Can't blame the refs for 5 blown leads in 3 different games that could close a series.
- j.boyd919

That's what I said last night. My first reaction is they couldn't keep the puck out of their own net when it mattered. Couldn't close the deal with multiple chances. Nobody wins championships coughing up leads like that.

I don't think you're gonna want to give Trocheck 7 million but okay
- BINGO!

Wow, you're right. I didnt realize how underwhelming his stats were the last few years. Any chance you guys keep him or is he an easy one to lose given your depth up front?

bruh stop. you should have stopped when you spewed garbage last blog Domingue wasn't great this series either.
- DeflatedPucks

No Louie wasnt great but was better then Jarry...and with Jarrys playoff history they made the wrong call not playing Louie

Wow, you're right. I didnt realize how underwhelming his stats were the last few years. Any chance you guys keep him or is he an easy one to lose given your depth up front?
- SuperHenderson13

It's basically between Trocheck and Niederreiter. I like Trocheck, he's a pain in the ass to play against, but with Kotkaniemi and Jack Drury sitting there, he can walk.

The Rangers game winner with under 2 mins left in game 6 is crazy. There's not one starter in the league letting that in. A lot of Rangers goals came from crazy things. Like looking back at what Erod did in game 6 that changed the momentum? I saw the highlight of it again last night on the Sportsnet intermission and it was a shove. Wasnt to the face or anything haha...thats what gets called. Pens were on the good side of some goal reviews though.

It's super ironic to me, with all the complaining we heard about Bettman, the league and refs all favoring Pens, that the Rangers won the series on a PP in OT hahaha fvck sakes.
- MattStrat

Are you trying to say that was not a penalty in OT..dont blame the ref blame the guy who did the hold.

Great teams dont lose in round 1. Great teams overcome adversity as Tampa did. Great teams dont lose a game 7 against a young inexperienced team. Great teams dont blow leads in 3 straight clinching games. Pens have a few great players led by Crosby..Letang and Guentzel but they are far from a great team.
- hfc355

The very team you mentioned, Tampa who was a great team lost in the first round. I agree that the Pens aren't a great team. Neither are the Rangers. They really had no business winning this series but funny things happen in a short sample.

Are you trying to say that was not a penalty in OT..dont blame the ref blame the guy who did the hold.
- hfc355

I mean, isnt it obvious the refs and the NHL had it out for a small market team like Pittsburgh and clearly wanted the big market New York team to win?

Are you trying to say that was not a penalty in OT..dont blame the ref blame the guy who did the hold.
- hfc355

🤡

The very team you mentioned, Tampa who was a great team lost in the first round. I agree that the Pens aren't a great team. Neither are the Rangers. They really had no business winning this series but funny things happen in a short sample.
- MJL

Indeed.

I'm not sure how I feel about this team going forward. Just some thoughts.

Geno is still good but not great. He can't elevate his teammates like when he was younger. What do you do? Sign him and then have no money for wingers? Then listen to RW complain all year that his poor play is based on lack of support?

Letang does deserve to be paid. We don't have anyone better. But is there a chance that that money could go to improving 3 D pairs instead of one? Especially if somehow you get out of Dumo's contract?

I don't put this loss on Sully. I think he actually made some adjustment that worked well. But how do you have this coaching staff back after the PP just pukes on itself like that?

It's not easy to do but I would love the Pens to adjust their play style. Not sure that happens with the same teammates and coaching staff.

Jake Guentzel is (frank)ing amazing. He looked like he wasn't gonna be the same after that injury but he's back and better then ever. Conn Smythe performance in that 7 games.

If Letang leaves, all of this is moot.

I think you move out Dumo and McGinn. The Pens D is perfectly fine without Dumo. I’d rather spend McGinn’s money on Heinen. Carter? It is what it is. Can’t do anything about it.

I think you let ERod walk since it’s still likely he commands a higher salary than the Pens should spend. Let DOC, Nylander or Puustinen take his take.
- Rinosaur

Agree on Letang and that's a tough spot when you have to give a terrible contract just to stay relevant, not even push you into a contender.

