News Article: Kovacevic: Time to trade Letang could be now

[MrBurghundy]

Maybe Scuderi wasn't purely for Letang? Maybe we just needed another reliable defensive d-man? Shero's said several times that letting Scuderi go after the Cup was a mistake to begin with.

And signing him this past summer was another one.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Maybe Scuderi wasn't purely for Letang? Maybe we just needed another reliable defensive d-man? Shero's said several times that letting Scuderi go after the Cup was a mistake to begin with.

I think part of it is having a guy coming from winning on another team to point out some of the stupidity.

 

[Gurglesons]

And signing him this past summer was another one.

Really? Now, we are going to get on that soap box.. The number one PK and what was statistically the best Penguins defense under Danny B before all the injuries took place is now a mistake? Scuderi is far from the problem with this team.

 

[blueliner18]

Scuderi was not brought in specifically for Letang... that is pure media speculation. Let's not forget his defensive partner during his first tour with the Pens was Hal Gill. Hal Gill and Letang are about as 180 as it gets. If you are trying to compare Scuderi's LA partner Doughty to his paring with Letang, that is waaaaaay off also. Doughty is about 20x's more responsible in his own end than Letang. I'm not sure Doughty ever left Scuderi hanging like Letang. Plus if the Pens got someone for that reason alone, don't you think they'd pick someone with a little more recovery speed? I mean Scuderi is a good "stay at home" but he isn't going to be catching anyone from behind, when Letang makes a boneheaded play at the blueline. Like I said all of Letang's faults are mental. He makes the wrong decisions at all the wrong times. His physical skill is uncanny, but mentally he can't get out of his own way.

 

[LetangInTheSO]

Scuderi was not brought in specifically for Letang... that is pure media speculation. Let's not forget his defensive partner during his first tour with the Pens was Hal Gill. Hal Gill and Letang are about as 180 as it gets. If you are trying to compare Scuderi's LA partner Doughty to his paring with Letang, that is waaaaaay off also. Doughty is about 20x's more responsible in his own end than Letang. I'm not sure Doughty ever left Scuderi hanging like Letang. Plus if the Pens got someone for that reason alone, don't you think they'd pick someone with a little more recovery speed? I mean Scuderi is a good "stay at home" but he isn't going to be catching anyone from behind, when Letang makes a boneheaded play at the blueline. Like I said all of Letang's faults are mental. He makes the wrong decisions at all the wrong times. His physical skill is uncanny, but mentally he can't get out of his own way.

While I don't disagree with much of this, Shero and DB did go on the record saying that the game plan from day 1 for Scuds was to play him with Letang.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

And signing him this past summer was another one.

Sorry but I can't agree with you on this one, I find our defense has been the best this year in years. Not saying it's all because of Scuderi, even Flower's numbers are pretty solid overall. The guys are playing much better defensively this year, well except for Letang

 

[Shady Machine]

Kovacevic vs Madden vs Yohe

http://bcove.me/ixe5d0tj

Wow I didn't think it was possible for Madden to become more of a dick. I was proven wrong.

 

[DegenX]

Wow I didn't think it was possible for Madden to become more of a dick. I was proven wrong.

Dude has round feet

 

[themethod7]

Sorry but I can't agree with you on this one, I find our defense has been the best this year in years. Not saying it's all because of Scuderi, even Flower's numbers are pretty solid overall. The guys are playing much better defensively this year, well except for Letang

Well bringing in Jacques Martin certainly helped, even if his focus has been more on backcheck/turnovers/transition offense, specifically re: Crosby/Malkin.

 

[Speaking Moistly]

Madden is someone who should be on Maury or Springer, or he's Rush Limbaugh.

Yeah, Letang's getting traded.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Gotta agree with DK. You're not going to find the type of return needed to propel this team to where it needs to be unless you move Letang. You can try to hit a home run with a high risk/high reward type of acquisition for Despres--but that's idiotic.

 

[mpp9]

You don't need to move him, but if a ROR level player is on the table, I don't see how you say no. Difference between Brian Gibbons/Jussi Jokinen+Letang and promoting Despres+trading for ROR is in our favor.

 

[MrBurghundy]

Sorry but I can't agree with you on this one, I find our defense has been the best this year in years. Not saying it's all because of Scuderi, even Flower's numbers are pretty solid overall. The guys are playing much better defensively this year, well except for Letang

Would you rather have Scuderi and our miserable bottom 6, or Despres and Scuderi's cap hit going toward upgrading our bottom 6? Same goes for Bortuzzo. Scuds hasn't done anything this season to justify his contract yet IMO. He's looked decent, and that's it, and he's certainly not looked any better than Despres or Bortuzzo for the grand majority. He's on the wrong side of 30, and signed for the next 4 years to go with all of that. That's not even mentioning Dumoulin, Harrington, Samuelsson, and Pouliot coming into the picture extremely soon.

