GDT: 2024-2025 Training Camp

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

McGroarty-Pono-Koivunen
Broz-Poulin-Lizotte

Gimme that bottom-6 for the entirety of camp and pre-season. (Will never, ever, ever happen though. )

Hell I'd probably take that over what they will ice in the RS. My mind reels at the amount of money this team has spent the last however many years to put together utterly garbage, zero-potential depth lines.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

As you just said yourself to someone else... you put way too much faith into organizational roster decisions being correct. NHL coaches and GMs love their vet journeymen. It doesn't mean they are any better than vast swaths of the AHL.

It's just a little weird to me that you seem to gleefully lampoon the idea of doing right by franchise legends at the end of their career and advocate the idea of basically running them out of town even while they are even still putting up decent numbers but will go to bat for Brian Boyle when brought up. You do you but it's like... OK?

Boyle was very good for us. That's why I said that. Much worse for others, yes. But we shouldn't be mocking him for his play here.
Heinen's career production doesn't warrant AHL at all. Never understood people trying to force that narrative, but it's bs. He just proved it in Boston, again. If he had PP1 all year he would have had 50+ points. Right now that doesn't feel attainable at all for Poulin for me, but he's still young so we'll see.

Doing right by franchise legends entails discarding 5 years (2022-2027). They are unlikely to even win a round in this time. They will end up not doing half as much with the prospect pool as they could have.
That's just too high of a price for me. No matter how much I love Sid and Geno, the team comes first for me and always will.
You're talking as if there's no penalty for choosing this course, and everything is fine.

I even supported the Hornqvist trade, and he was my favorite Penguin of all time. A bad contract is a bad contract.

 

[Sike Mullivan]

McGroarty-Pono-Koivunen
Broz-Poulin-Lizotte

Id love to see them throwback to 1991, run this in WBS for the top-6, see what works best, then keep that line together and call all 3 up.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I will say it's a bit silly to have Malkin-Rakell as a duo rather than Bunting-Malkin, but at the same point, I'm also happy to see Koivunen slot in at LW with those two so he can show his talents. I've used the Jokinen comparison a million times with Koivunen, but Jokinen put up probably the best non-Neal and Kessel season with Malkin among wingers in Malkin's career. If Koivunen ends up panning out, Malkin's LW is exactly where he should be playing.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

How does the organization's decisions mean anything here? I'm pointing out that people freaked out about Ty Smith being claimed off waivers last year, only for him to pass through waivers easily. Whether the Penguins view him correctly or not is irrelevant to the fact that Ty Smith was another struggling 1st rounder that no one bothered to claim off of waivers, and there's really no reason to think that Poulin is any different.

Whether these teams are right or wrong about Poulin's skillset is irrelevant to the fact that teams have 2-3 guys in Poulin's exact spot that will also be going on waivers next year. Why would other teams bother claiming someone in Poulin's situation when they themselves already have multiple of those guys?

The only difference between Poulin and Gruden is that Poulin was a 1st rounder while Gruden wasn't.

Smith is more talented than Poulin.
I don't care if no one grabbed him off waivers. That doesn't change his skill level.
He was producing well in the AHL last year and there was no justification for him not getting called up. That's especially the case with the PP having been in dire straits, desperate for solutions.
He should have at least been tested there before he was discarded. It's not like EK was getting it done.

 

[eXile3]

Kunitz

Kunitz definitely. Not saying it’s impossible. Just becomes more unlikely.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Smith is more talented than Poulin.
I don't care if no one grabbed him off waivers. That doesn't change his skill level.
He was producing well in the AHL last year and there was no justification for him not getting called up. That's especially the case with the PP having been in dire straits, desperate for solutions.
He should have at least been tested there before he was discarded. It's not like EK was getting it done.

I'm literally not talking about his skill level, I'm talking about how he won't be claimed off waivers. Just like Smith was a struggling former 1st rounder that passed through waivers, Poulin is going to do the same exact thing.

