What else is great about this article is once again the timing. The RFA discussion period opens today. Seems to me like that’s a more relevant discussion towards the on ice product and he could’ve said “stay tuned as my next article will congratulate but ultimately continue to rip into our GM! Thanks for reading!”

I actually think this is overplayed due to poor shooting down the stretch and the playoff exit. Frustration that the puck isn't going in looks like malaise or rebelling against a coach. Frankly, they played decent enough to win the first round if they played average goaltending, but they played against stellar goaltending and lost.

I don't think Sullivan lost the room, I think the Crosby line got buried in a match up they should have killed and the goaltending from Lehner was outstanding. I love the Kahun addition and moving another piece and bringing in another younger player on a prove it contract would be good. But I keep the top 4 of Sid, Geno, Phil and Letang intact for one more run.
- burgh4life87

I don't know about this... I watched a Pens team barely able to move the puck up the ice (regardless of which D pair was on the ice) and I watched an Isles team repeatedly move up the ice with ease, as if THEY were the seasoned playoff team. The Pens only scored 6 goals in 4 games... it was painful to watch, and it felt like a reminder of the entire season when they either barely won games and gave away too many others.

TSN is speculating that Gardiner and Nyquist could be fits in NJ. I think Gardiner to NJD makes perfect sense and they can ship Vats our for other assets. If they can stay healthy they’ll be in the hunt this next year

Client of mine called Shero the nicest and best GM he ever had. He said he was extremely open with what his plans were which a lot of GMs are not

I don't know about this... I watched a Pens team barely able to move the puck up the ice (regardless of which D pair was on the ice) and I watched an Isles team repeatedly move up the ice with ease, as if THEY were the seasoned playoff team. The Pens only scored 6 goals in 4 games... it was painful to watch, and it felt like a reminder of the entire season when they either barely won games and gave away too many others.
- Cousinskrid

I also attribute a large part of this on either the coaches or the forwards. The Aislander forwards were ALWAYS open on the breakouts and it lead to fast breaks against, our forwards were rarely seen creating their own passing lanes off breakouts. From an X’s and O’s standpoint this postseason was so bad

Soooo... would getting the super hot goaltending in Carolina count as lightning in a bottle?

I see some arguing that phrase... I think goaltending that can carry a postseason is pretty lucky.

My RW blog:

Complain, whine, cry, whine, Jack Johnson, complain, b*itch, moan, complain, Jack Johnson, whine, Jim Rutherford, cry, complain.

Thanks for reading!

My RW blog:

Complain, whine, cry, whine, Jack Johnson, complain, b*itch, moan, complain, Jack Johnson, whine, Jim Rutherford, cry, complain.

Thanks for reading!
- LeafsPain54

Tell me about it, hes sounding like a typical Leafs fan.

I actually think this is overplayed due to poor shooting down the stretch and the playoff exit. Frustration that the puck isn't going in looks like malaise or rebelling against a coach. Frankly, they played decent enough to win the first round if they played average goaltending, but they played against stellar goaltending and lost.

I don't think Sullivan lost the room, I think the Crosby line got buried in a match up they should have killed and the goaltending from Lehner was outstanding. I love the Kahun addition and moving another piece and bringing in another younger player on a prove it contract would be good. But I keep the top 4 of Sid, Geno, Phil and Letang intact for one more run.
- burgh4life87

You could very well be right with most of your opinion parts here....and I obviously hope you are. The very last sentence I totally agree with, well, except maybe Phil...maybe. If he really wants out then I want him gone, if that's made up, then I want him to stay.

I'm sorry covering a very successful hockey team for a fan blog site is so painful for the writer. Thoughts and prayers.
- mdub71

Really low class move by Wilson to use Rutherford's HOF selection as an excuse to bash him.

Tell me about it, hes sounding like a typical Leafs fan.
- Reverend Killtaker

I think Leafs fans should be happy Jack Johnson stopped the mighty Penguins from running amock over the entire eastern conference, singlehandedly!!

