi (duh)
2015 mid round pick
2016 as high as 2nd round pick
Wilson/Megna/Archibald/D'Agostino as throw in prospects
- YouMeAndDupuis9

I'd be willing to move any of these players, but I very much hope they hold on to Harrington & Dumoulin. The Canadian dollar is plumeting, current $0.7945 today, so every ELC or RFA contract the Penguins use leaves a little more Cap Space for qulaity 3rd and 4th line depth signings. Some good depth players will be available at bargain rates to the teams who have the space to afford them.

I think adversity is exactly what the Pens need at this point in the season, we only need to get into playoffs and IF we can learn from these struggles and become a better team as a whole (including coaches) this may indeed turn out to be a recipe for success. That being said its a big IF. Someone posted earlier that the Pens usually just cruise through the reg season and what has that accomplished? I for one am interested to see what happens now , the next couple months should show us who the REAL Penguins are ...

Nick Spalling has ardent supporters?

As things stand right now, there is no just get to the playoffs. I think far too many people think its a simple given that the Pens will get to the playoffs when in reality they are only in by about 2 or 3 games...far from a given. You can look at any rental player you want or trade any asset you want but the majority of the issues this team has is and has been in house and they have been hardly addressed, but by all means just "get to the playoffs".

The only thing I van think right now is that johnston is just trying all line combos to ser what he hás come playoff time.

Perron and Horn showed instante chemistry with Sid. Yet he refuses to play both of them with him.

Kunitz Sutter and Bennett playing his proper position was a very good line december and he refuses to play them together.

Ultimately. The worst Of it all is playing BB at LW. He sucks there...

Anyway. Im hoping hes just testing line combos after all...

Regarding fair value in a Malkin trade. I go back to Madden's proposal a 1st, Max Pacraioty, and Galenychuk from MTL. Malkin is 51 pts for $9.5 mil, those 2 from MTL are 73 pts for $5.4 mil. I think that is a realistic trade proposal that is fair to both clubs.
- sammy87

You just said trading Malkin and realistic in the same paragraph. It is not.

You just said trading Malkin and realistic in the same paragraph. It is not.
- thickman1178

Well then you can figure out the magical way to have more available cash to play adequate bottom 6 forwards.