 

[Gurglesons]

Kunitz definitely. Not saying it’s impossible. Just becomes more unlikely.

If Poulin had been healthy the last few years, I'd get the argument. But he's literally been thrown multiple curve balls.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I'm literally not talking about his skill level, I'm talking about how he won't be claimed off waivers. Just like Smith was a struggling former 1st rounder that passed through waivers, Poulin is going to do the same exact thing.

Great, and it will probably be a mistake in Smith's case. That's an actual skilled offensive defenseman who just needs to be coached and used properly.
It's absurd that we gave up on him so easily. 9 games, in which he played pretty well in? But we give Harkins 45?
This coach is so detestable.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Great, and it will probably be a mistake in Smith's case. That's an actual skilled offensive defenseman who just needs to be coached and used properly.
It's absurd that we gave up on him so easily. 9 games, in which he played pretty well in? But we give Harkins 45?
This coach is so detestable.

Cool story. Literally has no relevance to what I'm talking about.

Poulin will pass through waivers without a problem. If he plays well in WBS, he'll be given a chance with injuries in the NHL. If he doesn't, he'll probably get traded as a throw-in to someone or he'll just be a career AHLer.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Could see Poulin getting claimed. I think there’s a decent chance.

 

[Andy99]

Given how Dubas and Sullivan have stacked this roster with vets, I’m expecting anyone waiver exempt to be sent to the A lol

 

[eXile3]

If Poulin had been healthy the last few years, I'd get the argument. But he's literally been thrown multiple curve balls.

Right but prospects fail because of reasons outside their control all the time. Injuries, bad fit, usage. He’s probably going to get waived and bounce around organizations.

 

[Empoleon8771]

If Poulin had been healthy the last few years, I'd get the argument. But he's literally been thrown multiple curve balls.

The issue is that he can’t just get that time back and recover the missed development time he lost. Prospects fail for that reason all of the time. Just look at how quickly Beau Bennett washed out due to that.

I wouldn’t call him a definite bust yet, but I don’t see how he’s any different than someone like John Gruden at this point. Waiver eligible guy who hasn’t shown to be NHL quality and likely doesn’t end up better than a decent bottom-6 guy. I just don’t see why anyone cares about that on here (cares meaning concerned about the risk of losing him to waivers), every team has multiple of that exact kind of guy. Outside of being a 1st round pick 5 years ago, I don't see anything there that makes me think he's at all a risk of being claimed off waivers.

There were only a handful of guys claimed off waivers last year, I believe it was just 7 guys (Denisenko, Thomson, Prosvetov, Greer, Ludvig, Harkins and Fagemo). And with Denisenko, Fagemo, Harkins and Thomson, all were waived again within a month and either returned to their original team's AHL team (Fagemo and Thomson) or were unclaimed on waivers (Denisenko and Harkins). Prosvetov was also waived later in the year and passed through waivers as well.

The only two players that were claimed off waiver and not waived again were Greer on Calgary and Ludvig.

 

[Gurglesons]

The issue is that he can’t just get that time back and recover the missed development time he lost. Prospects fail for that reason all of the time. Just look at how quickly Beau Bennett washed out due to that.

I wouldn’t call him a definite bust yet, but I don’t see how he’s any different than someone like John Gruden at this point. Waiver eligible guy who hasn’t shown to be NHL quality and likely doesn’t end up better than a decent bottom-6 guy. I just don’t see why anyone cares about that on here (cares meaning concerned about the risk of losing him to waivers), every team has multiple of that exact kind of guy. Outside of being a 1st round pick 5 years ago, I don't see anything there that makes me think he's at all a risk of being claimed off waivers.

