Salary Cap: Pens '24-'25 Salary Thread: The Crosbicles Volume XIX

[HandshakeLine]

I'm not gonna absolve some guys playing worse here for no good reason (brassard never gave a single shit about a single shift here, for instance)

But Sullivan 100% can not manage what he's given. The book of him putting people outside of their obvious wheelhouse, is thicker than a king James Bible.

I legit have no idea what happened in the back to backs vs what we have done the last six years on the ice. It's unfathomable. This is utter incompetence from top to bottom in the FO.

Couple that with players who are even more soft and acting like dey care but don't... And we're f***ed. Therrien would have lost his entire mind with this group of individuals attempting to shit out a team project with no cohesion.

I mean, his body of work suggests the B2Bs were absolute flukes and driven by individual performances, not coaching.

 

[Gurglesons]

Imagine if JR told Sullivan to just shut the f*** up and work it out with Ian Cole and that Riley Sheahan is more than enough for 3c and they are not getting Brassard, or that Marino is fine, figure it out, or that Reaves is who Sid wanted so use him because I'm not trading him just because you can't figure out proper usage while others have.

He's like a f***ing spoiled brat that was never told no and was enabled by blokes that are idiots for not knowing better.

They let this dumb twat get his way so often. Icing on the cake is hiring Quinn, an absolute Sullivan fan boy and yes man that has no new ideas to offer him because he coaches the same f***ing way.

Imagine if JR swings a deal for McDonagh instead of Brassard as he was rumored to be interested.

Potentially McDonagh and Miller like Tampa ended up doing. Would’ve been huge.

 

[Pancakes]

I mean, his body of work suggests the B2Bs were absolute flukes and driven by individual performances, not coaching.

Back then he pushed the right buttons and he played youth in the lineup. In retrospect I wonder if the only reason he played youth in the lineup is that he coached and therefore knew that youth before taking over as HC of the Pens.

It's kinda remarkable how similarly his trajectory as a coach has been to Bylsma. Both had initial success and were inventive and fresh and then both became extremely stubborn and refused to evolve while the rest of the hockey world passed them by.

Sullivan isn't going to change or evolve himself unless the Pens fire him. Bylsma didn't really either until Buffalo also fired him and he then had to grind his way back to the NHL. Sullivan might need to get fired by the Pens and whatever team takes him after this before that level of introspection becomes possible for him lol

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

I mean, his body of work suggests the B2Bs were absolute flukes and driven by individual performances, not coaching.

Yeah, and as a HC that wasn't entirely tempered in the shitkiln of NHL coaching yet, he wasn't so averse to trying shit or guys playing risky. Now he's grown fat on his throne, and he's never had anything but extreme positive reinforcement even in the worst of times (missing twice, looking like three times, no playoff series wins since 2018). So we get the most boring "play 'em to a draw" bullshit hockey while he arrogantly sneers at people daring to ask HIM of all people questions in pressers.

 

[SEALBound]

Majority of Penguins fans thought Letang was essential to our success and we would not be able to replace him. Many cheers were given after Hextall signed that contract.

Matheson and Pettersson are nobodies. Petry was extremely solid for us. He also out produced Matheson at 5v5 last season.

We were closer to being a playoff team with Petry + Rutta than EK65 + Graves.

We WERE a playoff team with Marino + Matheson...

 

[Turin]

Majority of Penguins fans thought Letang was essential to our success and we would not be able to replace him. Many cheers were given after Hextall signed that contract.

Matheson and Pettersson are nobodies. Petry was extremely solid for us. He also out produced Matheson at 5v5 last season.

We were closer to being a playoff team with Petry + Rutta than EK65 + Graves.

Petry was literally the definition of mid and was abjectly bad after coming back from injury and was, to nobodies shock, bad as soon as he left. Old player got old and expired.

 

[SEALBound]

Petry was literally the definition of mid and was abjectly bad after coming back from injury and was, to nobodies shock, bad as soon as he left. Old player got old and expired.

It really accelerated us getting older, slower, and less skilled.

 

[Gurglesons]

We WERE a playoff team with Marino + Matheson...

True. But they were routinely abused in two straight playoffs so the GM made a calculated risk. No problem with a GM trying to make his team better.

 

[Gurglesons]

Petry was literally the definition of mid and was abjectly bad after coming back from injury and was, to nobodies shock, bad as soon as he left. Old player got old and expired.

Fair. Just saying that the Penguins had a more effective "build" in terms of their defense prior to Dubas' big reworkings over the last two years with Graves, Gryz, etc.

 

[SEALBound]

Fair. Just saying that the Penguins had a more effective "build" in terms of their defense prior to Dubas' big reworkings over the last two years with Graves, Gryz, etc.

He's not reworking there though. That's merely signing a guy to fill a hole. Graves filling Dumo's hole, Gryz filling POJ's hole. It's not like Dubas traded 27yo Dumo+ 24yo POJ for Graves and Gryz.

If anything, Dubas is still trying to cleanup the mess that Hextall absolutely needlessly made. Sending out Matheson and Marino to get the corpse of Petry and whatever Rutta was here was the definition of an "unnecessary, self-inflicted wound" that, quite honestly, we still haven't really recovered from.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Matt Grzelcyk - Ties to David Quinn from College, played with Sullivan's son in law, also from Boston...

But yeah, Dubas....




f***ing Kyle, grow a backbone, allowing that dipshit to dictate who to get is what sunk the other walnuts. Also did Hextall needlessly make those moves or were they moves he had to make because the coach didn't feel they were the types he wanted for his system.

