Ryan Wilson: Area Of Kunitz's Game That Is Missing, Meaningless Fights, Player Usage Area Of Kunitz's Game That Is Missing, Meaningless Fights, Player Usage

Scuderi is also an anchor. And he was AWFUL last night.

I actually read the whole article before posting... so I lost the first points

Blame GMJR, he traded for spaling and signed him to horrific contract, he traded for lap, yes he got perron and horn early but that doesn't explain not trading sutter when they got winnik. He got nothing for despres, he won't send adams down or sit him for the season, only hope is if kap amd sun can come and bump some guys, and he probably didn't try to trade scuds when there are 6 guys waiting in wbs for a legit shot... He went out and got more D.

The no depth part is Sheros fault... but he could have done something about at at draft or free agency... got one of Nashville s 2nd instead of spaling, went after some young guys at free agency to help wbs and possibly be call ups.

TRADE KUNITZ AND CROSBY TO ERIE FOR MCDAVID AND THE OTTER MASCOT!!!!!! PROMOTE CRAIG ADAMS TO FIRST LINE CENTER AND HOLD A PUBLIC EXECUTION OF MALKIN!!!!!! IM THINKING BEHEADING WOULD BE BEST! ANYONE HAVE A GUILLOTINE?!?!? TRADE SUTTER FOR STAAL AND THEN TRADE STAAL TO GET ZACH SILL BACK!!!!! CHANGE THE JERSEY COLORS TO BROWN AND BLUE!!!!

I'm sorry I'm bored as f*ck

a middle 6 of

Comeau/Kunitz Malkin Bennett/Downie
Kunitz/Comeau Winnik Downie/Bennett

would be the optimal way to use this roster, IMO.

Downie too good to waste in 4th line role, Bennett has been too bad with Sutter, Sutter has been too bad to be on 3rd line, etc.

im fine with Bennett on line 3 as long as Spaling or Winnik is the Center. Otherwise, the guy needs a shot with Geno.

Winnik can play C, right?

Blame GMJR, he traded for spaling and signed him to horrific contract, he traded for lap, yes he got perron and horn early but that doesn't explain not trading sutter when they got winnik. He got nothing for despres, he won't send adams down or sit him for the season, only hope is if kap amd sun can come and bump some guys, and he probably didn't try to trade scuds when there are 6 guys waiting in wbs for a legit shot... He went out and got more D.

The no depth part is Sheros fault... but he could have done something about at at draft or free agency... got one of Nashville s 2nd instead of spaling, went after some young guys at free agency to help wbs and possibly be call ups.
- nh4442

how is ben lovejoy "nothing"?

And the Spaling contract is not nearly as bad as the Sutter contract. Spaling deal is meh. Sutter's is just bad. I'll criticize GMJR for that one.

Pens last 10 games 7 losses, a blown 4 goal lead to EDM and a win vs PHX which doesn't really count, they are in full tank mode and it came down to an empty netter to put it away. Not good IMO lending to the playoffs.

Adams taking that fight was stupid but if you don't enjoy watching fights you probably have a nick name like buttercup or sugar cookie

Also Adams taking himself out of the game for 5 minutes is a bonus

Ehrhoff needs to sit until the playoffs, if he's not already considered out on IR. Dude just keeps aggravating his concussion symptoms by playing when he's clearly not ready. I know the Penguins are in desperate need of steady defense, but he's a liability more often then not. It sucks, but it's the truth.

Blame GMJR, he traded for spaling and signed him to horrific contract, he traded for lap, yes he got perron and horn early but that doesn't explain not trading sutter when they got winnik. He got nothing for despres, he won't send adams down or sit him for the season, only hope is if kap amd sun can come and bump some guys, and he probably didn't try to trade scuds when there are 6 guys waiting in wbs for a legit shot... He went out and got more D.

The no depth part is Sheros fault... but he could have done something about at at draft or free agency... got one of Nashville s 2nd instead of spaling, went after some young guys at free agency to help wbs and possibly be call ups.
- nh4442

You are pretending that there were better options available than Spaling. He's 1 of the better bottom 6 players. Its a 2 yr deal, not horrific. Lap and Goc are the same nothing gained, nothing lost. Sutter wasn't going to bring hardly anything back unless the Pens added. Then again who is the 3C? Despres had off ice issues and is a bottom Dman that 2 regimes didn't like. Who would take Scuds? Seriously? As bad as the bottom 6 is, the farm options are even worse. If you think JR wouldn't love to bring up someone that would help you're wrong. BB has been garbage and most likely done. A 2nd wouldn't help this year. Any cheap FA's would have been similar to Winnik.

if they were winning we'd be saying it doesn't matter until they do it in the playoffs, so lets wait and see. i don't mind going into the playoffs as the dogs for once. if they bow out early we'll be better prepared for the disappointment. and less pressure might work for them or give them something to prove. who knows.

It'd be ideal to put sutter on the 4th line, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen. A 3rd line of bennett-Winnik-Downie would be the best choice IMO. Then with a healthy forward crop, spaling-sutter-lap as your 4th.

Kunitz used to have a much bigger role on the pens, but with him aging and the additions of horn and perron, hes taken a back seat. He has the same role as dupuis now which is to just support the other 2 players as much as possible while they do most of the work.

