GDT: 2024-2025 Training Camp
- Thread starter Malkinstheman
- Start date
Interesting…why? Buffalo isn’t going to be sending it’s NHL roster this time so I’m not sure why we need to see McG again for example…
Factorial
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He's looking to make the team so he should play any opportunity that he gets.
DesertedPenguin
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There are 7 preseason games. Sid and Geno and the established guys only need 3-4 max to get ready. The rest are fighting for spots, either here or in WBS.
Guys like McGroarty, Poulin, Puustinen, Puljujarvi, etc. are going to play a bunch.
Sid and Geno didn't play until Game 4 of the preseason last year. The Pens play Ottawa in that showcase game in their fourth game this year. Bet that's when we see the big guns again this year.
Yeah but let’s see him with Sid and Rust or Eller if they’re looking to play him in the NHL, and other NHL players, as well as against NHL players
I mean I wouldn’t play Sid and G except for a game or two lol…
I meant more that, if the Pens are legit looking at these guys and giving them a chance at a roster spot, they 1) should be playing with other NHL players and 2) should be playing against NHL players to see how they do…I’m just guessing Buffalo won’t be playing many NHL players this game,unlike last one, because teams rarely do onthe road, but who knows…
This is my version of saying “they aren’t really interested in McG (for example) as a possible candidate to start the season in the NHL”…
Pens x
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Factorial
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Pens x
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BusinessGoose
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Good grief, dude, it's the second game of the pre-season.
66-30-33
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Are the Pens the only team that doesn't dress regulars for the pre season? looking at other teams I see several top players for them playing.
BusinessGoose
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"we're really trying to give our young guys a chance to get on the roster"
-smarmy Mike Sullivan, probably
Factorial
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Honour Over Glory
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I mean it's slightly more competitive than the previous game, but the you have to remember, we suck even with the actual line-up this team will have because of Sullivan, so really...just watch and hope it doesn't frustrate you too much (it will).
Eller? Wtf mate?
I mean had you stated - "let's see him play with Sid, Geno, Rust, Rakell, or even Hayes" sure...I can work with that.
But, Eller? I think the regression he's going to have is going to shock a lot of blokes here, his fall off is going to be steep. I know veterans in practice usually mail it in, but Eller near the end of the season was starting to look like whatever he had left in the tank was spent. If he's starting as our 3c, LOL...typical Sully.
Gurglesons
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I thought most nights Smith - Eller - Puustinen was rocking.
Honour Over Glory
Sully-Quinn: Idiots Squared
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This lineup acrually feels more uninspiring than the frist game, because the NHL players we put in there this time are mostly the boring scape goats
Honour Over Glory
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Eller and Puustinen did work well with Smith for a stretch. But I don't see Eller replicating that. Also given who this team has now, he can slot into the 4c role that works best for him at his age and the team.
MeinerEiner
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Buffalo doesn’t have a long preseason this year because they’re starting the season in Europe. They don’t have much time to find their lineup. So it’s totally understandable they’re playing their best guys.
PensandCaps
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Idk, I thought Eller was way better than i thought he'd be. played at a good 3C level to me. No problem handing him the keys again to be the 3C. He was good at both ends. Didn't have a 3C like him since Bonino, and maybe year 1 Sheahan.
AuroraBorealis
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I'd rate Eller like this on a scale of 1-10:
ES offense - 6
ES defense - 8
Power Play - 6
Penalty Kill - 9
His points are a bit superficially inflated from getting 16 mins a night. He had marginally below average scoring at ES for a 3C relative to minutes. However, I gotta give him credit for coming close to the median with very hard minutes. So I think a 6/10 is fair.
Thought he was quite excellent at shutting things down, at ES and especially the PK. His most often used lines got scored on precious little.
Fairly nice goal scoring touch on the PP in a PP2 role. Would have liked to see a few more assists, but he was fine.
Overall I'm with you. Think he exceeded expectations for his age and status coming in. Played above his cap hit. Don't think it's a guarantee at all that Hayes, Lizotte, Glass, Broz etc... does better than this at Center.
If Eller regresses? Sure. Reduce his role. But he deserves a chance to build on last year.
OtherThingsILike
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Because his best players are eight years older and can't do the same things they did eight years ago.
As such, the entire roster composition can't be the same as it was then.
The development has been fine. It's the drafting that's been horrific.
AuroraBorealis
Back-to-back hater
That's not the reason at all.
Sid was better last season than his age 28 and 29 seasons. Letang's ES offense was close to Adam Fox. Maybe some defensive regression, but he's had bad defensive seasons before and they still made the playoffs with ease. Besides, he was rock solid on the PK.
Malkin was 25th in the league among Centers at even-strength. Even now, at worst a good 2C.
There's two core things that are happening that are dragging down the team:
#1: The Power Play was like 25 goals short of where it'd be in their prime, when they ranked top 5 in the league. That's a not a roster composition around the core issue. That's a coaching and age issue. Maybe at these ages they shouldn't be top 5, but they should be like league average at worst with this personnel. It's outrageous that Reirden kept the PP coach role that long. He was already crap at it the year before.
#2: They had a ton of guys playing below their cap hits. Graves, EK, Rakell, Smith, Carter, Jarry, Acciari, etc... Outside of that, many who are barely meeting their cap hit with their play.
Not close to enough guys outperforming them. That's partially a GM'ing issue (influenced by Hextall), but also a coaching issue.
CheckingLineCenter
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and the response has been to put all of the responsibility to score on his top two lines centered by those aging best players and roll out an inept bottom 6 that adds zero scoring, energy, jam - at its best they kinda just ate minutes.
Which again- they didn’t need to call up surefire NHL prospects to do that when Sully was first named coach.. even removing guys that ended up being talented in Sheary and Rust— he was willing to go to Wilson, Rowney, Kuhnackl.
And then during the cup runs where two generational centers were still in their prime.. the 3rd line got more help and talent. Kessel wasn’t always on L3 but there was a concerted effort to get scoring out of that line along with more willingness to inject bodies into the 4th line.
I’m not saying it’s all on Sully, I think the org failed to create great rosters or restock the pipeline but I really do think he’s massively departed from a lot of what drove his success.
I know that’s kind of a high level/macro analysis that doesn’t get in the weeds or add a ton of context.. but IMO we have a big enough sample to look at it that way.
