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Forums :: Blog World :: Ryan Wilson: Time to go bold
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DarthProbert
Joined: 06.29.2016

Apr 21 @ 11:35 AM ET
If Malkin doesn't want to play second fiddle anymore, do you really see Florida moving Barkov to 2C to play behind him?
WSCTeton17
Joined: 07.29.2013

Apr 21 @ 11:39 AM ET
If Malkin doesn't want to play second fiddle anymore, do you really see Florida moving Barkov to 2C to play behind him?
- DarthProbert

Yes if they also get Panarin. With that combination it’s fair to speculate that 100 point Geno could indeed return
Guile
Joined: 03.04.2014

Apr 21 @ 11:42 AM ET
If Malkin doesn't want to play second fiddle anymore, do you really see Florida moving Barkov to 2C to play behind him?
- DarthProbert



It'd be the same theory as up here... two #1 centers, but one gotta take the 2nd line.
Barnaby36
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Former Orpik44
Joined: 02.22.2013

Apr 21 @ 11:59 AM ET
Would Letang to Vegas make any sense? They have pieces we'd want like Colin Miller or Nate Schmidt and one of their top 6-9 forwards.

I feel like Letang is F'n up way too many times and looking disinterested at times and we showed we can win without him. Make no mistake about that: I love the guy but he's 31 and we need to maximize what we can get from him to keep the motor running.
WSCTeton17
Joined: 07.29.2013

Apr 21 @ 12:35 PM ET
Would Letang to Vegas make any sense? They have pieces we'd want like Colin Miller or Nate Schmidt and one of their top 6-9 forwards.

I feel like Letang is F'n up way too many times and looking disinterested at times and we showed we can win without him. Make no mistake about that: I love the guy but he's 31 and we need to maximize what we can get from him to keep the motor running.

- Barnaby36

I’ll take him in AZ! I’ll give you Chychrun, Connauton, Crouse and a 2nd for Letang. Only some of the time does OEL look like a #1 D man. The other times he’s floundering in need of someone to lead the way
nateca44
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: butler, PA
Joined: 01.16.2008

Apr 21 @ 2:19 PM ET
I’ll take him in AZ! I’ll give you Chychrun, Connauton, Crouse and a 2nd for Letang. Only some of the time does OEL look like a #1 D man. The other times he’s floundering in need of someone to lead the way
- WSCTeton17


Lol, sold
Rinosaur
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Somewhere, NJ
Joined: 01.21.2016

Apr 21 @ 2:28 PM ET
Would Letang to Vegas make any sense? They have pieces we'd want like Colin Miller or Nate Schmidt and one of their top 6-9 forwards.

I feel like Letang is F'n up way too many times and looking disinterested at times and we showed we can win without him. Make no mistake about that: I love the guy but he's 31 and we need to maximize what we can get from him to keep the motor running.

- Barnaby36


Letang was averaging 27 minutes per game. I think people don't realize what that really means.

The coaching staff clearly does not trust the "best defense" they've had since JR took over the team. Next on that list was Dumo and Schultz at appx. 20 minutes, Pettersson and Guds at 17 and 16 respectively following by JJ at 15 minutes.

Playing 27 minutes is INSANE for any player. Letang clearly was trying to take on far too much. People who are actually criticizing him really need to get their heads in reality. The position they put Letang in was simply not sustainable.

Could Letang have made better decisions? Sure, and while you have to give him some criticism, you have to realize he was not set up for success.

Again, if the coaching staff truly believe this defense was capable those deployment minutes would have been completely different.
WSCTeton17
Joined: 07.29.2013

Apr 21 @ 3:44 PM ET
Lol, sold
- nateca44

Chychrun has lots of potential but there’s a reason why he was scratched down the stretch. He can be such a good puck mover and he’s great at skating the puck up the ice but sometimes his decision making is absolutely terrible. We have too many D as it is so moving another guy out in Connauton makes sense. Crouse is expendable especially when bringing in a top pair defender.

