Ryan Wilson: Penguins will start to see consequences of poor management this offseason Penguins will start to see consequences of poor management this offseason

Ryan Wilson: Penguins will start to see consequences of poor management this offseason
Penguins will start to see consequences of poor management this offseason
- Ryan_Wilson

Welcome to the part where Jim Rutherford thinks the team is better than it really is and just keeps shuffling around deck chairs on the Titanic until you're stuck with a team that can only hit 84 points for 10 (frank)ing years in a row.

Welcome to the part where Jim Rutherford thinks the team is better than it really is and just keeps shuffling around deck chairs on the Titanic until you're stuck with a team that can only hit 84 points for 10 (frank)ing years in a row.
- BINGO!

Maybe I've got my black-and-goldies on, but I don't think the window is closed just yet. I think the Pens have enough solid players surrounding the core guys that if they made some drastic changes THAT MADE SENSE they can be right back up there. Now, it's totally time to enter the rebuild if they can't make those hard decisions.
- Rinosaur

I am really just seeing the ages of Kessel, Letang, Malkin, and Crosby. Couple that with the overall supporting cast/cap situation and it reminds me a lot of the DET 5 year run as bubble teams.

Welcome to the part where Ken Holland thinks the team is better than it really is and just keeps shuffling around deck chairs on the Titanic until you're stuck with a team that can only hit 74 points for 10 (frank)ing years in a row.
- BINGO!

I am more familiar with this version.

Rossi with a clickbate article on the Athletic about trading Phil but he accidentally stumbled back asswards into actually useful information:

According to a team source Sid and Geno are untouchable (as they should be). Guentzel and Murray are damn well near untouchable and Murray’s long term contract is this offseason’s number 1 priority. Notably absent from the “untouchables” conversation is Kris Letang, which is concerning.

Malkin also talked about team speed and how we’re not fast enough. If Rutherford is actually in the business of appeasing his stars, we may see an actually good direction, but I think what the stars want is only a small consideration that is taken under advisement but doesn’t weigh to heavily in final decisions.

Yes, it was all Jack Johnson and Erik Gudbranson's fault that this team finished 3rd and was swept.

100% all on them. Not on the supposed best player in the world. Not on another supposed "generational talent." Not on a supposed "elite" defenseman who handled the puck like a hand grenade. Not on a coach who refused to deviate from his system which had failed in games 1-3. It was 2 bottom-pairing defensemen.

This is why if they do re-tool it needs to be properly calculated. Sid, Geno and Letang can still play with the best of them, but they need more support now. They need faster more tenacious players around them who can take some of the workload off their plate.

Now, are those players even available? Who knows.

If they're going to blow it up, the players that stay are Sid, Geno, Kessel, Letang, Dumo, Jake, Bjug, McCann, Bloog, Schultz and Murray.

If you properly build around that group with the right mix of speed and tenacity, then you're right back up there IMO.
- Rinosaur

The problem is the players that stay are your only valuable trade chips and you don't have the cap room to get any impact players from UFA.

Rossi with a clickbate article on the Athletic about trading Phil but he accidentally stumbled back asswards into actually useful information:

According to a team source Sid and Geno are untouchable (as they should be). Guentzel and Murray are damn well near untouchable and Murray’s long term contract is this offseason’s number 1 priority. Notably absent from the “untouchables” conversation is Kris Letang, which is concerning.

Malkin also talked about team speed and how we’re not fast enough. If Rutherford is actually in the business of appeasing his stars, we may see an actually good direction, but I think what the stars want is only a small consideration that is taken under advisement but doesn’t weigh to heavily in final decisions.
- Victoro311

I don't think anyone on the team had what could be called a "good" series. However, as bad as he was, I don't get the people wanting to trade Letang. He's not what he used to be, but who are you going to get to come in and replace him? If you're trading him for futures, you're basically saying this is the end of the Crosby era.

I am more familiar with this version.
- Feds91Stammer

"We have Eric Staal in his prime! Erik Cole! Cam Ward! Joni Ptikanen! We can compete with these guys!"

What a (frank)ing mess.

I seldom read your blogs anymore because of your doom and gloom writings of a team that has 5 Stanley Cups. Three with pretty much this same foundation. It is a success that ANY team would want no matter how they went about getting it. I think everyone knew that one day it was going to end. Well, it may have very well happened and you reached back into a blog you’ve been waiting to write since all while the parades in Pittsburgh.

Bye the way, 'you' do have some talent… it’s just so caught it in trying to make the analytics rule that you require victims. Sad… really sad. Not what you are writing… that you haven’t figured out a worthiness to leverage your talent. Your too fixed on your own importance. Give yourself a pat on the back anyways. Attta-boy, good job.

GO CAPS (Breaking news - CAPS are still the Stanley Cup Champions)

I dont feel enough rage from RW.

I think he held back a lot.

Im sorry but you gotta blame your star players at some point. You cant keep blaming the 4th line or bottom pairing Dmen.

