Ryan Wilson: Penguins migrating back to Pittsburgh Penguins migrating back to Pittsburgh

First!!!

https://www.hockeyfeed.co...-sparta-prague?ref=trevor

Looks like Jagr is playing for, at least, another year...

Been in my underground bunker since February, what'd I miss?

Been in my underground bunker since February, what'd I miss?
- Murphy_Dump

Bjugstad (yes again) and Simon are out for season with injuries. Everyone else expected ready. Right now target is July 10 training camp and August 1st play-in round against Montreal, best of 5, then regular playoffs except they'll reseed each round.

Bjugstad (yes again) and Simon are out for season with injuries. Everyone else expected ready. Right now target is July 10 training camp and August 1st play-in round against Montreal, best of 5, then regular playoffs except they'll reseed each round.
- Tojo.

They did officially decide that? Wasn’t sure.

They did officially decide that? Wasn’t sure.
- Doogs

Reseeding should be the norm. Hope this sticks.

I was just at Lowe’s and it was crowded like pigs in a trailer being hauled off to the cleaver man. I survived. Unless I die within the next two weeks.

Reseeding should be the norm. Hope this sticks.
- Victoro311

Personally, I like it better the way it was because of more divisional rivalry matchups and this year specifically that we'd only see one of Tampa or Boston. But that's my personal preference, reseeding is more fair.

So things don't look great on the Montreal side. They only have 2 players in town and anyone else returning has to quarantine for 2 weeks. They also might be without Domi (diabetes which makes Covid more serious) and Mete (still recovering fron ankle injury).

The fans are also questioning if they want to win the play-in and lose their likely top 10 pick when they aren't really a Cup contender.

So things don't look great on the Montreal side. They only have 2 players in town and anyone else returning has to quarantine for 2 weeks. They also might be without Domi (diabetes which makes Covid more serious) and Mete (still recovering fron ankle injury).

The fans are also questioning if they want to win the play-in and lose their likely top 10 pick when they aren't really a Cup contender.
- Tojo.

Every Habs fan I know, most of which are obnoxiously die hard, really want to put out the Penguins and a lot of them think they will.

Every Habs fan I know, most of which are obnoxiously die hard, really want to put out the Penguins and a lot of them think they will.
- MattStrat

Hmm that's interesting. Teams at the bottom of the play-in probably have more to lose by winning their round, though of course the players and coaches won't care about that. Interesting though that seemingly playing spoiler is a bigger deal than say saving at least 8 draft spots.

As far as their chances, I know at least at the Athletic the analysis really zeroed in on match-ups, but the Pens would be looking to get different match-ups.

It didn't really account for the Pens own shutdown line which I'd suspect most people outside of Pittsburgh wouldn't be aware of. Sully is going to use them against scoring lines, not just match best on beat, and it creates a slide effect of better match-ups throughout if he can rather than playing Crosby against Montreal's very good 2 way top line.

Hmm that's interesting. Teams at the bottom of the play-in probably have more to lose by winning their round, though of course the players and coaches won't care about that. Interesting though that seemingly playing spoiler is a bigger deal than say saving at least 8 draft spots.

As far as their chances, I know at least at the Athletic the analysis really zeroed in on match-ups, but the Pens would be looking to get different match-ups.

It didn't really account for the Pens own shutdown line which I'd suspect most people outside of Pittsburgh wouldn't be aware of. Sully is going to use them against scoring lines, not just match best on beat, and it creates a slide effect of better match-ups throughout if he can rather than playing Crosby against Montreal's very good 2 way top line.
- Tojo.

The only way I see the Habs winning is goal tending. If Murray/Jarry have a rough few games (entirely possible), sure Habs can win. Price can easily steal a couple of games too. Pens getting Jake back. Malkin and Sid will be fresh. Pens forwards and defense are far superior IMO.

The only way I see the Habs winning is goal tending. If Murray/Jarry have a rough few games (entirely possible), sure Habs can win. Price can easily steal a couple of games too. Pens getting Jake back. Malkin and Sid will be fresh. Pens forwards and defense are far superior IMO.
- madmike71

True that.

Penguins should win this series 3-1.

You guys are too jinxy. 🤦‍♂️

Due to injury or not being on the team, the Pens projected top 6 forwards (Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust, Zucker, and Sheary) missed 201 games out of a possible 414 (69 games times 6).

Not to mention top pair defenseman Dumoulin only played 28, and the 3rd line of Marleau-McCann-Hornqvist missed another 81.

That line-up healthy to start the playoffs... Nobody really knows how good they are. Can't wait to find out!

Due to injury or not being on the team, the Pens projected top 6 forwards (Crosby, Malkin, Guentzel, Rust, Zucker, and Sheary) missed 201 games out of a possible 414 (69 games times 6).

Not to mention top pair defenseman Dumoulin only played 28, and the 3rd line of Marleau-McCann-Hornqvist missed another 81.

That line-up healthy to start the playoffs... Nobody really knows how good they are. Can't wait to find out!
- Tojo.

Yeah it's just a matter of all the stars aligning. Our forward group is one of the best and deepest in the league and are more than Cup caliber. Many teams have won the Cup with less fire power than we currently do. But:

-We've had goalie concerns all year. Someone needs to step up.

-Our blue line's top 4 is strong, but our bottom pairing is one of the worst in the league and our coaching staff has a bad habit of being too egalitarian with defensive deployments. Will they continue to give Johltz too much TOI, or will they be willing to hide the bottom pairing like most teams do in the playoffs?

-None of these guys, or the entire league for that matter, have played hockey in months. Anything can happen in the sloppy, pond-hockey like play that typically ensues when everyone is knocking the rust off.

We can definitely win the Cup, we maybe even should be one of the favorites after teams like Boston and Tampa Bay who had healthier seasons and were able to show their potential more fully. But I seriously have no idea what to expect from this team when the NHL comes back. We could turn into an absolute juggernaut at full strength, or we could completely flop because everyone's too rusty and a lot of these guys have never played together because of injury.

One thing I will say about this season and this potential start up is this:

The Pens were playing an amazing uptempo buzz-saw game in the early season, especially late October to December. In the new year though it looked as though they didn't still have that level and quite a few of us were saying maintaining that level of play is hard for a full 82 games season and then into playoff, especially for the older guys. Now the 30+ core is well rested again. Refreshed. 40 goal stud Jake should be back. The potential is certainly there for them to go deep.

Had to have been Bjugstad or Beau Bennett with COVID right?

The only way I see the Habs winning is goal tending. If Murray/Jarry have a rough few games (entirely possible), sure Habs can win. Price can easily steal a couple of games too. Pens getting Jake back. Malkin and Sid will be fresh. Pens forwards and defense are far superior IMO.
- madmike71

I'm going to beat my dead horse a bit more here. While I agree Price can steal any series, the issue for most teams, not just the Pens or Habs is how each team starts. Unless my math is wrong, by the time they resume they will have been off the equivalent of an entire off-season. We see every year how some good and very good teams simply start slow out of the gate while mediocre and bad teams come out guns blazing only to come back to normal around the 1/3 mark.

This is not setting up an excuse. This goes for all teams. I think we will see more than a couple of upsets.