Scuds was a completely unnecessary signing, and that money could have been spent a whole **** ton better.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Letang's not a guy you build a defense around, in my opinion. Too many holes in his game, and we have the pieces to make the post-Letang transition easy. He's not worth the money he's going to be getting, and Shero needs to trade him to get Sid's Neal, and to get out of that deal. It was a mistake to sign him to that deal, and he can bring back the pieces needed to really make this team a legit contender. Two very good reasons to send Letang packing.

We're a stronger team with a return like ROR/Eberle/Kane+allowing guys to move down and fill out the bottom-6+allowing younger defensemen to finally transition to the NHL than we are with Letang+Dupuis/Jokinen/Kobasew/Megna/Gibbons/etc in the top-6.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

And signing him this past summer was another one.

Signing Scuds was fine. The mistake was not immediately moving Orpik as soon as the ink dried.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Gotta agree with DK. You're not going to find the type of return needed to propel this team to where it needs to be unless you move Letang. You can try to hit a home run with a high risk/high reward type of acquisition for Despres--but that's idiotic.

When Madden what shouting about the Gogo and Whit trades as "proof" Des can be moves for a 1st line RW totally reminded me of some posters here who love to bring them up to defend Shero's drafting or pimp him as the best trading GM in the league.

The other guys were like "JN doesn't have a job" and "Des is in the A for a reason." And Madden was like, "there's dupes all over the league." Just because one GM made a horrible mistake and gave us Neal doesn't mean Shero can convince other GMs to do the same for Des.

 

[Shady Machine]

Really? Now, we are going to get on that soap box.. The number one PK and what was statistically the best Penguins defense under Danny B before all the injuries took place is now a mistake? Scuderi is far from the problem with this team.

I don't think signing Scuds was a mistake but you can't really use the number 1 pk as proof of his value since he has missed 29 games out of 53. I'd say the PK and defense was just fine without him. His value will come in the playoffs IMO.

 

[Shady Machine]

Madden seems to think the loudest man in the room is the smartest. That generally is not the case and certainly not here.

 

[WheresRamziAbid]

When Madden what shouting about the Gogo and Whit trades as "proof" Des can be moves for a 1st line RW totally reminded me of some posters here who love to bring them up to defend Shero's drafting or pimp him as the best trading GM in the league.

The other guys were like "JN doesn't have a job" and "Des is in the A for a reason." And Madden was like, "there's dupes all over the league." Just because one GM made a horrible mistake and gave us Neal doesn't mean Shero can convince other GMs to do the same for Des.

While were likely never to get another Neal type deal there is no reason we cannot get another Kuitz type of deal. Guys like Ladd, Stewart or Perron etc. Guys like Kane/ROR/Eberle are obviously out of the question.

 

[Shady Machine]

While were likely never to get another Neal type deal there is no reason we cannot get another Kuitz type of deal. Guys like Ladd, Stewart or Perron etc. Guys like Kane/ROR/Eberle are obviously out of the question.

Ladd, Stewart, and Perron are NOT going to be traded for Simon Despres unless there's a fairly significant plus added (Bennett, 1st round pick, etc).

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

While were likely never to get another Neal type deal there is no reason we cannot get another Kuitz type of deal. Guys like Ladd, Stewart or Perron etc. Guys like Kane/ROR/Eberle are obviously out of the question.

For Des? No way.

 

[Gurglesons]

For Des? No way.

Are you saying that you wouldn't take the trade?

Or that there is no possibility for those trades?

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Are you saying that you wouldn't take the trade?

Or that there is no possibility for those trades?

No way we get those 3 guys for Des.

 

[Gurglesons]

No way we get those 3 guys for Des.

Definitely agree. I think we could get a nice complimentary player though for Despres. I really doubt we trade him though as I don't really think Orpik is going to be retained. He's going to get 4.5 mil for 3 years from somewhere. I think the Scuderi signing was obvious to that.

 

[xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

While were likely never to get another Neal type deal there is no reason we cannot get another Kuitz type of deal. Guys like Ladd, Stewart or Perron etc. Guys like Kane/ROR/Eberle are obviously out of the question.

Ladd, Stewart and Perron aren't guys who are on pace for 40g and 83pts.

I think people sort of sell Kunitz short. He's not flashy, but he gets **** done. The Kunitz deal was damn near as much of a steal as the Neal deal, the only difference is Niskanen puts it over the top.