Speculation: Penguins off day talk thread: Yes, Sully is still the coach

[wheelz87]

Plotnikov 2 assists in 32 games while playing with Malkin for a good chunk of that. Amazing work.
Ended up with 1 more assist in 13 games with the Coyotes before getting the boot. I assume there was a slapshot that bounced off his ass and went right to a teammate, looking at an open cage. Something like that, surely.

Porter breaking his leg or whatever happened in 2016 was the best thing to happen. Dude was terrible and led to one of the kids getting play time - maybe kuhnhackl. Meanwhile endicott was just straight up one of the worst hockey players I’ve ever seen.

 

[Headshot77]

Harkins did the incredible of getting on the scuderis/Adams/glass/Jack Johnson level of disdain in about 5 games

It's pretty simple. He wasn't a Pens draft pick. No good will from the fans for growth and development. No years spent on prospect rankings. Dude was just claimed off waivers and does nothing to warrant not going back on waivers.

 

[Victor Z]

It's pretty simple. He wasn't a Pens draft pick.

Isn't that the same logic used by Sully (his very first year here aside) to determine who gets a chance and who doesn't?

If you're a veteran reject from another organization, you normally leapfrog younger players who have to force their way up through our system. That's how we end up with the likes of Kevin Porter, Greg McKegg and even the unfortunately immortal Chad Ruhwedel getting significant opportunities while our own guys plod along in the minors waiting for a real chance most of the time and, if they're lucky, perhaps getting a shot only in the most desperate of circumstances (Puustinen).

Even waiver pickup Mark Friedman was getting the McKegg-Porter-Ruhwedel type of benefit -- until Sully saw how he played and was appalled & that was pretty much the end of him here.

One lamentable exception to the Reject Rule is poor Ty Smith, who has languished in the minors despite being a clearly superior player to several guys Sully considers to be ahead of him (POJ, Ruhwedel, Shea). Leave it to Sully to even screw up his own idiotic warped rule as to who gets a chance (or chance after chance after chance even after having been proven to be worthless) and who gets buried.

 

[Andy99]

Next 3 weeks is basically the season. Islanders x2, Hurricanes x2, Capitals, Flyers and to a lesser extent Sens, Sabres and Bruins…need to win at least four of the six Metro games in regulation …

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

3-1 in the last 4 and actually losing ground in the PO race.

 

[SEALBound]

Porter breaking his leg or whatever happened in 2016 was the best thing to happen. Dude was terrible and led to one of the kids getting play time - maybe kuhnhackl. Meanwhile endicott was just straight up one of the worst hockey players I’ve ever seen.

The Porter injury and Dupuis retiring were MAJOR factors in 2016. I don't think you win a Cup if either are on the team. And thank god for those injuries as well. Both of them encompassed the exact issues the Penguins were having for years.

 

[Zirakzigil]

And yet Harkins remains....

We need him for the shootout, thats why.

 

[BusinessGoose]

We need him for the shootout, thats why.

"he's gonna score a lot of goals" 2.0

 

[Gurglesons]

Lots of quotes from the teams about Big Puusy.

https://x.com/PensInsideScoop/status/1737527122170622254?s=20

 

[Zbynek]

Lots of quotes from the teams about Big Puusy.

https://x.com/PensInsideScoop/status/1737527122170622254?s=20

Pretty cool. Amazing what happens when you play your young talent. HFBoards isn't right about everything, but a lot of us called it with Puustinen.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

It's really weird that putting a talented player with years of pro experience in a position to actually use his ability worked. I don't imagine many other teams have pulled something like this off so you have to give Sullivan top credit for being so bold.

 

[McGroarty2]

Lots of quotes from the teams about Big Puusy.

https://x.com/PensInsideScoop/status/1737527122170622254?s=20

It's nice to see how much all the Pens love big Puusy.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'd be riding Smith-Malkin-Puustinen as a line until they stop working for sure, even when Rust is back.

The interesting thing with Puustinen is that I think it puts Rakell in a weird spot with the roster, where he doesn't really have a good fit on the team. If Puustinen ends up legit, I could definitely see a case to be made of trading Rakell and distributing that money to 2 good bottom-6 options.

