Ryan Wilson: Mailbag: What to do with Kasperi Kapanen + other roster moves Mailbag: What to do with Kasperi Kapanen + other roster moves

This defense is a complete mess. Dumoulin and Petry haven't bounced back. To be fair, they aren't garbage, but they aren't giving us what we needed from guys that were counted on to be the second and third best defensemen.

Add in Letang seemed to be taking a step back. Maybe he's just hit the point where he's better off as a #3 than a #1. But you can't ask Petry to step up. This is where it would have been nice to have Marino take over a larger role and trim Letang's minutes, but Hextall gambled that option away and so far it hasn't paid off.

The others have been fine, but probably not guys you can elevate. Pettersson was thriving on the 2nd pair, but he seems overwhelmed on the top pair. His xGF% is 46% with Letang and 65% without. POJ and Ruuta have been solid but not spectacular in their roles.

We might be able to fix the 3rd line and hope Rust gets on track, but I don't see an easy fix for a defense that looks like it lacks top end horses right now.

Tojo.

We've seen Marino not work out in an elevated role a few times....I dont think he would be the answer right now, either. Easy to say coulda shoulda wouldas when the player is no longer here, especially when he looks good...in a second pair role... on the current hottest team in the league. Marino was good with Petts and not many others in his time with Pens.

EDIT: So on the smoking hot Devils team Marino, at 5 on 5, amongst defenders he is 2nd last in CF%, 2nd last in xGF% and 2nd last in HDCF%....Petry and Rutta have very similar stats to Marino (tiny bit worse) on a team that has has had 7 game losing streaks, not 13 game winning ones. By those metrics I have talked about here Letang is the Pens worst defender by a long shot....he's below 50% in all of it. Kris Letang is having a very bad start only 4 or 5 months removed from a career season for him. He is not done, or on major decline yet, and he will be better... perhaps he's just trying too much and overthinking, which is leading to the blunders and poor puck management decisions we've been seeing...perhaps his marriage is on the rocks or a parent isnt doing well....who f'n knows for sure....

Kap has very little value at this point I Think everyone would agree...especially with his Kap hit...so my question, could they just waive him? if he were to clear waivers, does his kap hit still count against the big clubs payroll? wasn't positive how that worked.

Gotta fix the Powerplay. It is absolutely killing us.

Honestly I don't normally buy into the coach making concessions for stars and vets but that absolutely seems to be the case right now.

Is it gonna take management to tell the Coaching staff to make changes or else? Is there even and coaching going on there?

Most teams have at least 2 options for the PP and try to out man the defenders to set it up. The Pens just pass around the perimeter with little movement and it seems totally arbitrary who will shoot and when.

Resulting in a shot from the perimeter with no traffic or a shot into shin pads.

One thing is painfully obvious. We NEED a more of a shot first mentality on the backend. Shooting always seems to be our D cores 2nd option.

Kap has very little value at this point I Think everyone would agree...especially with his Kap hit...so my question, could they just waive him? if he were to clear waivers, does his kap hit still count against the big clubs payroll? wasn't positive how that worked.
- JLT168

I think they'd save 900k or something like that.

Kap has very little value at this point I Think everyone would agree...especially with his Kap hit...so my question, could they just waive him? if he were to clear waivers, does his kap hit still count against the big clubs payroll? wasn't positive how that worked.
- JLT168

Just call Chuck Fletcher, he's an absolute moron.

Gotta fix the Powerplay. It is absolutely killing us.

Honestly I don't normally buy into the coach making concessions for stars and vets but that absolutely seems to be the case right now.

Is it gonna take management to tell the Coaching staff to make changes or else? Is there even and coaching going on there?

Most teams have at least 2 options for the PP and try to out man the defenders to set it up. The Pens just pass around the perimeter with little movement and it seems totally arbitrary who will shoot and when.

Resulting in a shot from the perimeter with no traffic or a shot into shin pads.

One thing is painfully obvious. We NEED a more of a shot first mentality on the backend. Shooting always seems to be our D cores 2nd option.
- Thorny87

Except they're 6-2-1 in their last 9 despite it...so no, it isn't killing us, but if it was in the 20-25% success rate range they might be 9-0-0 in that time frame. Lots of time to right the PP ship...

Kap has very little value at this point I Think everyone would agree...especially with his Kap hit...so my question, could they just waive him? if he were to clear waivers, does his kap hit still count against the big clubs payroll? wasn't positive how that worked.
- JLT168

The one scenario I haven't seen yet was trading him while retaining 50% salary. May be the only way to rid ourselves of him.