Oh yeah, I guess this didn't help them much...

The list of players he’s shipped out/let go of is certainly a good one, but he also brought some of those guys in and look at the Murray extension vs the Fleury extension. We discussed it yesterday and I would agree that the bargain signings of Murray, Dumo, Guentzel, etc all offset Gudbranson and JJ.

The ONLY reason why I liked the Hornqvist extension when it was first signed was because I thought he would continue to be a tradeable asset. Obviously not once the NTC it was announced. I was a much bigger advocate of bringing in Evander Kane and shipping 72 elsewhere. We also should’ve kept Cole (which is on Sully!) and Oleksiak (also on Sully)

Dumo-Letang
Cole-Schultz
Petts-Oleksiak
Ruhwedel

Man this would’ve been nice 😒🔫 (calm tf down, issa squirt gun). Maatta could’ve been moved in the Kane deal instead of shipping out Cole+ to get Brass 🤮
- WSCTeton17

Man I like that defense. Cole was always need too good to be a top 6, yet both Schultz and Oleksiak were better off with him over Maatta 🤔. Kept the wrong defenseman there, an Oleksiak woul have been fine at #6 and not created the hole they needed Gudbranson to fill.

Soooo... would getting the super hot goaltending in Carolina count as lightning in a bottle?

I see some arguing that phrase... I think goaltending that can carry a postseason is pretty lucky.
- Guile

All JRs cups have come from lights out play from rookie goalies. He’s a genius

Man I like that defense. Cole was always need too good to be a top 6, yet both Schultz and Oleksiak were better off with him over Maatta 🤔. Kept the wrong defenseman there, an Oleksiak woul have been fine at #6 and not created the hole they needed Gudbranson to fill.
- Tojo.

Do you think Oleksiak would of been traded if he got the upper hand on Wilson in that fight, instead of being KO'd?

Putting those two cup teams together on the fly was masterful. Ray Shero and Dan Bylsma would have never gotten them back to the cup.

Really low class move by Wilson to use Rutherford's HOF selection as an excuse to bash him.
- Tojo.

Exactly

The locker room concerns me this year. The look of unmotivated uninspired play the past season by most players a lot nights, the very beginning off-season comments by JR about trading or maybe trading some of the core and then the backtracking, the trying to trade Kessel and him denying the trade, Sullivan's brutal lineup choices, Sullivans lack of good adjustments and a feeling I get that the players kind of tuned him out....that all leads me to have concerns about the locker room.
- MattStrat

Here's what I say about changing the culture and the team: it started at the trade deadline. Brassard, Pearson, and Sheahan were flat out stealing money while Bjugstad, McCann, and Gudbranson worked their tails off.

This team has been getting rid of most of it's non-JJ dead weight. Not bringing back Cullen and Wilson would continue that. I think losing Maatta who only play good if his partner carries him was also removing a guy who was more passenger then people want to admit.

Kessel is an attitude problem and not a hard worker, but so long as he isn't actually a problem the locker room (and that's debatable) he at least adds on ice value in scoring you can carry with the rest of the roster. Malkin just needs to realize he's 33 and tone it back a bit.

TSN is speculating that Gardiner and Nyquist could be fits in NJ. I think Gardiner to NJD makes perfect sense and they can ship Vats our for other assets. If they can stay healthy they’ll be in the hunt this next year

Client of mine called Shero the nicest and best GM he ever had. He said he was extremely open with what his plans were which a lot of GMs are not
- WSCTeton17

What would Sami Vatanen cost the Penguins? I've always liked his game.

Here's what I say about changing the culture and the team: it started at the trade deadline. Brassard, Pearson, and Sheahan were flat out stealing money while Bjugstad, McCann, and Gudbranson worked their tails off.

This team has been getting rid of most of it's non-JJ dead weight. Not bringing back Cullen and Wilson would continue that. I think losing Maatta who only play good if his partner carries him was also removing a guy who was more passenger then people want to admit.