Not only does Puustinen take Rakell's top-6 role, but he also looks like he should be locked into the PP1 left half-wall spot, which is another main spot for Rakell.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I'd be riding Smith-Malkin-Puustinen as a line until they stop working for sure, even when Rust is back.

The interesting thing with Puustinen is that I think it puts Rakell in a weird spot with the roster, where he doesn't really have a good fit on the team. If Puustinen ends up legit, I could definitely see a case to be made of trading Rakell and distributing that money to 2 good bottom-6 options.

Like I said even before Raks' injury and Puus looking promising... it's not that I'm chomping at the bit to see Raks traded. But I also would just kinda shrug at this point. Like a lot of players he came to this team like gangbusters but has since cooled significantly. Also just kinda more of the same from what the team already has with other middle-six-ish players.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Like I said even before Raks' injury and Puus looking promising... it's not that I'm chomping at the bit to see Raks traded. But I also would just kinda shrug at this point. Like a lot of players he came to this team like gangbusters but has since cooled significantly. Also just kinda more of the same from what the team already has with other middle-six-ish players.

I'm coming around to the idea of guys in the Rakell, Smith and Zucker mold should only be kept for 2-3 years to begin with, so I don't disagree here.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I'd be riding Smith-Malkin-Puustinen as a line until they stop working for sure, even when Rust is back.

The interesting thing with Puustinen is that I think it puts Rakell in a weird spot with the roster, where he doesn't really have a good fit on the team. If Puustinen ends up legit, I could definitely see a case to be made of trading Rakell and distributing that money to 2 good bottom-6 options.

Not only does Puustinen take Rakell's top-6 role, but he also looks like he should be locked into the PP1 left half-wall spot, which is another main spot for Rakell.

I think they'll move Rakell down to L3 if Puus maintains his level of play. Unsure what kind of return you'd get for Rakell (believe he's got a NMC for some idiotic reason)

 

[Gurglesons]

If we are moving Rakell, I'd look for a solution like Perron for Hagelin.

I keep coming back to Kadri for Rakell, but doubt Rakell has Calgary off his trade protection and we would also need to move other cap.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I think they'll move Rakell down to L3 if Puus maintains his level of play. Unsure what kind of return you'd get for Rakell (believe he's got a NMC for some idiotic reason)

He has an 8 team no-trade list so not totally hopeless.

They might well put him on L3. But for 5M I just don't see that being terrific value.

 

[Gurglesons]

He has an 8 team no-trade list so not totally hopeless.

They might well put him on L3. But for 5M I just don't see that being terrific value.

5 million is kind of the going rate for a middle six forward at this point. Top six forwards are making 7-9 million. Which is what makes it even more frustrating we can't do this.

 

[Andy99]

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

5 million is kind of the going rate for a middle six forward at this point. Top six forwards are making 7-9 million. Which is what makes it even more frustrating we can't do this.

Not untrue. But I guess what I mean is that Rakell isn't really the kind of 5M player I'd want to see on this third line. But YMMV.

I see he's learned the same lesson I have.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I can never tell if BlindWilly loves or hates Geno in any given post and I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I can never tell if BlindWilly loves or hates Geno in any given post and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Geno's advice to Puus during faceoffs "Hey kid... watch and learn how NOT to do it."

 

[Andy99]

From tribune review article on Hurricanes game lol…indictment of the coaching staff…Ned’s take on the Canes after playing there:

“You always kind of knew where guys were and what was going to happen,” Nedeljkovic said following a practice session at PPG Paints Arena on Wednesday. “If something (breaks down), it usually just ended up turning into a one-on-one with me and the (attacking opponent). I probably wasn’t going to get beat backdoor (on an odd-man rush) because of just how we played.

“It was nice, you know what was going on. You knew where everybody was. There was a lot of accountability with that.”

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I know I don't have much room to talk trash these days but... f*** the Hurricanes.

The remind me of watching Sportscenter years back when they would hype the Dallas Cowboys up every season just for them to fall flat on their faces when it mattered. Plus they are about as fun as a hot poker to the eye to watch butcher the sport.