Salary Cap: Pens 2024 Summer Thread: "Thus, knocking us out of these superior numbers when we emerge! Mr. President, we must not allow a non-playoff bound gap!"

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

...meanwhile... much as I despise them... NY took one look at dude and were like "NOPE" then probably drug that particular pro scout in the room and put him on blast for a good ten minutes or so.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I've been on this dudes shadow since the early days of "Why is he here?"

People actually went to bat for him "calling him a good #6...."

WTF!!!!!

see the post above you

 

[Andy99]

...meanwhile... much as I despise them... NY took one look at dude and were like "NOPE" then probably drug that particular pro scout in the room and put him on blast for a good ten minutes or so.

lol…it was probably more like “he doesn’t use his elbow enough. Bench him”

 

[SEALBound]

This issue is cause and effect…when you leap to saying that because these guys are Euro, they didn’t do well or they didn’t do well because they’re Euro…we need to stop that

Agreed. The tweet is very Mark Madden-esque. But odd too since Hoglander played the exact way you'd want him to play in the playoffs.

I think it's just hard since EP40 and Mikeyev were so passive and ineffective. People are lashing out. Like I said, they did themselves no favors on that front to defend against dolts that post garbage like that.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I've been on this dudes shadow since the early days of "Why is he here?"

People actually went to bat for him "calling him a good #6...."

WTF!!!!!

For real. There was some real copium chugging over the years re: Ruh. Like... guys... this player is clearly horrible and they are clearly still playing him. That's bad. Hell even I said years back that he's fine for a depth D to hand a league minimum deal to and then have him ride the bench so a young guy doesn't have to. But it definitely didn't work out that way, either haha

 

[eXile3]

3rd pairing positional defenders are the "4th line pk specialists" of the blueline. They should be churned through, used and then thrown away in the offseason. They should not be here for 8 years.

Agreed. And definitely should not be giving out long term, big money deals to them. I get having depth but it’s hard to allocate cap space to players that play 12-13 minutes of sheltered hockey.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

lol…it was probably more like “he doesn’t use his elbow enough. Bench him”

Good point.

And that's a "hockey play" Andy, OK? The game just moves so fast. What can you do except attempt decapitation several times a game with a half-rink flying elbow?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Agreed. And definitely should not be giving out long term, big money deals to them. I get having depth but it’s hard to allocate cap space to players that play 12-13 minutes of sheltered hockey.

Depth (especially blueline depth) is such a weird red herring this team also constantly chases after. We don't need 10 d-men on the roster after camp, we need 7. We especially don't need to have four depth defenders when in the case of injury, we could just call up whoever is big in WB/S to sit in the pressbox or take a spot on the 3rd pairing.

We haven't lost in the playoffs because of blueline depth ever in the Sid+Geno era. The reason we didn't make the playoffs isn't because we didn't have blueline depth. It has no bearing on us.

...meanwhile... much as I despise them... NY took one look at dude and were like "NOPE" then probably drug that particular pro scout in the room and put him on blast for a good ten minutes or so.

I like that we couldn't even get a 4th for this draft. It's for 2027.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I like that we couldn't even get a 4th for this draft. It's for 2027.

The fact that they got ANYTHING is a f***ing coup.

Ruh is one of those guys that you kinda suspect a bunch of teams around the league are laughing behind their hands at the Penguins for making him a regular for years and years. It just so happens that evidently NY isn't one of them lol

 

[HandshakeLine]

Yeah, right? And again, the idea for depth players is, you don't, y'know use them unless you HAVE to.

 

[Ugene Magic]

For real. There was some real copium chugging over the years re: Ruh. Like... guys... this player is clearly horrible and they are clearly still playing him. That's bad. Hell even I said years back that he's fine for a depth D to hand a league minimum deal to and then have him ride the bench so a young guy doesn't have to. But it definitely didn't work out that way, either haha

The everyday starter was like Holy F***! The dude was cowardly lion to go back and retrieve pucks looking over his shoulder and everything.

 

[HandshakeLine]

The everyday starter was like Holy F***! The dude was cowardly lion to go back and retrieve pucks looking over his shoulder and everything.