The one scenario I haven't seen yet was trading him while retaining 50% salary. May be the only way to rid ourselves of him.
- Thunderbolt

@PensInsideScoop·2h
There’s been one change to the Penguins workflow, with Kapanen slotting in for Heinen on the third line:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
McGinn-Carter-Kapanen
Poehling-Blueger-Archibald

Pettersson-Letang
Joseph-Petry
Dumoulin-Rutta

Then again, what do we know?

@PensInsideScoop·2h
There’s been one change to the Penguins workflow, with Kapanen slotting in for Heinen on the third line:

Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Zucker-Malkin-Rust
McGinn-Carter-Kapanen
Poehling-Blueger-Archibald

Pettersson-Letang
Joseph-Petry
Dumoulin-Rutta

Then again, what do we know?
- Thunderbolt

Heinen hasnt been very good for a while now either, after a hot start. I dont see the harm in swapping these guys in and out for a game or two...what we need now is Kap to go on a little tear and up his stock hahah

Just call Chuck Fletcher, he's an absolute moron.
- jmatchett383

maybe get he and GMJR in a bidding war! Fletcher wouldnt get quite as much heat if he didnt bring in Risto...but he did, sucks for you guys!

Heinen hasnt been very good for a while now either, after a hot start. I dont see the harm in swapping these guys in and out for a game or two...what we need now is Kap to go on a little tear and up his stock hahah
- MattStrat

while I dont disagree heinen has been meh and could be interchanged with Kap without much difference to the result, at least heinen's cost is a third of Kap. we would either have to take a not attractive contract back, eat some of the $, or trade draft picks to unload him at this point, none of which are great options.

The best thing I always found when certain players are acting up is to make the rest of the team skate while they watch and drink water. Nips the problem in the bud.

maybe get he and GMJR in a bidding war! Fletcher wouldnt get quite as much heat if he didnt bring in Risto...but he did, sucks for you guys!
- JLT168

Oh, he made a terrible trade to acquire him, then doubled down by extending him.

Worst GM in the NHL.

Gotta fix the Powerplay. It is absolutely killing us.

Honestly I don't normally buy into the coach making concessions for stars and vets but that absolutely seems to be the case right now.

Is it gonna take management to tell the Coaching staff to make changes or else? Is there even and coaching going on there?

Most teams have at least 2 options for the PP and try to out man the defenders to set it up. The Pens just pass around the perimeter with little movement and it seems totally arbitrary who will shoot and when.

Resulting in a shot from the perimeter with no traffic or a shot into shin pads.

One thing is painfully obvious. We NEED a more of a shot first mentality on the backend. Shooting always seems to be our D cores 2nd option.
- Thorny87

Sully has capitulated to his favorites/vets for years now. There's no excuse for keeping Rak off the top pp. Rak and Petry should be given a chance.

The one scenario I haven't seen yet was trading him while retaining 50% salary. May be the only way to rid ourselves of him.
- Thunderbolt

I hate the idea of carrying more dead space into next year, but that would at least give us enough room to add a 23rd man.

However not shocking but looks like he's getting another chance. And he's too talented not too when that third line isn't doing enough to just keep running out there. Have to hope an actual extended run of scratches motivates him.

We've seen Marino not work out in an elevated role a few times....I dont think he would be the answer right now, either. Easy to say coulda shoulda wouldas when the player is no longer here, especially when he looks good...in a second pair role... on the current hottest team in the league. Marino was good with Petts and not many others in his time with Pens.

EDIT: So on the smoking hot Devils team Marino, at 5 on 5, amongst defenders he is 2nd last in CF%, 2nd last in xGF% and 2nd last in HDCF%....Petry and Rutta have very similar stats to Marino (tiny bit worse) on a team that has has had 7 game losing streaks, not 13 game winning ones. By those metrics I have talked about here Letang is the Pens worst defender by a long shot....he's below 50% in all of it. Kris Letang is having a very bad start only 4 or 5 months removed from a career season for him. He is not done, or on major decline yet, and he will be better... perhaps he's just trying too much and overthinking, which is leading to the blunders and poor puck management decisions we've been seeing...perhaps his marriage is on the rocks or a parent isnt doing well....who f'n knows for sure....
- MattStrat

I'd disagree. Marino certainly isn't a #1, and he can't take the PP minutes, but I think he stands a better chance of taking on tougher deployment and a few extra ES minutes than Petry and at this point potentially Letang. Letang was always going to regress to a #3 at some point and maybe we're here and he would benefit from a little easier deployment.

And not revisionist for me at all. I've long said that when Dumoulin and Letang decline, the Pens should look to give Pettersson and Marino a bit of their workload.