Letang, Crosby , Malkin, Kessel.......They were all no shows. And be honest Malkin sucked all season.

You gotta look at all options at this point. Will JR make the right moves? Doubt it.

How many important players came back from injury in the last week or so and then straight into the playoffs? How many were playing injured?

Say all you want about the coaching decisions and what not, which are also a factor, but when to my eyes alot of the players couldnt make tape to tapes, stay on their edges skating and their overall speed had taken a hit from where it was a month or two before, there's something wrong with the players. They're not 100%.

Smart GM'ing is hard. -

The JJ thing is going to be the death knell of Rutherford. There really is no competent explanation for it.

Do Pens fans have any idea what direction JR is even taking this team going forward??

"We have Eric Staal in his prime! Erik Cole! Cam Ward! Joni Ptikanen! We can compete with these guys!"

What a (frank)ing mess.
- BINGO!

This was a thought???

People talking about the stars. Yes, sure, they all sucked. Still, how can you maximize your rosters potential and chances? Trading Malking, Kessel, Crosby and Letang or Johnson, Gudbranson, etc?

The topic is always gonna be the bad guys who play bad all the time. This is not the first time a superstar was bad during the playoffs and probably wont be the last, but theres nothing you can do about that.

What you can do is give those players the best chance to succeed come playoffs. And it doesnt include spending 3.25M with JJ or 4.0M with a bottom pairing D or giving Maatta 4.0M to keep him in the press box. Thats money wasted. Pens are literally paying to be hurt.

If we had everything in place for the team to succeed, ok. But we dont, we deviated from the formula that worked for us and replaced it with this mess. So its only obvious that we try to fix it first, and I don't know if Rutherford knows how (or wants to)

This was a thought???
- jmatchett383

(frank) you he was great in Raleigh.

Him having his ankle destroyed in that icing accident was something the organization took several years to recover from.

Smart GM'ing is hard. -

The JJ thing is going to be the death knell of Rutherford. There really is no competent explanation for it.

Do Pens fans have any idea what direction JR is even taking this team going forward??
- dozerD10

One thing I will say about JR is he can very quickly flip a bad player into a 180. The Brassard/Sheehan trade was pretty brilliant.

But no...I dont think anyone has an idea what direction he is taking them.

(frank) you he was great in Raleigh.

Him having his ankle destroyed in that icing accident was something the organization took several years to recover from.
- BINGO!

I've never seen a defenseman so good as skating from end to end, going into the corner, and throwing a puck into the slot hoping for a redirect, and not getting back in time to prevent an odd-man rush.

Remarkable amount of talent, but his decision making left much to be desired.

Edit: Hybrid icing does not work.

Smart GM'ing is hard. -

The JJ thing is going to be the death knell of Rutherford. There really is no competent explanation for it.

Do Pens fans have any idea what direction JR is even taking this team going forward??
- dozerD10

Nope. Pens fans haven’t had an idea of what direction he’s been taking them since the 2nd cup lol.

Nope. Pens fans haven’t had an idea of what direction he’s been taking them since the 2nd cup lol.
- j.boyd919

Snot and balls.
Piss and vinegar.
Sausage and more sausage.

Now I want some sausage for lunch. THANKS A LOT, ME!

I don't think anyone on the team had what could be called a "good" series. However, as bad as he was, I don't get the people wanting to trade Letang. He's not what he used to be, but who are you going to get to come in and replace him? If you're trading him for futures, you're basically saying this is the end of the Crosby era.
- jmatchett383

I think trading any of Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Guentzel or Kessel is packing it in for a rebuild. You’re not going to get anyone back that helps the roster more than those guys are already doing right now in a trade, and we don’t have anyone on the team or the pipelines that can step in and fill their shoes. And I personally don’t want to rebuild. This Era’s been great and I think Sid and Geno definitely and maybe Letang deserve to retire Penguins. Retool and compete until you can’t compete anymore and then go quietly into the night like Detroit did after Datz and Z got too old. But unlike Detroit, once Sid and Geno retire, actually rebuild rather than try to stay competitive with middling players.

This team had not shown me (just a fan) anything throughout the year that made it appear they were going to make a long run. Obviously Sid/Geno could put the team on their backs and make noise, but they didn't this year.

I think the late-year injuries played a significant role in how the team performed in this series, but honestly I didn't see them going much further than that.

I place the first batch of blame on GMJR (JJ, trading away younger depth players for hopeful performers Sundqvist, Cole, etc.) and then on HCMS who in my opinion lost this team midway through the year if not last season. His inability to deviate from his comfort zone even in the face of a team that needs to shift it's identity whether due to the opponent or injuries is unacceptable. I wonder how much of the compete level we all saw this season is a result of the moves (or lack of) that were made by JR and MS.

One thing I will say about JR is he can very quickly flip a bad player into a 180. The Brassard/Sheehan trade was pretty brilliant.

But no...I dont think anyone has an idea what direction he is taking them.
- sammy87

That trade also cost him draft picks... and the trade to get Brass in the first place... draft picks and prospects.