I don’t think Chayka is going to give up Chychrun. Despite the mental lapses the kid has hasn’t injury problems and that will hamper almost anyone’s development. I’m sure he’ll be given a chance to rebound
martox
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Stockholm - "Nights when we don't have our A-game, we better have our A-commitment & A-effort."
Joined: 09.25.2014

Apr 21 @ 4:01 PM ET
God damnit RW! no Crosby bashing? do I have to create my own blog and bash the fraud that he is?
i'mjustafan
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: United States, PA
Joined: 05.15.2007

Apr 21 @ 8:42 PM ET
is there any scenario where you see JR admitting his mistake and trading JJ? Or where sullivan plays him in the bottom pairing to save schultz?
martox
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Stockholm - "Nights when we don't have our A-game, we better have our A-commitment & A-effort."
Joined: 09.25.2014

Apr 21 @ 8:53 PM ET
is there any scenario where you see JR admitting his mistake and trading JJ? Or where sullivan plays him in the bottom pairing to save schultz?
- i'mjustafan

JJ is untradeable unless we pack a couple of 1st picks with him.
madmike71
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Joined: 12.21.2006

Apr 21 @ 10:33 PM ET
Man... I really love this Vegas team. Hoping for a Vegas/Colorado WCF. The NHL should be praying for that matchup.



madmike71
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Joined: 12.21.2006

Apr 21 @ 10:48 PM ET
is there any scenario where you see JR admitting his mistake and trading JJ? Or where sullivan plays him in the bottom pairing to save schultz?
- i'mjustafan


The Penguins should admit the mistake and just buy him out. Nobody is taking him off their hands unless we pay someone to take on that contract. If you look at the buyout calculations, his cap hit for next year is only $271k. $1.3 for the following 2 years. Anything after that really doesn't matter.

Rutherford won't do this of course. It's pretty obvious he's taken all the criticism over JJ personally. He views it as an affront to his judgement.
Rinosaur
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Somewhere, NJ
Joined: 01.21.2016

Apr 22 @ 12:03 AM ET
Man... I really love this Vegas team. Hoping for a Vegas/Colorado WCF. The NHL should be praying for that matchup.
- madmike71


I had many people ask me tonight, “why aren’t they doing a shootout?”
MaximumBone
Edmonton Oilers
Joined: 06.15.2012

Apr 22 @ 12:29 AM ET
I can't get on board with making sweeping changes. More often than not they just blow up in your face.

Currently the Pens have nine forwards signed, two RFA and at least four young guys who should get a shot at making the big squad. That is fifteen NHL ready players.

Obviously to get a top four defense you will most likely need to trade a forward. The guys you are looking at are Hornqvist, Bjugstad and Rust. Any of which can land you a solid top four, especially if you sweeten the pot with a pick or Maatta.

- Thunderbolt

Sweetening the pot requires you send an asset that has value. 24 year old, injury prone 4/5 Dmen on long term, 4+ mil cap hits generally don't qualify as "sweeteners".
homiedclown
Buffalo Sabres
Location: We want 1, FL
Joined: 02.24.2008

Apr 22 @ 7:50 AM ET
Ryan Wilson: Time to go bold
Time to go bold

- Ryan_Wilson



I enjoyed the 420 blog
Thunderbolt
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Wampum, PA
Joined: 01.20.2014

Apr 22 @ 8:40 AM ET
Sweetening the pot requires you send an asset that has value. 24 year old, injury prone 4/5 Dmen on long term, 4+ mil cap hits generally don't qualify as "sweeteners".
- MaximumBone


Them's fighting words on this board. Maatta is perceived as yin to Letang's yang. One of the reasons we lost was because Maatta was benched in the Islander series.
jmatchett383
Philadelphia Flyers
Location: Newark, DE
Joined: 03.09.2010

Apr 22 @ 9:48 AM ET
Everyone: this blog was a JOKE. As in not intended to be taken seriously.

I don't agree with RW, and certainly not his writing/critiquing style, but his point was that people who want to trade the core of this team are, in his and my opinion, foolish to do so.

Crosby and Malkin aren't their 25/26 year olds selves anymore, but they're still 2 of the top-10 to top-15 players in the game (when healthy and dialed in). Letang has lost a step and makes some bad reads, but he's still miles better than any other defenseman in the organization or available as a UFA. Kessel is one of the better contracts for an top scorer in the league.