Kessel is an attitude problem and not a hard worker, but so long as he isn't actually a problem the locker room (and that's debatable) he at least adds on ice value in scoring you can carry with the rest of the roster. Malkin just needs to realize he's 33 and tone it back a bit.
- Tojo.

I can get behind all of that except what I have in bold. I'm not holding my breath on them not returning. JR even said he was waiting for word on Cullen to see if he's retiring...ugh.

Here's what I say about changing the culture and the team: it started at the trade deadline. Brassard, Pearson, and Sheahan were flat out stealing money while Bjugstad, McCann, and Gudbranson worked their tails off.

This team has been getting rid of most of it's non-JJ dead weight. Not bringing back Cullen and Wilson would continue that. I think losing Maatta who only play good if his partner carries him was also removing a guy who was more passenger then people want to admit.

Kessel is an attitude problem and not a hard worker, but so long as he isn't actually a problem the locker room (and that's debatable) he at least adds on ice value in scoring you can carry with the rest of the roster. Malkin just needs to realize he's 33 and tone it back a bit.
- Tojo.

Sens need to reach the cap floor.

JJ to the Sens for a 7th round pick.

Sens need to reach the cap floor.

JJ to the Sens for a 7th round pick.
- MattStrat

You mean us giving the 7th Roun Pick + JJ for future considerations right? We'd have to add in order to trade Jacko.

Do you think Oleksiak would of been traded if he got the upper hand on Wilson in that fight, instead of being KO'd?
- MattStrat

I think they thought Oleksiak was the odd man out because at that time:

1) JJ was playing that 3rd RD spot with Pettersson and they thought they found a home for him there with Pettersson

2) He, and pretty much everyone else, couldn't click on a 2nd pair with Maatta and a second line that didn't back check and got too much of the blame.

3) His bad decision making, which was always a problem but was covered with Cole, got exposed.

Play him third pair with a solid partner who can cover for the lapses when you're trying to make a play like Dumoulin, Pettersson, and Cole all do, then he'd be fine. Also was far and away our best penalty killer.

Instead, they realized JJ on his off-side was a bad idea and now they didn't have Oleksiak to plug in and needed to add the twice as expensive Gudbranson.

I read an article a while ago that Botterill actually pushed hard for the Kessel trade and he was a big factor in getting the leafs to retain salary as well.

Don’t forget a ton of the younger kids like guentzel, rust, and kuhnhackl were all drafted in the Shero era.

I'm far more optimistic then most of the board. Part of that is because I feel the other playoff teams in the Metro have suffered bigger lossesand are more likely to lose spots if NJ and NYR make big leaps. Part of it is I believe they've already turned over most of the roster they needed to, as while there may be other places I'd tinker, the most important guys to me to move on from were Brassard, Sheahan, Pearson, JJ, Cullen, and Maatta.

I'd make 2 moves that I'd feel for sure would make the team contenders:

Get Zucker. Even if it costs a premium future asset in addition to Rust, this guy is an elite ES producer and fills that LW hole on Malkin's line with a Hagelin who can score 30 goals. His 5v5 over the past 3 years is +49. Kessel is +18, and Malkin is +22. Who Zucker compares to is Sid at +50 one of the best 2 way scorers AND defensive players in the game.

Buy out JJ and get a puck moving but responsible 3rd pair LD. That's it, and it fits under the cap. They may not do the second, but I they get Zucker, they can get to JJ later.

Guentzel-Crosby-Kahun
Zucker-Malkin-Kessel
McCann-Bjugstad-Hornqvist
ZAR-Blueger-Simon (Johnson)
Dumoulin-Letang
Pettersson-Schultz
LHD/Riikola-Gudbranson
LHD/Riikola-Ruhwedel

Im currently home for lunch and GMJR is now live on Hockey Central at Noon....probably gonna be mostly HoF talk...