You are pretending that there were better options available than Spaling. He's 1 of the better bottom 6 players. Its a 2 yr deal, not horrific. Lap and Goc are the same nothing gained, nothing lost. Sutter wasn't going to bring hardly anything back unless the Pens added. Then again who is the 3C? Despres had off ice issues and is a bottom Dman that 2 regimes didn't like. Who would take Scuds? Seriously? As bad as the bottom 6 is, the farm options are even worse. If you think JR wouldn't love to bring up someone that would help you're wrong. BB has been garbage and most likely done. A 2nd wouldn't help this year. Any cheap FA's would have been similar to Winnik.
- sammy87

Spaling doesn't do anything to warrant his salary though. You can find average players for $1m/yr no problem. Targeting him when trading a player of Neal's caliber is not encouraging to me.

Moving Sutter would have been an addition by subtraction. Spaling or Winnik can play 3C. The Pens had Arcobello and gave up on him too quickly as well. Goc is at least good defensively, Lapierre isn't. These are all problems that were identified a mile away and are now materializing. That's why people keep bringing it up.

Ehrhoff needs to sit until the playoffs, if he's not already considered out on IR. Dude just keeps aggravating his concussion symptoms by playing when he's clearly not ready. I know the Penguins are in desperate need of steady defense, but he's a liability more often then not. It sucks, but it's the truth.
- simethos

Depending on the severity of Hoffs injury it may give the team cap space to bring bodies up and see what they got

As far as fight momentum, you can't say that it doesn't get a team fired up a bit, but to the outcome of that is usually negligible. The momentum shift is so overrated.

Seeing your captain fight or having one of your teammates stick up for someone will get a team excited. But that small rise in emotional doesn't really mean much in a game filled with emotion, or really last that long.

Maybe your next shift you have a little jump, but that doesn't always translate to anything. You still have to make plays and get some luck for anything to come out of it.

Pens last 10 games 7 losses, a blown 4 goal lead to EDM and a win vs PHX which doesn't really count, they are in full tank mode and it came down to an empty netter to put it away. Not good IMO lending to the playoffs.
- sammy87

Good thing that the playoffs don't start today.

Pens have 9 games left. If they get 71 & 72 back and finish the last handful of games strong, we'll feel much better about it than we do now.

Spaling doesn't do anything to warrant his salary though. You can find average players for $1m/yr no problem. Targeting him when trading a player of Neal's caliber is not encouraging to me.

Moving Sutter would have been an addition by subtraction. Spaling or Winnik can play 3C. The Pens had Arcobello and gave up on him too quickly as well. Goc is at least good defensively, Lapierre isn't. These are all problems that were identified a mile away and are now materializing. That's why people keep bringing it up.
- jfkst1

Other than Downie, nobody on the bottom 6 does anything. Spaling is maybe $500k over paid. Scuds hurts more than anyone on his contract. If we could have washed our hands of Scuds and sent Despres to rehab, I would have been cool with that. Either way, Sutter, BB, Max, Spaling, are all huge black holes on this team, throw in Kunitz not being able to do anything and the team just isn't going anywhere.

Good thing that the playoffs don't start today.

Pens have 9 games left. If they get 71 & 72 back and finish the last handful of games strong, we'll feel much better about it than we do now.
- rival22

Also a 1-0 win over the Kings who aren't in the playoffs. But yeah they need to turn it up now or it will get real ugly real fast.

I cant iamgine I am the only one here with zero confidence in the pens...i mean they just cant put together a full game of hockey one way or the other

fleury is our best player

the fact that we haven't had a single come back victory tells me that unless we blow out teams in the playoffs there's no chance...look at it this way, if we cant come from behind in a game how are they going to do it in a series? we lose the first game, or even if we win the first game and they won the next 2 were done

im at least relieved that my hopes wont be broken when we lose in the first round. itll be disappointing sure but at least it wont be a surprise

you know what else has been disappointing. perron. i do like the way he plays, and hes getting a few chances a game so they are bound to go in, but hes certainly no game changer

Other than Downie, nobody on the bottom 6 does anything. Spaling is maybe $500k over paid. Scuds hurts more than anyone on his contract. If we could have washed our hands of Scuds and sent Despres to rehab, I would have been cool with that. Either way, Sutter, BB, Max, Spaling, are all huge black holes on this team, throw in Kunitz not being able to do anything and the team just isn't going anywhere.
- sammy87

depres to rehab? I read about on ice off ice issues but what are you saying or what did you hear? drug/alcohol issues or what?

Spaling doesn't do anything to warrant his salary though. You can find average players for $1m/yr no problem. Targeting him when trading a player of Neal's caliber is not encouraging to me.

Moving Sutter would have been an addition by subtraction. Spaling or Winnik can play 3C. The Pens had Arcobello and gave up on him too quickly as well. Goc is at least good defensively, Lapierre isn't. These are all problems that were identified a mile away and are now materializing. That's why people keep bringing it up.
- jfkst1

Hornqvist was the player that was targeted in the Neal deal while Spaling was brought here incase they had problems resigning Sutter. Arcobello is on his 4th team this year and showed nothing in a Pens jersey. He reminds me of Andy Hilbert when we had him. Bounce around on a few teams and then put up some pts on a non playoff team down the stretch. And I'm not sure if average players are available at $ 1M no problem

Already on it...

Jesse Marshall ‏@jmarshfof 1h1 hour ago

Hello, travelers. Welcome to the Oskar Sundqvist hype train. We've been waiting for your arrival. Plenty of room on board here.

Good thing Max Talbot didn't feel that fighting doesn't change momentum of a game.

I like watching people get beat up... not meaningless to me... it's damn entertaining to me