Moving any one of them will not bring an equal return in the next 2-3 years and will create one hole for an elite(ish) player by trying to fill smaller holes. So the only way to fill that hole is to trade another elite(ish) player, and repeat. So unless fans are willing to just piss away the rest of the Crosby era without any more Cups, then I don't see a reason to trade any of them.

The problem is that there are too many high-dollar and/or long-term contracts to others that are hard to move. Personally, I'd try to move Jack Johnson for anything, even if I had to take back a player who's overpaid but on only 1 or 2 years. Hornqvist could actually bring an okay (relatively speaking)return, maybe a young bottom-9 forward or second rounder. Maatta could definitely be moved, but for all his faults, I think he'll be a player who will also be missed.

What are your guys' thought on DeSmith? I'm not saying trade Murray at all, but he's probably the player who you could move and bring back a decent package, but you'd have to be sold on DeSmith.
jmatchett383
Philadelphia Flyers
Location: Newark, DE
Joined: 03.09.2010

Apr 22 @ 9:52 AM ET
I’ll take him in AZ! I’ll give you Chychrun, Connauton, Crouse and a 2nd for Letang. Only some of the time does OEL look like a #1 D man. The other times he’s floundering in need of someone to lead the way
- WSCTeton17


Let me ammend my previous post by saying, "Unless someone gives you a stupid offer."

Make that 2nd a 1st and sold!
Guile
Joined: 03.04.2014

Apr 22 @ 9:54 AM ET
Everyone: this blog was a JOKE. As in not intended to be taken seriously.

I don't agree with RW, and certainly not his writing/critiquing style, but his point was that people who want to trade the core of this team are, in his and my opinion, foolish to do so.

Crosby and Malkin aren't their 25/26 year olds selves anymore, but they're still 2 of the top-10 to top-15 players in the game (when healthy and dialed in). Letang has lost a step and makes some bad reads, but he's still miles better than any other defenseman in the organization or available as a UFA. Kessel is one of the better contracts for an top scorer in the league.

Moving any one of them will not bring an equal return in the next 2-3 years and will create one hole for an elite(ish) player by trying to fill smaller holes. So the only way to fill that hole is to trade another elite(ish) player, and repeat. So unless fans are willing to just piss away the rest of the Crosby era without any more Cups, then I don't see a reason to trade any of them.

The problem is that there are too many high-dollar and/or long-term contracts to others that are hard to move. Personally, I'd try to move Jack Johnson for anything, even if I had to take back a player who's overpaid but on only 1 or 2 years. Hornqvist could actually bring an okay (relatively speaking)return, maybe a young bottom-9 forward or second rounder. Maatta could definitely be moved, but for all his faults, I think he'll be a player who will also be missed.

What are your guys' thought on DeSmith? I'm not saying trade Murray at all, but he's probably the player who you could move and bring back a decent package, but you'd have to be sold on DeSmith.

- jmatchett383



DeSmith is a step down, but more a bit more consistent imo. But if you want to humor trading Murray, gotta improve the Dcore by ridding ourselves of Johnson. Wouldnt be fair to DeSmith to have Johnson as the most familiar ass in front of his net for a season.
jmatchett383
Philadelphia Flyers
Location: Newark, DE
Joined: 03.09.2010

Apr 22 @ 10:06 AM ET
DeSmith is a step down, but more a bit more consistent imo. But if you want to humor trading Murray, gotta improve the Dcore by ridding ourselves of Johnson. Wouldnt be fair to DeSmith to have Johnson as the most familiar ass in front of his net for a season.
- Guile


I don't think it's fair to any goalie to run out a top-6 that includes 82 games of both Gudbranson and JMFJ. But I think Murray could bring back a package that includes a legit top-4 that could land at least one of them in the press box.

Letang-Dumo
Schultz-new guy
Maatta-Prow/Pettersson/Ruhwedehl (sp?)
Rinosaur
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Somewhere, NJ
Joined: 01.21.2016

Apr 22 @ 10:06 AM ET

What are your guys' thought on DeSmith? I'm not saying trade Murray at all, but he's probably the player who you could move and bring back a decent package, but you'd have to be sold on DeSmith.