Interesting that you're down on McGinn now. You seemed to be his biggest supporter if I recall.

I liked Heinen, but he and DoC are pretty similar and DOC will be cheaper. Unless they see Heinen as a 2nd line wing, he might be a good guy to flip since he is a RFA. Guess it depends on price too.

I would like to see ERod back but again depends on price. No idea what he gets after his weird season and ending on the 4th line despite playing better than half the forwards in the playoffs.

I'm not sure how I feel about this team going forward. Just some thoughts.

Geno is still good but not great. He can't elevate his teammates like when he was younger. What do you do? Sign him and then have no money for wingers? Then listen to RW complain all year that his poor play is based on lack of support?

Letang does deserve to be paid. We don't have anyone better. But is there a chance that that money could go to improving 3 D pairs instead of one? Especially if somehow you get out of Dumo's contract?

I don't put this loss on Sully. I think he actually made some adjustment that worked well. But how do you have this coaching staff back after the PP just pukes on itself like that?

It's not easy to do but I would love the Pens to adjust their play style. Not sure that happens with the same teammates and coaching staff.

Jake Guentzel is (frank)ing amazing. He looked like he wasn't gonna be the same after that injury but he's back and better then ever. Conn Smythe performance in that 7 games.
- Thorny87

Even though Geno is good but not great, he was still scoring at a 40g pace, and was a PPG in the season. If he comes in at the projected 6.66m a year... who are you going to get at that price point that produces at a point per game? There will be some money to go around if Rust leaves, and if they can shed an LD (hopefully Dumo).

PP is severely missing what Phil brought to it. Not saying they should/need to re-acquire Phil, but he made that PP dangerous every time. Had to respect his curl off the wall and shoot or his pass.

Curious to see Rakell's request. I feel as though what he brought to the lineup was missing, someone who could generate his own scoring chances with hands. Pens haven't had a dangler like that in a while.

I don't think you're gonna want to give Trocheck 7 million but okay
- BINGO!

Yeah but he was born in Pittsburgh

Even though Geno is good but not great, he was still scoring at a 40g pace, and was a PPG in the season. If he comes in at the projected 6.66m a year... who are you going to get at that price point that produces at a point per game? There will be some money to go around if Rust leaves, and if they can shed an LD (hopefully Dumo).

PP is severely missing what Phil brought to it. Not saying they should/need to re-acquire Phil, but he made that PP dangerous every time. Had to respect his curl off the wall and shoot or his pass.

Curious to see Rakell's request. I feel as though what he brought to the lineup was missing, someone who could generate his own scoring chances with hands. Pens haven't had a dangler like that in a while.
- j.boyd919

What surprised me about him was his willingness to go to the net and be around the net. There was a few sequences last night I thought he was going to score...and you could tell he wasnt quite right injury-wise, same for Sid.

It's basically between Trocheck and Niederreiter. I like Trocheck, he's a pain in the ass to play against, but with Kotkaniemi and Jack Drury sitting there, he can walk.
- BINGO!

Next season i think they're going

Svechninkov - Aho - Jarvis
Domi - Kotkaniemi - Teravainen
Niederreiter - Staal - Necas
Martinook - Drury - Fast

Next season i think they're going

Svechninkov - Aho - Jarvis
Domi - Kotkaniemi - Teravainen
Niederreiter - Staal - Necas
Martinook - Drury - Fast
- BINGO!

KK at 2c? Doesn’t he kind of suck?

I like how hockey stats bloggers think a team should be completely assembled based on advanced stats, then make 7 posts in a row saying how the advanced stats didn’t workout. Then still insist that advanced stats are end all be all of hockey. From all I could watch or gather Malkin played piss poor in the biggest game of the season. At least Carter is smart enough to throw pucks at the goalies feet and hope for rebounds which is how the Heinen goal got scored, by the “neutered” line. I personally would like to see the team take a different direction than committing big money to a guy that can muster all of 1 shot on goal in a game 7. Many awesome years and moments from Geno but unless he will take under 5 million I would move on.

