Media and fans. Everybody loved JR making 10 trades a year and giving grumpy old man interviews. He was like a fan steering the ship. Hextall on the other hand is MIA. Never gives interviews and doesn't make trades. He's the anti-JR.

It's funny because I knew this would happen. Fans/media got used to that "mad scientist" rush from JR. They always knew he had something cooking. With Hextall, you need to hold a mirror under his nose to see if he's breathing.....if you can find him.
- madmike71

hahahah yeah, that all sounds very accurate. We all knew we were getting a conservative (not political) GM when Hex was hired...a real far cry from the O'le wild west gunslinger trader Jimmy Ruth.

hahahah yeah, that all sounds very accurate. We all knew we were getting a conservative (not political) GM when Hex was hired...a real far cry from the O'le wild west gunslinger trader Jimmy Ruth.
- MattStrat

For better or worse, Rutherford was the right kind of GM for this team.

I believe Mario and Burkle hired these guys for the transition and rebuild. Then the new owners came in and said they wanted to keep the party going. Hextall is a square peg in a round hole.

Blu gets a free pass for some reason although he is the most offensively inept player on the team. Poehling has made him expendable and if teams are willing to give up any bottom six player with good nhl speed to acquire Blueger it is definitely a route worth looking at.
- Grinder47

For almost five years nearly everybody wanted Blueger to be a 4C. Set him and forget was the mantra. And now that he's playing like one, people are upset. Be careful what you wish for, it may come true.

For better or worse, Rutherford was the right kind of GM for this team.

I believe Mario and Burkle hired these guys for the transition and rebuild. Then the new owners came in and said they wanted to keep the party going. Hextall is a square peg in a round hole.
- madmike71

I was reflecting on JR's time in Carolina and how he inevitably (frank)ed us and, from January 2010 to December 2011 he made 19 trades involving 33 players:

In:
Four 2nd Rd Picks
3rd Rd Pick
Two 4th Rd Picks
6th Rd Pick
7th Rd Pick
Alexandre Picard
Brian Pothier
Oskar Osala
Justin Pogge
Cedric McNicoll
Jared Staal
Riley Nash
Bobby Sanguinetti
Jon Matsumoto
Brett Sutter
Ian White
Ryan Carter
Derek Joslin
Cory Stillman
Bryan Allen
Jaroslav Spacek

Out:
Out:
2nd Rd Pick x2
5th Rd Pick x3
6th Rd Pick
7th Rd Pick
Niclas Wallin
Matt Cullen
Joe Corvo (Twice)
Andrew Alberts
Aaron Ward
Stephane Yelle
Harrison Reed
Scott Walker
Anton Babchuk
Tom Kostopolous
Stefan Chaput
Matt Kennedy
Ian White
Ryan Carter
Sergei Samsonov
Tomas Kaberle

I was reflecting on JR's time in Carolina and how he inevitably (frank)ed us and, from January 2010 to December 2011 he made 19 trades involving 33 players:

In:
Four 2nd Rd Picks
3rd Rd Pick
Two 4th Rd Picks
6th Rd Pick
7th Rd Pick
Alexandre Picard
Brian Pothier
Oskar Osala
Justin Pogge
Cedric McNicoll
Jared Staal
Riley Nash
Bobby Sanguinetti
Jon Matsumoto
Brett Sutter
Ian White
Ryan Carter
Derek Joslin
Cory Stillman
Bryan Allen
Jaroslav Spacek

Out:
Out:
2nd Rd Pick x2
5th Rd Pick x3
6th Rd Pick
7th Rd Pick
Niclas Wallin
Matt Cullen
Joe Corvo (Twice)
Andrew Alberts
Aaron Ward
Stephane Yelle
Harrison Reed
Scott Walker
Anton Babchuk
Tom Kostopolous
Stefan Chaput
Matt Kennedy
Ian White
Ryan Carter
Sergei Samsonov
Tomas Kaberle
- BINGO!

Holy sh!t!

I'd love to see a list like this for his time with the Pens....I'm not compiling it though hahaha

Holy sh!t!

I'd love to see a list like this for his time with the Pens....I'm not compiling it though hahaha
- MattStrat

That's just two calendar years! He was the GM for Carolina/Hartford for 19!