- jmatchett383


Personally I think moving Murray is nuts, but I also think DeSmith is highly dismissed by most and likely because of his age. He's a late bloomer, but it's hard to say whether I view him as a starting goalie, but he was certainly impressive.

He had top-ten stats before Murray was given his chance to regain the starting position and one could argue that DeSmith is a good sized reason the Pens are in the playoffs.

He had more rough games once Murray returned, but overall I think he's solid.
Victoro311
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: San Diego, CA
Joined: 06.17.2014

Apr 22 @ 10:07 AM ET
Everyone: this blog was a JOKE. As in not intended to be taken seriously.

I don't agree with RW, and certainly not his writing/critiquing style, but his point was that people who want to trade the core of this team are, in his and my opinion, foolish to do so.

Crosby and Malkin aren't their 25/26 year olds selves anymore, but they're still 2 of the top-10 to top-15 players in the game (when healthy and dialed in). Letang has lost a step and makes some bad reads, but he's still miles better than any other defenseman in the organization or available as a UFA. Kessel is one of the better contracts for an top scorer in the league.

Moving any one of them will not bring an equal return in the next 2-3 years and will create one hole for an elite(ish) player by trying to fill smaller holes. So the only way to fill that hole is to trade another elite(ish) player, and repeat. So unless fans are willing to just piss away the rest of the Crosby era without any more Cups, then I don't see a reason to trade any of them.

The problem is that there are too many high-dollar and/or long-term contracts to others that are hard to move. Personally, I'd try to move Jack Johnson for anything, even if I had to take back a player who's overpaid but on only 1 or 2 years. Hornqvist could actually bring an okay (relatively speaking)return, maybe a young bottom-9 forward or second rounder. Maatta could definitely be moved, but for all his faults, I think he'll be a player who will also be missed.

What are your guys' thought on DeSmith? I'm not saying trade Murray at all, but he's probably the player who you could move and bring back a decent package, but you'd have to be sold on DeSmith.

- jmatchett383

If this board during the offseason becomes us having to repeat what you just said a million times, this offseason is gonna be long and full of terrors. I really don’t get how people think shuffling our actual core of stars and actively downgrading them is the answer to our problems. At this point with the cap being what it is, they’re all on bargain contracts.
Rinosaur
Pittsburgh Penguins
Location: Somewhere, NJ
Joined: 01.21.2016

Apr 22 @ 10:08 AM ET
I don't think it's fair to any goalie to run out a top-6 that includes 82 games of both Gudbranson and JMFJ. But I think Murray could bring back a package that includes a legit top-4 that could land at least one of them in the press box.

Letang-Dumo
Schultz-new guy
Maatta-Prow/Pettersson/Ruhwedehl (sp?)

- jmatchett383


The more I've been thinking about all of this and while I do think Sullivan is a big culprit, I'm wondering how much at odds Sullivan is with JR. JR calls this defense the best he's had since being here, yet you look at the ATOI for the dmen in the playoffs and this coach DEFINITELY doesn't feel the same.

What does this mean? Probably not much since the GM calls the shots at the end of the day but my guess is Sullivan would prefer to not have JJ on this team.
jmatchett383
Philadelphia Flyers
Location: Newark, DE
Joined: 03.09.2010

Apr 22 @ 10:09 AM ET
Personally I think moving Murray is nuts, but I also think DeSmith is highly dismissed by most and likely because of his age. He's a late bloomer, but it's hard to say whether I view him as a starting goalie, but he was certainly impressive.

He had top-ten stats before Murray was given his chance to regain the starting position and one could argue that DeSmith is a good sized reason the Pens are in the playoffs.

He had more rough games once Murray returned, but overall I think he's solid.

- Rinosaur


I'm just seeing if it's a viable option because I don't think the other moveable pieces can improve the team. But if Murray is only a half step ahead of DeSmith but he can improve the defense by a full step in trade, might be something to entertain. Remember, most goalies are only as good as the team in front of them.
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