Indeed.
- MattStrat

They didnt lose 4 straight yrs in the 1st round. Lost once

I like how hockey stats bloggers think a team should be completely assembled based on advanced stats, then make 7 posts in a row saying how the advanced stats didn’t workout. Then still insist that advanced stats are end all be all of hockey. From all I could watch or gather Malkin played piss poor in the biggest game of the season. At least Carter is smart enough to throw pucks at the goalies feet and hope for rebounds which is how the Heinen goal got scored, by the “neutered” line. I personally would like to see the team take a different direction than committing big money to a guy that can muster all of 1 shot on goal in a game 7. Many awesome years and moments from Geno but unless he will take under 5 million I would move on.
- Grinder47

Hey is +6 better than -6?

Either way you do you. Die on that hill.

They didnt lose 4 straight yrs in the 1st round. Lost once
- hfc355

And we all lose everyday you post here.

They didnt lose 4 straight yrs in the 1st round. Lost once
- hfc355

🤡

Pens deseve to win meter should be 0. When you blow as many leads as the pens did in a playoff series, you dont deserve to win. Plus Pens hurt my bracket by losing

As an anti Sullivan person, he’s earned another year with me. I have a lot of thoughts but not sure how it could be done. I agree with some youth although we don’t have much skilled youth. If we could keep our impact forwards still and overhaul the D I think we could be good.
- 10inchTerror

I think you let ERod walk since it’s still likely he commands a higher salary than the Pens should spend. Let DOC, Nylander or Puustinen take his take.
- Rinosaur

I kind of agree with 10inchTerror that there isn't much to count on. Here's how a few of the guys I'd look at performed.

DOC 33 games 32 points
POJ 61 games 33 points

Those are the obvious 2. POJ I know needs waivers so they need to clear a spot and just play him over Friedman for an extended period to see what they have as he's been fine in limited action. DOC far outperformed any other forward at the AHL, showed well when playing above 4th in NHL, adds size and a decent skater.

Nylander 44 games 30 points WBS
67 games 42 points overall
Zohorna. 39 games 21 points

These 2 I might say could compete for a spot or a call up depending on how many you wanted to clear. Nylander was noticably better in WBS so was that a mirage. Zohorna struggled with Covid and injury that hurt him but was still among top WBS players once healthy and was often the call up at end

Puustinen 67 games 42 points
Poulin 72 games 37 points
Hallander 61 games 28 points


Puustinen and Poulin were actually WBS top 2 point scorers as rookies so they might play at some point, but don't think there is a need to clear spots for them now. Puustinen was better early in the season. Poulin came in later once he was moved to center and paired with Nylander. Of the 2 I still have higher hopes for Poulin who is a couple years younger.

Just mentioning Hallander because he is somewhere in between and a little more experienced, but he needs to take a step forward. Not even going to consider Legare. 16 points in 57 games. Needs to show a lot more.

Even though Geno is good but not great, he was still scoring at a 40g pace, and was a PPG in the season. If he comes in at the projected 6.66m a year... who are you going to get at that price point that produces at a point per game? There will be some money to go around if Rust leaves, and if they can shed an LD (hopefully Dumo).

PP is severely missing what Phil brought to it. Not saying they should/need to re-acquire Phil, but he made that PP dangerous every time. Had to respect his curl off the wall and shoot or his pass.

Curious to see Rakell's request. I feel as though what he brought to the lineup was missing, someone who could generate his own scoring chances with hands. Pens haven't had a dangler like that in a while.
- j.boyd919

That's the tricky part. I just see more of the same though but with obvious declining returns. Good Center with no wingers to help. It's been that way for a while.

He's gonna score on the PP (50% of his totals this year) but at 5v5 he's all alone.

If he does take a pay cut perhaps they should look to move him to wing and load up the 1st line?

Then we'd need a 2C

KK at 2c? Doesn’t he kind of suck?
- Feds91Stammer

His points per 60 actually had him as our 5th highest forward this year.

Ideally I think he takes over Staal's role as his D impacts are still way better than his offensive ones, but with J.Staal still around, not much to be done there yet. One year of weirdness I guess.