Ryan Wilson: What else is there to say? What else is there to say?

The top six is a true strength. They have the hard to get pieces.
- Ryan_Wilson

Why do people keep saying this? Anyone can sign a superstar (especially when you're gifted them via the draft), it's building a complimentary bottom-6 that is difficult. As the Penguins have shown, you can't just take any half-dozens players and just throw them out there. They have to compliment each other, be able to compliment the team as a whole, and bring individual skills to help the team. THAT is harder than throwing money at super stars.

Edit: Not saying the Crosby/Malkin drafts were fixed, but they were gifts.

Why do people keep saying this? Anyone can sign a superstar (especially when you're gifted them via the draft), it's building a complimentary bottom-6 that is difficult. As the Penguins have shown, you can't just take any half-dozens players and just throw them out there. They have to compliment each other, be able to compliment the team as a whole, and bring individual skills to help the team. THAT is harder than throwing money at super stars.

What he means is having a top 6 as good as they do for the price that they have should have made putting together a competent bottom six a lot easier.

But they've squandered it.

Hit the nail on the head.... this team is boring AF.

Short of trading for Meier, I'm not sure theres any other trade out there to make us a contender.

I can't even fathom what made Ron Hextall a better GM candidate than Chris MacFarland, yet here we are. And, wow, do I miss the Rutherford & Shero all-in days.

What he means is having a top 6 as good as they do for the price that they have should have made putting together a competent bottom six a lot easier.

But they've squandered it.
- BINGO!

If you're talking about cap then yes, I agree. But identifying, acquiring, and deploying the bottom-6 talent is harder than it is, especially in the Pens case, to throw your top players into the top-6.

Why do people keep saying this? Anyone can sign a superstar (especially when you're gifted them via the draft), it's building a complimentary bottom-6 that is difficult. As the Penguins have shown, you can't just take any half-dozens players and just throw them out there. They have to compliment each other, be able to compliment the team as a whole, and bring individual skills to help the team. THAT is harder than throwing money at super stars.

Edit: Not saying the Crosby/Malkin drafts were fixed, but they were gifts.

This is because it is truly HARD to get the elite talent that the Penguins have. There is talent, then there is ELITE talent. The Pens have the elite talent. That is harder to get. Thank goodness we won 3 Cups. Ill need to remind myself of that over the 7-10 year rebuild.
Observations:
1) Carter must have the same info on Sully that Jack Johnson did. Couldnt figure out why he kept playing JJ and cant figure out why he keeps playing Carter.
2) What on earth did Danton Heinen do to Sully to get buried so far below Kapanen, Carter, and McGinn?
3) Since nothing else has worked, you'd think Sully could try an occasional shift with 87 and 71 together?
FRONT OFFICE is AWFUL.
The contracts handed out starting with Rutherford and continuing with Hextall are why we are where we are. And shuffling out bad contracts for other bad contracts hasnt yielded anything. Signing the core+Rakell was excellent and done with good value. All that value was then wasted on the Kapanen, Rutta deals. Goaltending was a hole last year and was simply ignored over the summer.
There is no fix either, since most of these poor contracts have term too.
I dont even want the 1st round pick if Hextall is drafting--Owen Pickering was not impressive so I fear we wont restock talent but will invest in Heavy Size instead.
**I climb down from my soapbox and exhale now**

Why do people keep saying this? Anyone can sign a superstar (especially when you're gifted them via the draft), it's building a complimentary bottom-6 that is difficult. As the Penguins have shown, you can't just take any half-dozens players and just throw them out there. They have to compliment each other, be able to compliment the team as a whole, and bring individual skills to help the team. THAT is harder than throwing money at super stars.

Edit: Not saying the Crosby/Malkin drafts were fixed, but they were gifts.
- jmatchett383

I think he means considering how old Crosby and Malkin are and how injury prone they've been, to have two healthy guys at their age playing at the level they are is the hard part. Add in guys like Zucker and Rakell playing well and that solidifies a good top 6. For the Penguins, it was more about fitting everyone into the top 6 money wise. Hextall achieved that. Many of us thought that'd be the hardest part of his job this summer. He perfected that and then blew the rest of the assignment which should've been much simpler.

And those drafts may not have been fixed, but hopefully Uncle Gary is planning to fix the Bedard draft for us if we miss the playoffs. We are about due for a new superstar.

The biggest red flag when hiring Hextall was that he needed Brian Burke hired as a babysitter. No idea why Burkle and Lemieux thought this plan would be a good idea. I am guessing because they were so worn out from Rutherford firing at the hip, they preferred a guy who'd take his time to line up his target. The problem is Hextall never fires. He's actually made some good trade deadline pick ups in Rackell and Carter, but he doesnt seem willing to admit the flaws with this team.

I asked my friend who used to work for the Penguins what happened to his confident belief back when FSG first took over, that Hextall would be fired. He just said that Hextall had a meeting with FSG and everyone in the organization thought he'd get canned. He isnt sure if Hextall convinced them not to fire him or if that was never the Plan.

What was the point of trading Lafferty for Nylander again?