He was scared he'd get hit so hard he'd lose his eyebrows, and that's the only hair he has left.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Yeah, right? And again, the idea for depth players is, you don't, y'know use them unless you HAVE to.

To be fair it's not like the Penguins have had great options for callup over the years and I think that's a big part of the rationale for people defending holding onto dude like grim death all this time but it's like... it's not against the law to go out every year and cycle in some fresh blood. You can do that with D, too and not just shitty forwards.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Chad Ruhwedel when he sees that caller ID "SullY BoY" on July 1st:

 

[Ugene Magic]

To be fair it's not like the Penguins have had great options for callup over the years and I think that's a big part of the rationale for people defending holding onto dude like grim death all this time but it's like... it's not against the law to go out every year and cycle in some fresh blood. You can do that with D, too and not just shitty forwards.

But they would always go out and get someone at the TDL and he would sit until they didn't go out and get anyone.

 

[HandshakeLine]

To be fair it's not like the Penguins have had great options for callup over the years and I think that's a big part of the rationale for people defending holding onto dude like grim death all this time but it's like... it's not against the law to go out every year and cycle in some fresh blood. You can do that with D, too and not just shitty forwards.

That's a bigger internal problem between scouting, drafting, and coaching. When we have young players that might play a role as depth when needed, they get passed over for vets. When we draft, we don't have many picks for depth and we haven't had the success that other clubs have had there. And we scout for (and pick up) dudes on the waiver wire, UFA market, and trades like Harkins, Accairi, Nieto, and more.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

But they would always go out and get someone at the TDL and he would sit until they didn't go out and get anyone.

This team definitely sees things that aren't there with players that don't really deserve that kind of rope sometimes, huh?

 

[Ugene Magic]

This team definitely sees things that aren't there with players that don't really deserve that kind of rope sometimes, huh?

Exactly.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Oh come on... this is the part of the program where someone swoops in and defends Ruhwedel's honor. That would make this more fun.

Where's Empo?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Oh come on... this is the part of the program where someone swoops in and defends Ruhwedel's honor. That would make this more fun.

Where's Empo?

I've always disliked Ruhwedel, don't know why you called me out here

There were definitely Ruhwedel stans on here and among Penguins fans though, just like ZAR.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I've always disliked Ruhwedel, don't know why you called me out here

There were definitely Ruhwedel stans on here and among Penguins fans though, just like ZAR.

Just because I know you like to debate and do the devil's advocate thing sometimes. Just being a goof. Like I said at one point I was calling him a whatever signing for depth that you could bury/bench and not deter a young players development. So if it makes you feel better I'm calling myself out harder haha

Eight seasons, man. Were they trying to tease something out of him or just really liked watching awful hockey from the blueline at least 40 games a year?

 

[Empoleon8771]

Just because I know you like to debate and do the devil's advocate thing sometimes. Just being a goof. Like I said at one point I was calling him a whatever signing for depth that you could bury/bench and not deter a young players development. So if it makes you feel better I'm calling myself out harder haha

Eight seasons, man. Were they trying to tease something out of him or just really liked watching awful hockey from the blueline at least 40 games a season?

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I hated ZAR by the end. But did not mind Ruhwedel. Just because teams always throw bad money at that bottom pairing spot and he was cheap and inoffensive. Agree his tenure could’ve been 4-5 years, not 8 however.

 

[Gurglesons]

I hated ZAR by the end. But did not mind Ruhwedel. Just because teams always throw bad money at that bottom pairing spot and he was cheap and inoffensive. Agree his tenure could’ve been 4-5 years, not 8 however.

I mean, imagine if we had used Ty Smith over Chad Ruhwedel and actually found value in a player we paid to acquire. Similar story to Harkins versus Poulin.

The difference would've been negligible.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

I mean, imagine if we had used Ty Smith over Chad Ruhwedel and actually found value in a player we paid to acquire. Similar story to Harkins versus Poulin.

The difference would've been negligible.

lolllllllll that would require the HC giving a shit and putting in some effort.

Part of the reason that this team has opted for safe vets and low-ceiling zero-event style players for years and years instead of trying to mold young, talented players is because it's way easier. Make no mistake... on top of everything else this organization is f***ing lazy.