Well, I got home in time to see Letang's horrible pass and Kuznetov's OT Winner. My buddy was giving me updates though. He said the Pens had 7 shots halfway thru the game? Was Washington playing that well or did the Pens shat the bed?

I think there are a lot of solid players out there this free agency period. Not a lot of big names, but Kovalchuk said he wants to come to the NHL for a shot at the cup. Maybe Malkin and JR can talk him into a cheaper contract for a shot at the cup.


Trade Potential players:

Letang
Sheary
Brassard (I feel Sullivan had more confidence in Sheahan and with a free agency period with 4th center options I could see us packaging Brassard in a trade or seeing if we could get a return similar to what we spent since Centers do hold a lot of value).
Hunwick


Potential Players to add:

Top 4 Defenseman (This I feel will take priority.)
Top 6 Winger (Kovalchuk, Kane, Van Riemsdyk, Neal, Pacioretty)
Depth guys (Grabner, 4th line Center if we trade Brassard).

Good season and battle boys! Just ran out of gas, looked too slow, and Washington had all the energy. Let's get rested up and make a good healthy run next year.

Regardless of the loss, this series could have easily gone our way. Was so close and tight. Ovie wins game 3 with 1 minute left, but a couple minutes before that Malkin clanged one off the post, and then last night shortly before Kuznetsov scores the winner, Khunackle rang one off the post. Game of inches. Not our season!

As much as I'd love to see Ovie get a cup, I dispise Barry Trotz way too much. Lets go Flower!!

Anybodoy think we can move Hunwick? 2.5 million a year for two more years? He is going to be tough to move. Sheary is likewise going to be tough to move.
- PittsPens

Hunwick would be tough. Hope it's like Martin and he fits better the second year becauseI fear we're stick with him.

I think a GM looking for scoring will see 41 goals over the past two seasons for Sheary and take a shot on him. His contract really isn't terrible. Pens happen to have other options.

If Sprong is going to play, there's 1 top 6 (hopefully ), winger, then you can mix & match the lines but who Willi replace Shears? I'm not advocating keeping him just asking who takes his spot?

I really think the day of fast clean hockey is gone for a short while. Need an aggressive forward or 2 with an Oleksi type Dman. The Caps beat the poop out of us with dirty & hard play. As much as I doubt it happens or want it to, a player like E Kane should be on the shopping list.
- Aussiepenguin

Hornqvist, Kessel, Guentzel, Rust, Hagelin, ZAR, Sprong are 7 possibilities for the top 3 lines. Kuhnhackl is probably back as the last forward and Simon as the 13th wing. Even if they traded Sheary they'd have a pretty set line-up. Doesn't mean they can't look at a wing, but they have young options to try and it's pretty crowded.

No, he wasn't in regards to Mario. He played the majority of his time with goalies in small pads. Darren f-ing Pang! Right around '93 is when it changed...Mario was through the majority of his career.

Zero argument that Mario was great but a shot on net back then, with the sticks provided, went in without the skill these guys are showing today.

I feel that if today's players were transported back, they would be superior.
- CB

What if those old players, with the same brains and genetics , were born 25 years later and had the same training, culture and equipment growing up? Its all relative.

Wayne, yes, Mario was shooting and scoring in a legit goaltender era

There are goalies in my beer league that could play better than some of those early 80's flop goalies
- RoloTahmasee

Yeah, Mario played through both eras, but still, today's game is generally considered the lowest scoring NHL era.

https://www.hockey-refere...ce.com/leagues/stats.html

To score 50 goals with regularity like Ovi does today is impressive. No one else in the league today scores goals like that.

Hornqvist, Kessel, Guentzel, Rust, Hagelin, ZAR, Sprong are 7 possibilities for the top 3 lines. Kuhnhackl is probably back as the last forward and Simon as the 13th wing. Even if they traded Sheary they'd have a pretty set line-up. Doesn't mean they can't look at a wing, but they have young options to try and it's pretty crowded.
- Tojo.

Of those in the mix you list above, 1 plays a physical game. I said it earlier, I think the game is going back to a fast heavy game. I'm very interested in seeing how Vegas will go, as I don't really think they are a physical team. Preds & Peg are very physical & can be very dirty. Tampa has that element as well & we all know the Caps.............

JR smelt it last off season, this year has proven it in my mind. If your goalie isn't above average to very good & your team can't find the twine the bigger teams will wear you down.

I think there are a lot of solid players out there this free agency period. Not a lot of big names, but Kovalchuk said he wants to come to the NHL for a shot at the cup. Maybe Malkin and JR can talk him into a cheaper contract for a shot at the cup.


Trade Potential players:

Letang
Sheary
Brassard (I feel Sullivan had more confidence in Sheahan and with a free agency period with 4th center options I could see us packaging Brassard in a trade or seeing if we could get a return similar to what we spent since Centers do hold a lot of value).
Hunwick


Potential Players to add:

Top 4 Defenseman (This I feel will take priority.)
Top 6 Winger (Kovalchuk, Kane, Van Riemsdyk, Neal, Pacioretty)
Depth guys (Grabner, 4th line Center if we trade Brassard).
- 123Kid

No. This trade Letang nonsense is retarded logic. Trading Brassard is a mistake too.