There were only a handful of guys claimed off waivers last year, I believe it was just 7 guys (Denisenko, Thomson, Prosvetov, Greer, Ludvig, Harkins and Fagemo). And with Denisenko, Fagemo, Harkins and Thomson, all were waived again within a month and either returned to their original team's AHL team (Fagemo and Thomson) or were unclaimed on waivers (Denisenko and Harkins). Prosvetov was also waived later in the year and passed through waivers as well.

The only two players that were claimed off waiver and not waived again were Greer on Calgary and Ludvig.

He's different from Gruden because he bettered Gruden's best A numbers as a rookie in the A.

I imagine he gets picked up because he's a big body and has hands. Something teams are always interested in. See Ludvig to your point.

 

[steelcityassault]

Watched a little bit of camp today

Must be a humbling experience for Tanner Howe to get physically walked and abused by Kevin Hayes lol.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I've always kinda thought Poulin was a longshot and after injury and mental health stole seasons of development from him, I think he's pretty much a write off. I'd still give him a spot on the 4th line and see one way or another across like 30 games or something, but yeah.

 

[SEALBound]

Poulin is headed to WBS. So is Puljujarvi most likely. They'll clear. Worst case we lose them and...who cares? These guys aren't future lineup staples.

Fact is, every year teams send a batch of guy to the AHL and guys like Poulin, Puljujarvi, and Ty Smith (as evidenced last year) pass through.

I will say it's a bit silly to have Malkin-Rakell as a duo rather than Bunting-Malkin, but at the same point, I'm also happy to see Koivunen slot in at LW with those two so he can show his talents. I've used the Jokinen comparison a million times with Koivunen, but Jokinen put up probably the best non-Neal and Kessel season with Malkin among wingers in Malkin's career. If Koivunen ends up panning out, Malkin's LW is exactly where he should be playing.

I assume Bunting-Malkin-Rakell is a lock for the 2nd line.

 

[Dipsy Doodle]

Poulin will pass through waivers without a problem. If he plays well in WBS, he'll be given a chance with injuries in the NHL. If he doesn't, he'll probably get traded as a throw-in to someone or he'll just be a career AHLer.

Probably.

Between injuries and mental health, there are a few x factors working against him in the scratch ticket department...but he's a former first rounder who's waiver eligible for the first time, and that usually draws some attention.

It'd be nice if we could sneak him through and see if he could put together a full pro season. His profile when he was drafted wasn't too different from McG's.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Yeah, I'd send Poulin back as one of the first cuts.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Watched a little bit of camp today

Must be a humbling experience for Tanner Howe to get physically walked and abused by Kevin Hayes lol.

Any thoughts or was it a pretty mundane day 1?

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Puustinen is going to get the short end of the stick, isn't he? And he did nothing to merit that. There is no way Glass is a better third-line RW option than Puustinen at this moment. Hopefully, the Boston brethren will see this before it is too late.

Puljujarvi-Poulin-Puustinen would be my fourth line to start the season. The problem is none will be in the lineup opening night.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Complaining about Glass (25 years old, 71 points in 187 games, 31 points per 82 games) playing and advocating for Puljujarvi (26 years old, 118 points in 356 games, 27 points per 82 games) is certainly a take.

 

[SEALBound]

Puustinen probably will get the short end but with Pono, Koivunen, McGoarty, Broz, and even the likes of Beauvillier and Glass on the roster, I'm not as unhappy about that as some. I think Puustinen benefited greatly from a VERY lackluster roster and prospect pool last year. I would imagine under similar circumstances with other teams, he wouldn't have gotten the games. Nor would he if we had this same prospect pool last year. I mean, I'm all for keeping a mid 6 capable you wing in the system but realistically, they are easy to find in FA from year to year.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

Complaining about Glass (25 years old, 71 points in 187 games, 31 points per 82 games) playing and advocating for Puljujarvi (26 years old, 118 points in 356 games, 27 points per 82 games) is certainly a take.

I think Pool Party has a role on any team: Net front guy on PP2 and on the 4th line. That's good value for a guy making peanuts