[quote=BINGO!]I was reflecting on JR's time in Carolina and how he inevitably (frank)ed us and, from January 2010 to December 2011 he made 19 trades involving 33 players:

Oh I know... We've been on a downward glidepath for 3 or 4 years under JR. He was chasing his tail too much. I was glad JR resigned, but I didn't think Hextall and Burke were the answer. I didn't like Hexy's work in Philly.

It's just an interesting situation where Hextall and Burke come here and said they're done trading assets/picks and are looking to the future. Then they proceed to sign an aging team to long term deals. Hell, they made them older. What's the strategy? A slow bleed out? I'd rather they choose one direction or the other.

If they can win with Ron Hainsey playing Kris Letang's minutes, they can win with sub-standard goaltending.
- jmatchett383

Everything about that 2017 Cup run was a joke

Good times.

Can you go into the playoffs hoping Jarry stays healthy?
- rayc16

No, and I, like a lot of other Penguins fans, said that DeSmith was not a good enough backup because of how unreliable he is. I said we needed a better goalie and then spend a late round pick at the deadline to get a decent 3rd option.

Too many years losing in the first round for no other reason than bad goaltending.

[quote=BINGO!]I was reflecting on JR's time in Carolina and how he inevitably (frank)ed us and, from January 2010 to December 2011 he made 19 trades involving 33 players:

Oh I know... We've been on a downward glidepath for 3 or 4 years under JR. He was chasing his tail too much. I was glad JR resigned, but I didn't think Hextall and Burke were the answer. I didn't like Hexy's work in Philly.

It's just an interesting situation where Hextall and Burke come here and said they're done trading assets/picks and are looking to the future. Then they proceed to sign an aging team to long term deals. Hell, they made them older. What's the strategy? A slow bleed out? I'd rather they choose one direction or the other.
- madmike71

Pens were a great team last year, one of the top 5 on 5 teams most of the season...they slowed down in March a bit but they looked fresher than the Rags in that round 1 series. Very sh!tty untimely injury luck is why they didnt knock out the Rags. The year before they were also great 5 on 5, one of the better 5 on 5 defensively teams and headed into playoffs as a favorite to advance past round one. Jarry sh!t the bed a lot in that series and Isles took it in 6. This season we have a team that for almost half the season went 15-3-2, not right out the gate like some teams do every year mind you, but almost a month and a half into it. This period of time only ended 4 weeks ago. In these 4 weeks some really key pieces missing and some of them just getting back last week trying to get back to game speed. They have had great hockey in them this season and I'm not totally convinced we wont see it again before April. What Im seeing a lot of is slop. They're not in sync with each other as 5 man units. This is the exact same sh!t I was saying in October when it looked almost identical.

What was the point of saying all of that? haha...how can a GM just say F it and blow it up, go that direction, when a team is actually very good the season before? when they know just as much as most of us do that they went to 7 games vs one of the best goalie seasons in recent history with their 3rd string goalie, top 6 winger gone and Sid gone for a few games....when all three of those guys only came back for game 7 a shell of themselves?

Hex decided to mix up the D in the offseason...Rutta seems to be the biggest gaffe regarding that, that and keeping Dumo...but I dont think they've all been healthy and together long enough to pass judgment on it all yet. That's just me though.

Pens were a great team last year, one of the top 5 on 5 teams most of the season...they slowed down in March a bit but they looked fresher than the Rags in that round 1 series. Very sh!tty untimely injury luck is why they didnt knock out the Rags. The year before they were also great 5 on 5, one of the better 5 on 5 defensively teams and headed into playoffs as a favorite to advance past round one. Jarry sh!t the bed a lot in that series and Isles took it in 6. This season we have a team that for almost half the season went 15-3-2, not right out the gate like some teams do every year mind you, but almost a month and a half into it. This period of time only ended 4 weeks ago. In these 4 weeks some really key pieces missing and some of them just getting back last week trying to get back to game speed. They have had great hockey in them this season and I'm not totally convinced we wont see it again before April. What Im seeing a lot of is slop. They're not in sync with each other as 5 man units. This is the exact same sh!t I was saying in October when it looked almost identical.