This had more to do with the islanders goalie then roster construction.

This had more to do with the islanders goalie then roster construction.
- Newgod77

Not really a "one game" thing

This had more to do with the islanders goalie then roster construction.
- Newgod77

Thank you ffs. Same with last game vs Islanders...even more so that game. I will also add it had to do with the Penguins goalies (in a negative way) as well, more so the second last game vs Isles. Jarry did a lot of good things last night but let in two goals he normally never would. I can forgive him for a bit of rust after barely playing the past two months. Then of course the Pens didnt give the same amount of goal support they've given CDS a lot of games... 4+ goals haha...even in L's.

Like someone mentioned there are at least 5 games its almost all on CDS...there's more than that....but lets just say 5 games...that's 10 standings points which puts them at 73 points, 9 up on 2nd wild card spot and 2 behind 3rd in division. Its been more than 5 games goaltending has cost them though.

Not really a "one game" thing
- BINGO!

Yeah bad goaltending has been on going since it turned 2023.

What was the point of trading Lafferty for Nylander again?
- DarthProbert

obviously we wanted to give the baby pens the best chance at winning the calder cup duhhh

What else to say? The pens d zone is a mess, the goaltenders crease is wide open for anyone who cares to be near it, feel like rag rolling Crosby or Malkin? Go for it! No one’s going to give you any grief over it. Not arguing that Hextall is a terrible GM but Sullivan has yet to ice a lineup that makes sense, put guys in a role they could actually succeed in. Carter should be on a scoring line Rust can play a bottom 6 grind style and likely scores just as many this season in it. McGinn needs to play on a crash and bang style line. Dumo can play sheltered 6/7 minutes. There’s plenty of routes to improving this roster that have never been explored.

Solid Organization, but it’s time to make moves for the future.

This is the first season in a while I've been able to catch many games. That said, I choose to miss quite a few as well. The team is boring. The product is stale. (The entire NHL is as well).

Last night was an interesting game to watch. Pens are sinking and Isles are rising. Divisional game, Pens need to win. After losing that game, if they dont make a move....I dont think Ill watch another game this season. The entertainment value just isn't there for my limited time.

I think Hex or sully should be canned after 10 straight divisional losses. Isles went big after Bo Horvat and the dude looked good. Pens need a solid 3C that can make plays. Rust needs to be on the 3rd line.

The D, i dont know where to start. total disaster.

Even if they make the playoffs, you can't be confident they make it out of hte 1st round.

What else to say? The pens d zone is a mess, the goaltenders crease is wide open for anyone who cares to be near it, feel like rag rolling Crosby or Malkin? Go for it! No one’s going to give you any grief over it. Not arguing that Hextall is a terrible GM but Sullivan has yet to ice a lineup that makes sense, put guys in a role they could actually succeed in. Carter should be on a scoring line Rust can play a bottom 6 grind style and likely scores just as many this season in it. McGinn needs to play on a crash and bang style line. Dumo can play sheltered 6/7 minutes. There’s plenty of routes to improving this roster that have never been explored.
- Grinder47

Only 4 players on the Pens had less than 50% xGF last night....Dumo, Archi, Rak and Jake...compared to almost half of the Isles skaters being below 50%. The Pens line combos were pretty good for the most part last night. Sorokin is a f'n beast, Jarry was leaky. Pens lose.

I don't like admitting it, but I agree with Grinder (not Tinder) on this. Carter, right now, isn't doing jack poop where he is, so I'd put him with Sid or Geno and see if he can find his goal scoring touch, which is really the only thing he could ever do well.

I don't like admitting it, but I agree with Grinder (not Tinder) on this. Carter, right now, isn't doing jack poop where he is, so I'd put him with Sid or Geno and see if he can find his goal scoring touch, which is really the only thing he could ever do well.
- jmatchett383

I would try it too...I mean, why not? maybe even for a period...or half a game haha...see how it goes, never know for sure.

I would try it too...I mean, why not? maybe even for a period...or half a game haha.
- MattStrat

We're quickly approaching "throw poop at a wall and see if it sticks" territoy.

We're quickly approaching "throw poop at a wall and see if it sticks" territoy.
- jmatchett383

hahaha indeed

I don't like admitting it, but I agree with Grinder (not Tinder) on this. Carter, right now, isn't doing jack poop where he is, so I'd put him with Sid or Geno and see if he can find his goal scoring touch, which is really the only thing he could ever do well.
- jmatchett383

I don't know how many games you've been watching, but I think his hands are gone. When the puck isn't rolling off his stick, he gets shots off late and they get blocked. I feel bad for the guy. The look on his face is disbelief most of the time. He's done and he knows it.

Carter doesn’t have the legs to play bottom 6 minutes let alone top 6. Even for a few shifts

Didn't catch last nights game. There is obviously flaws with the roster but as others have stated no one or 2 trades can really fix it. What could be fixed is how the team plays. It is a combination of bad players and poor coaching. One can be fixed without cap implications.

Even though Sully is signed for 100 more years, if you want to see a change on the ice, he has to go.

If you don't have the players to play a certain system, then change the systems.