Of those in the mix you list above, 1 plays a physical game. I said it earlier, I think the game is going back to a fast heavy game. I'm very interested in seeing how Vegas will go, as I don't really think they are a physical team. Preds & Peg are very physical & can be very dirty. Tampa has that element as well & we all know the Caps.............

JR smelt it last off season, this year has proven it in my mind. If your goalie isn't above average to very good & your team can't find the twine the bigger teams will wear you down.
- Aussiepenguin

Since 2014-15, the total number of hits by NHL teams has gone down significantly. In 2014-15, 15 teams topped 2,000+ hits. In 2017-18, 3 teams topped 2,000.

Of those in the mix you list above, 1 plays a physical game. I said it earlier, I think the game is going back to a fast heavy game. I'm very interested in seeing how Vegas will go, as I don't really think they are a physical team. Preds & Peg are very physical & can be very dirty. Tampa has that element as well & we all know the Caps.............

JR smelt it last off season, this year has proven it in my mind. If your goalie isn't above average to very good & your team can't find the twine the bigger teams will wear you down.
- Aussiepenguin

I'd say Hornqvist, ZAR, and even Guentzel (hits a lot though not sure he does much damage) all have a physical element. They don't have a Tom Wilson, but good luck finding one. Since they won the last two Cups with those guys in most of the top roles, they've proven that group can get it done.

No. This trade Letang nonsense is retarded logic. Trading Brassard is a mistake too.
- j.boyd919

I really wanted Brassard, but this far it hasn't worked out. Still, it feels like a knee-jerk reaction to trade him when he's on a bargain cap hit. He was brought in to play with Phil and Phil was bad regardless of his center.

That 3C is likely playing with Kessel or Sprong next year so I'd want to give Brassard another chance to see if he clicks with either. I really don't think his play was terrible, but he couldn't score and he was brought in to do so. But he's getting too much of the blame for a team wide failure to score a goal from the bottom 3 lines.

Most import things for the Pens to do is not over-react. They have a model that's been working and a loaded team coming back next year set to add a potential young scorer. They burned out this year, but it was always going to be an uphill battle to win 3 straight.

I really wanted Brassard, but this far it hasn't worked out. Still, it feels like a knee-jerk reaction to trade him when he's on a bargain cap hit. He was brought in to play with Phil and Phil was bad regardless of his center.

That 3C is likely playing with Kessel or Sprong next year so I'd want to give Brassard another chance to see if he clicks with either. I really don't think his play was terrible, but he couldn't score and he was brought in to do so. But he's getting too much of the blame for a team wide failure to score a goal from the bottom 3 lines.
- Tojo.

Yep. Exactly. What are we gonna do, go get another C that we don't know if it works? We already have a roster full of good players. Trading players for the sake of change after getting bounced in the 2nd round isn't smart. It's not like they got the floors mopped with them. They were all close games. They lost in OT, and Holtby played amazing. No reason to over react to Holtby playing well. Next year he gets a full training camp, and a full 82-game season to show his worth. I'd rather ride that trade out until the end given his history than trade him.

Most import things for the Pens to do is not over-react. They have a model that's been working and a loaded team coming back next year set to add a potential young scorer. They burned out this year, but it was always going to be an uphill battle to win 3 straight.
- Tojo.

Say they ship out Sheary...

Guentzel-Sid-Sprong
Hags-Geno-Horny
Rust-Brassard-Kessel
ZAR-Sheahan-Kuhn
Simon

Honestly... where are the Pens gonna upgrade and at what cost?

Top 40 UFA's based on points... who does everyone want? JVR? Kane? Grabner? Those are the only 3 I really have an interest in. Grabner is probably the only realistic one, but even at that... it's a stretch. Unless he plays 4th line RW.

Say they ship out Sheary...

Guentzel-Sid-Sprong
Hags-Geno-Horny
Rust-Brassard-Kessel
ZAR-Sheahan-Kuhn
Simon

Honestly... where are the Pens gonna upgrade and at what cost?
- j.boyd919

I don't want to upgrade the Forwards besides what you've put up already. It's our D that might need a tweak.

Also, what do you think the Pens about the goalie situation? Murray was OK. He will learn from this, do some glove hand exercises in the offseason with some medicine balls or something. Run the 2 out of the 3 young goalies in tandem? Or sign a veteran on the cheap as a backup?

I don't want to upgrade the Forwards besides what you've put up already. It's our D that might need a tweak.

Also, what do you think the Pens about the goalie situation? Murray was OK. He will learn from this, do some glove hand exercises in the offseason with some medicine balls or something. Run the 2 out of the 3 young goalies in tandem? Or sign a veteran on the cheap as a backup?
- chimpira

I'll respond in the new blog.

Since 2014-15, the total number of hits by NHL teams has gone down significantly. In 2014-15, 15 teams topped 2,000+ hits. In 2017-18, 3 teams topped 2,000.
- j.boyd919

You completely missed the point. Entirely. Better off ignoring my comments.