What was the point of saying all of that? haha...how can a GM just say F it and blow it up, go that direction, when a team is actually very good the season before? when they know just as much as most of us do that they went to 7 games vs one of the best goalie seasons in recent history with their 3rd string goalie, top 6 winger gone and Sid gone for a few games....when all three of those guys only came back for game 7 a shell of themselves?

Hex decided to mix up the D in the offseason...Rutta seems to be the biggest gaffe regarding that, that and keeping Dumo...but I dont think they've all been healthy and together long enough to pass judgment on it all yet. That's just me though.
- MattStrat

Running back the same goaltender tandem and willingly signing kapanen were huge blunders. I agree, we didn't need to blow it up. We needed an upgrade at the backup goalie spot, and to re-allocate kapanen + rutta cap hits elsewhere.

DeSmith is 7-10-4 this season. That's not good enough.

Pens were a great team last year, one of the top 5 on 5 teams most of the season...they slowed down in March a bit but they looked fresher than the Rags in that round 1 series. Very sh!tty untimely injury luck is why they didnt knock out the Rags. The year before they were also great 5 on 5, one of the better 5 on 5 defensively teams and headed into playoffs as a favorite to advance past round one. Jarry sh!t the bed a lot in that series and Isles took it in 6. This season we have a team that for almost half the season went 15-3-2, not right out the gate like some teams do every year mind you, but almost a month and a half into it. This period of time only ended 4 weeks ago. In these 4 weeks some really key pieces missing and some of them just getting back last week trying to get back to game speed. They have had great hockey in them this season and I'm not totally convinced we wont see it again before April. What Im seeing a lot of is slop. They're not in sync with each other as 5 man units. This is the exact same sh!t I was saying in October when it looked almost identical.

What was the point of saying all of that? haha...how can a GM just say F it and blow it up, go that direction, when a team is actually very good the season before? when they know just as much as most of us do that they went to 7 games vs one of the best goalie seasons in recent history with their 3rd string goalie, top 6 winger gone and Sid gone for a few games....when all three of those guys only came back for game 7 a shell of themselves?

Hex decided to mix up the D in the offseason...Rutta seems to be the biggest gaffe regarding that, that and keeping Dumo...but I dont think they've all been healthy and together long enough to pass judgment on it all yet. That's just me though.
- MattStrat

Actually, I agree with most of what you're saying.

Back in the early Crosby/Malkin days it used to be RW's theme (correctly), that Shero f'd up the easy part. He had the hard pieces ready to go, but couldn't get the easy part right by giving them a supporting cast. That's exactly what's happening today. The stars are pulling their weight. The supporting cast is killing them.

Petry, Rutta, Kap, Carter, DeSmith...

Petry has been meh at best. Rutta is an expensive 3rd pairing D. Kap is worthless most nights. Carter was on fumes last year and it was obvious he was washed up. DeSmith has been totally unreliable (performance and health).

I'm going to give him a pass for the Rust signing. I wouldn't have done it. I wasn't sure his game would be sustainable into his mid 30's, but he was great last season.

Hextall made the team older and slower and I don't see any moves he can make considering the cap and contract clauses where he can fix it unless he parts with several draft picks.....which he says he won't do.

Running back the same goaltender tandem and willingly signing kapanen were huge blunders. I agree, we didn't need to blow it up. We needed an upgrade at the backup goalie spot, and to re-allocate kapanen + rutta cap hits elsewhere.

DeSmith is 7-10-4 this season. That's not good enough.
- buckster2342

Yeah I dont think there was a single person here who was down with the exact same goalie tandem again...and Kap at the same price, even though his numbers and production had dropped a lot, had us all squirming too haha, no doubt.

Actually, I agree with most of what you're saying.

Back in the early Crosby/Malkin days it used to be RW's theme (correctly), that Shero f'd up the easy part. He had the hard pieces ready to go, but couldn't get the easy part right by giving them a supporting cast. That's exactly what's happening today. The stars are pulling their weight. The supporting cast is killing them.

Petry, Rutta, Kap, Carter, DeSmith...

Petry has been meh at best. Rutta is an expensive 3rd pairing D. Kap is worthless most nights. Carter was on fumes last year and it was obvious he was washed up. DeSmith has been totally unreliable (performance and health).

I'm going to give him a pass for the Rust signing. I wouldn't have done it. I wasn't sure his game would be sustainable into his mid 30's, but he was great last season.

