same ol bullpoop from Wilson every time the Pens lose a prospect. Maybe neither are as good as you think they are.

People freaked out about GMJR before he even started and then pretty much complain about ever trade even tho A lot worked out. When he isn’t trading people want him to and vice versa.

Everyone is acting like Sprong was the next Crosby.

Marcus Pettersson was ranked the 7th best European skater from the 2015 NHL Draft, ahead of guys like Ondrej Kase and Sebastian Aho. He went before Brandon Montour...both were picked in the same round.

That said I'm happy with the trade.

Sprong Sucked

Coaches saw him in practice

Coaches saw him in games

Coaches/Management saw his attitude

They didn't like what they saw and moved on

There was a REASON he fell to the end of the 2nd round in his draft year....

Robby Schremp had some sick hands and could bury the puck in junior too, Couldn't do anything in the NHL either

I feel like Rutherford signed Sprong’s death warrant when he kept him past the 9 game try out limit. To me, this trade is Rutherford realizing Sprong isn’t NHL ready yet and trading him for a different prospect he kind of liked that could still be sent through waivers. I’m not upset we traded Sprong. Better than keeping him forever like we did with DP. But keeping Sprong up past that 9 game limit when it was super clear that Johnston/Sullivan had no use for him was the second dumbest move of The Old Man’s tenure here.
- Victoro311

That didn't affect Sprongs waiver eligibility. All it did was start Sprongs ELC, which didn't matter in the end because GMJR resigned him for 575k for 2 years, same as his ELC value, give or take

His playing past the 9 game tryout literally had no effect at all

Sprong Sucked

Coaches saw him in practice

Coaches saw him in games

Coaches/Management saw his attitude

They didn't like what they saw and moved on

There was a REASON he fell to the end of the 2nd round in his draft year....

Robby Schremp had some sick hands and could bury the puck in junior too, Couldn't do anything in the NHL either
- RoloTahmasee

Lol yeah 54 points in 114 games is terrible.

Lol yeah 54 points in 114 games is terrible.
- Feds91Stammer

Whatever happened to that guy lol? it's like he just disappeared

The only thing I dislike about moving Sprong in this deal was that it wasn’t packaged with Maatta for something more.

same ol bullpoop from Wilson every time the Pens lose a prospect. Maybe neither are as good as you think they are.
- Blackstrom2

The issue is not whether or not they were as good as they thought they'd be. The issue is they never did them any justice to let them show what they might have been.

Pouliot and Sprong are similar in that they're both offensive-minded players and Sullivan was so fixated on making sure they only focused on defensive play that he never had them playing to their strengths.

Lol yeah 54 points in 114 games is terrible.
- Feds91Stammer

Where'd he go then?

- Couldn't/Wouldn't play defense

- Poor Attitude/Uncoachable

Score 54 pts (37 Even Strength) and are a minus 24 are you helping your team or hurting them?

I'm glad they got a young player back and not some journeyman for Sprong. I'm pleased it's not some rental and instead someone who could turn out to be a decent defenseman.

Mangled prospect like pouliot!?!? Only thing mangled with him was drafting him 8th overall in the first place. He’s a borderline 6/7 d man and the only fault lies with him.

This is so dumb. 42 games 4 goals and it’s all because he isn’t playing with Crosby. He should have just listened to his coaches and not been a Richard to everyone in the organization. I hope he ends up in the ECHL.

Mangled prospect like pouliot!?!? Only thing mangled with him was drafting him 8th overall in the first place. He’s a borderline 6/7 d man and the only fault lies with him.
- ChrisMS

Oh what could have been...was it the pouliot pick or the Maatta pick that we could have had Forsberg?

This is so dumb. 42 games 4 goals and it’s all because he isn’t playing with Crosby. He should have just listened to his coaches and not been a Richard to everyone in the organization. I hope he ends up in the ECHL.
- Grinder47

Yeah for sure there had to have been something else going on. They did say he had attitude problems. Oh well I'm not crying over it. Now trade Maatta.

Where'd he go then?

- Couldn't/Wouldn't play defense

- Poor Attitude/Uncoachable

Score 54 pts (37 Even Strength) and are a minus 24 are you helping your team or hurting them?
- RoloTahmasee

Love me some plus minus posts to start my day with.

(frank) goal prevention. Pens should be going all in on offense, not worrying about playing defense. The depth scoring is the biggest problem, not the goal prevention. The only time the goal prevention is a problem is when JJ is on the ice and that isn't changing, so better go find some forwards.
- j.boyd919

We tried that and ended up last in the East and 29th overall.

Love me some plus minus posts to start my day with.
- Feds91Stammer

But where'd he go then?

EDIT: https://thehockeywriters....-happened-to-rob-schremp/

EDIT: Perhaps there is something to the plus minus in this case...perhaps it wasnt all about production, that he was hurting the teams on and/or off the ice....

How long til Calen Addison is blocked from ice time due to Jack Johnson and we end up trading him for some other teams messed up prospect?

How long til Calen Addison is blocked from ice time due to Jack Johnson and we end up trading him for some other teams messed up prospect?
- YouMeAndDupuis9

Johnson will be gone in the next expansion.

I'm disappointed. Very disappointed. Not because of the trade, but because I came here to read Wilson whine about Jack Johnson.

I wouldve loved to read RW blogs during the Morozov days

Probably something like:

"His possession numbers are comparable to Jagr in his prime if only the pens didn't mangle his ice time and development"

Sprong Sucked

Coaches saw him in practice

Coaches saw him in games

Coaches/Management saw his attitude

They didn't like what they saw and moved on

There was a REASON he fell to the end of the 2nd round in his draft year....

Robby Schremp had some sick hands and could bury the puck in junior too, Couldn't do anything in the NHL either
- RoloTahmasee

54 points in 114 nhl games isn’t exactly “nothing.” The problem with the NHL and players like him (DP, Sprong, etc.) is that often times teams are SO handcuffed to their high draft area (1st round, blah blah) that they move in if they don’t catapult to the top 6 or top 4. But it’s perfectly acceptable to be a career bottom 6/bottom pairing production guy regardless of draft position. It’s just up to the teams to recognize that and utilize them in the correct way instead of trying to fit a round peg into a square hole.

Mangled prospect like pouliot!?!? Only thing mangled with him was drafting him 8th overall in the first place. He’s a borderline 6/7 d man and the only fault lies with him.
- ChrisMS

There’s nothing wrong with being a 3rd pairing NHL player. You’re still a consistent NHL player at that point. It’s up to teams to recognize where they belong in the lineup and play them where they should. I’d much rather have DP on the 3rd pairing than JJ. For 2.15m cheaper too.

We tried that and ended up last in the East and 29th overall.
- Thunderbolt

When? When did they try that? It sure as (frank) isn’t this season hahahahaha signing guys like JJ, Cullen, etc. and trading away Sprong, and playing guys like Grant and Wilson don’t exactly scream goal scoring.