Sure Marino is 5th on the Devil's, but both the other pairs are killing it at around 60% at most of those stats. Marino's numbers are pretty good and he's getting the biggest share of the defensive draws, so they're actually using him exactly as I suggested.

Rusty has FWS Fat Wallet Syndrome Human nature for a guy who has been an over achiever He is now set for life and does not have the natural talent to exist for the long term I would look to trade him to Detroit at this time as he was wanting to go there anyway. Maybe it would change his attitude toward really trying hard again

I'd disagree. Marino certainly isn't a #1, and he can't take the PP minutes, but I think he stands a better chance of taking on tougher deployment and a few extra ES minutes than Petry and at this point potentially Letang. Letang was always going to regress to a #3 at some point and maybe we're here and he would benefit from a little easier deployment.

And not revisionist for me at all. I've long said that when Dumoulin and Letang decline, the Pens should look to give Pettersson and Marino a bit of their workload.

Sure Marino is 5th on the Devil's, but both the other pairs are killing it at around 60% at most of those stats. Marino's numbers are pretty good and he's getting the biggest share of the defensive draws, so they're actually using him exactly as I suggested.
- Tojo.

Right, so Marino's relative stats to the rest of the Devils D are are not good...they're actually bad. He's the Devils second worst defender by a long shot. He's a soft defender who can skate well whos more afraid to shoot the puck than Tanger...this season Marino has taken 3.75 shots per 60 mins, Tanger has taken 5.35 (rocking a 0.00% shooting% at 5 on 5 and 2.27% all situations). I just dont see how Marino would be the answer for the first pair for Pens, or anywhere...and I know you said "Marino certainly isn't a #1, and he can't take the PP minutes" but if he were still a Pen, wouldnt taking away some of Letang's mins and him taking on tougher deployments make him the top RD/1st pair? haha

Last season I was for Petts/Marino getting more mins and Dumo/Tanger getting a bit more relief as well. However, I remember Marino not impressing any of us when he was top pair in his time with Pens and we almost all agreed he shouldn't be in that position. I think Petry is better than Marino in every single way except skating/speed.

Funny thing is Rutta was top pair the past few years and handled it well. I know, I know...Hedman/the Bolts...doesn't dismiss the fact he handled those minutes and assignments though...and if we want to say that a deep firing on all cylinders Bolts team helped elevate Rutta...lets say the same about Marino in NJ.

I hate the idea of carrying more dead space into next year, but that would at least give us enough room to add a 23rd man.

However not shocking but looks like he's getting another chance. And he's too talented not too when that third line isn't doing enough to just keep running out there. Have to hope an actual extended run of scratches motivates him.
- Tojo.

Fingers crossed.

Rusty has FWS Fat Wallet Syndrome Human nature for a guy who has been an over achiever He is now set for life and does not have the natural talent to exist for the long term I would look to trade him to Detroit at this time as he was wanting to go there anyway. Maybe it would change his attitude toward really trying hard again
- broncohorvath

Ugh...the worst narrative in all of HB strikes again....

Rusty has FWS Fat Wallet Syndrome Human nature for a guy who has been an over achiever He is now set for life and does not have the natural talent to exist for the long term I would look to trade him to Detroit at this time as he was wanting to go there anyway. Maybe it would change his attitude toward really trying hard again
- broncohorvath

God damn you're dumb.

Pretty crazy that Sid is the league's leading 5 on 5 producer so far this season....but only sitting at 8th overall in points....imagine the PP was half decent haha

I hate the idea of carrying more dead space into next year, but that would at least give us enough room to add a 23rd man.

However not shocking but looks like he's getting another chance. And he's too talented not too when that third line isn't doing enough to just keep running out there. Have to hope an actual extended run of scratches motivates him.
- Tojo.

This is where the argument stops with me. He’s not talented, he doesn’t do anything creative or out of the ordinary. He skated decent enough but I wish everyone would stop with the “tools” he has. He sucks plain and simple.

This is where the argument stops with me. He’s not talented, he doesn’t do anything creative or out of the ordinary. He skated decent enough but I wish everyone would stop with the “tools” he has. He sucks plain and simple.
- Grinder47

his name and draft position attribute to why people think he is so talented, dude stick handles like an ape with stone hands and once pressured rarely makes the proper play. He's fairly fast though cant seem to harness it while he has the puck and doesn't use the speed to get open.

he fought some back when he was on Toronto and won the fights I think, but he hasn't shown any of that here.

he needs to use his speed on the forecheck, get open on the offwing, play sound defensively and in the neutral zone, and show some grit. things he should be able to do with his skillset.