Hextall made the team older and slower and I don't see any moves he can make considering the cap and contract clauses where he can fix it unless he parts with several draft picks.....which he says he won't do.
- madmike71

Ive liked Petry a lot. Sure, there could be some more production, and perhaps there would be better rates of it if not for the injury. Besides production though he does things not many Penguins dmen have done the past 10 years...and he still has a good pass and shooting mentality. Rust will snap out of it. No one thought the timing of the Carter extension made sense, for a few reasons, but even still he hadnt dropped off a cliff yet. He is really bad now haha. Rutta was totally unnecessary. I would of been fine with Kap on a reduced one year prove things deal. Two years at same price is bonkers.

When the Pens get back from this very long break it will be getting close to do or die time....in a playoff spot with games in hand on other teams around them things probably aren't as dire to the players and coaches as a lot of people around here feel it is.....not yet. Can't wait to see what a should be desperate Penguins team starts to look like the 2nd week of February. I just want a good run at the playoffs, even if they miss them by a little bit....just want to see good battles to get in there.

Ive liked Petry a lot. Sure, there could be some more production, and perhaps there would be better rates of it if not for the injury. Besides production though he does things not many Penguins dmen have done the past 10 years...and he still has a good pass and shooting mentality. Rust will snap out of it. No one thought the timing of the Carter extension made sense, for a few reasons, but even still he hadnt dropped off a cliff yet. He is really bad now haha. Rutta was totally unnecessary. I would of been fine with Kap on a reduced one year prove things deal. Two years at same price is bonkers.

When the Pens get back from this very long break it will be getting close to do or die time....in a playoff spot with games in hand on other teams around them things probably aren't as dire to the players and coaches as a lot of people around here feel it is.....not yet. Can't wait to see what a should be desperate Penguins team starts to look like the 2nd week of February. I just want a good run at the playoffs, even if they miss them by a little bit....just want to see good battles to get in there.
- MattStrat

To me, it's shaping up like last year was a better team top to bottom. I thought Carter was fading fast from mid-season last year. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way I remember it. As you say the timing was ridiculous whether he was or wasn't.

I didn't want Kap back at any price. He's had enough chances. Sullivan benched him in third periods routinely last year. No reason to bring that back. Should have brought back someone like EROD who had some flexibility. JMO, once he made the decision to bring back the old core, skating and youth should have been the priority for filling out the team.

We've all been vocal about replacing DeSmith. I personally wanted a vet goalie who's done it before and could possibly dig deep and win a round if needed. I do not believe DeSmith could ever win a series in the playoffs. It's coming back to bite them a 3rd year in a row. A couple of these last few games could have been wins with a strong backup.

Ive liked Petry a lot. Sure, there could be some more production, and perhaps there would be better rates of it if not for the injury. Besides production though he does things not many Penguins dmen have done the past 10 years...and he still has a good pass and shooting mentality. Rust will snap out of it. No one thought the timing of the Carter extension made sense, for a few reasons, but even still he hadnt dropped off a cliff yet. He is really bad now haha. Rutta was totally unnecessary. I would of been fine with Kap on a reduced one year prove things deal. Two years at same price is bonkers.

When the Pens get back from this very long break it will be getting close to do or die time....in a playoff spot with games in hand on other teams around them things probably aren't as dire to the players and coaches as a lot of people around here feel it is.....not yet. Can't wait to see what a should be desperate Penguins team starts to look like the 2nd week of February. I just want a good run at the playoffs, even if they miss them by a little bit....just want to see good battles to get in there.
- MattStrat

To me, it's shaping up like last year was a better team top to bottom. I thought Carter was fading fast from mid-season last year. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's the way I remember it. As you say the timing was ridiculous whether he was or wasn't.

I didn't want Kap back at any price. He's had enough chances. Sullivan benched him in third periods routinely last year. No reason to bring that back. Should have brought back someone like EROD who had some flexibility. JMO, once he made the decision to bring back the old core, skating and youth should have been the priority for filling out the team.

We've all been vocal about replacing DeSmith. I personally wanted a vet goalie who's done it before and could possibly dig deep and win a round if needed. I do not believe DeSmith could ever win a series in the playoffs. It's coming back to bite them a 3rd year in a row. A couple of these last few games could have been wins with a strong backup.