"When the season was over, we sat down with the coaches and management staff and talked about or team, and the one thing we felt like we wanted to do was get a little bit heavier on the backend," he said. "I think with Petry and Rutta, we feel like we accomplished that. The other part, we wanted to improve our transition game a little bit, and we feel like with Jeff and, you know, obviously Ty Smith is a young player, but we felt like he’s gonna give us some puck skill that we felt like we wanted to add to our group. Between the two objectives, we feel like we got a little bit of both with these moves."

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It's interesting because heavier on the back end is what was the reason for Oleksiak and Johnson as well and that wasn't Hex.

 

[Pancakes]

Fair. Just saying that the Penguins had a more effective "build" in terms of their defense prior to Dubas' big reworkings over the last two years with Graves, Gryz, etc.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848406159159378423

I dunno it's been pretty bad for a while now, even pre Dubas.

Dubas has somehow made an already bad team at defending be even worse though.

 

[SEALBound]

Matt Grzelcyk - Ties to David Quinn from College, played with Sullivan's son in law, also from Boston...

But yeah, Dubas....




f***ing Kyle, grow a backbone, allowing that dipshit to dictate who to get is what sunk the other walnuts. Also did Hextall needlessly make those moves or were they moves he had to make because the coach didn't feel they were the types he wanted for his system.

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It's interesting because heavier on the back end is what was the reason for Oleksiak and Johnson as well and that wasn't Hex.

Sullivan: Hey Charlie, we need a LD, what's Matt Gryz like?

Charlie McAvoy: Oh yeah, *snicker* solid dude. Super solid. He'd do awesome *snicker*. You'd love him! Do it! *snicker*

Sullivan: Great! I'll call Kyle right now!

 

[HandshakeLine]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848406159159378423

I dunno it's been pretty bad for a while now, even pre Dubas.

Dubas has somehow made an already bad team at defending be even worse though.

All part of the plan to ice the most dogshit hockey team possible.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I mean, his body of work suggests the B2Bs were absolute flukes and driven by individual performances, not coaching.

In fact, if you look closer, that 2017 Cup was literally off the backs of Conn Smythe-level goaltending and our top 4 offensive guys being clutch as hell. We literally got outshot/outplayed 90% of the time that playoffs, but Fleury/Murray stood on their head and then the core offensive guys would score timely goals.

Literally the only season a Sullivan-coached team looked "dominant" was the 2016 run. That's it. That's the one and only time the Pens, under Sullivan, didn't look like a disorganized mess in their own zone often.

 

[Gurglesons]

He's not reworking there though. That's merely signing a guy to fill a hole. Graves filling Dumo's hole, Gryz filling POJ's hole. It's not like Dubas traded 27yo Dumo+ 24yo POJ for Graves and Gryz.

If anything, Dubas is still trying to cleanup the mess that Hextall absolutely needlessly made. Sending out Matheson and Marino to get the corpse of Petry and whatever Rutta was here was the definition of an "unnecessary, self-inflicted wound" that, quite honestly, we still haven't really recovered from.

It's hilarious how much you get mad at people bringing up Hextall and then you blame everything on Hextall.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1848406159159378423

I dunno it's been pretty bad for a while now, even pre Dubas.

Dubas has somehow made an already bad team at defending be even worse though.

I'll take 20th over 32nd personally. But, I guess it's all Hextall's fault since that's what we do around here.

The 2022-23 defense at least made sense on paper..

Dumo - Letang
Pettersson - Petry
Smith - Rutta

23-24 did not..

Graves - Letang
Pettersson - Karlsson
POJ - Ruh

24-25 did not..

Gryz - Letang
Petts - Karlsson
Graves - JSI

 

[Honour Over Glory]

All part of the plan to ice the most dogshit hockey team possible.

I like how hilarious our High Danger Shots For and Against are for the goalies. Because it tells you something but mostly nothing and perplexing as shit.

HD Shots Against, HD Saves, HD Goals Against, HDSV%, HDGAA, Rush Attempts Against, Rebound Attempts Against...

• Nedeljkovic - 14, 11, 3, 0.786%, 3.03, 0, 7
• Blomqvist - 35, 31, 4, 0.866%, 1.05, 12, 26
• Jarry - 30, 24, 6, .800%, 2.74, 9, 26

Always felt our goalie coaches kind of just f***ing blow to be honest. Buckley's style had Murray realize it wouldn't work long term in the NHL and had to change everything he was taught because it created a ton of inconsistencies, of course he also had massive injury issues so the jury is still out if he ever is healthy enough if he can come back, Jarry's inconsistencies in his game never really ironed out when Buckley's protege Chiodo took over.

 

[Honour Over Glory]

Sullivan: Hey Charlie, we need a LD, what's Matt Gryz like?

Charlie McAvoy: Oh yeah, *snicker* solid dude. Super solid. He'd do awesome *snicker*. You'd love him! Do it! *snicker*

Sullivan: Great! I'll call Kyle right now!

Dubas - We need some mobile defensemen any of you have any suggestions?

Quinn & Sullivan - Well I coached Matt in BU and Sully here has an inside track on his game from Charlie, he's also a Masshole like us, get it done Kyle.

Also, get more players we have connections to but then make it seem like its all your doing and then make sure Yohe makes it seem like it's all Hextall's fault.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

I like how hilarious our High Danger Shots For and Against are for the goalies. Because it tells you something but mostly nothing and perplexing as shit.

HD Shots Against, HD Saves, HD Goals Against, HDSV%, HDGAA, Rush Attempts Against, Rebound Attempts Against...

• Nedeljkovic - 14, 11, 3, 0.786%, 3.03, 0, 7
• Blomqvist - 35, 31, 4, 0.866%, 1.05, 12, 26
• Jarry - 30, 24, 6, .800%, 2.74, 9, 26

I still think Jarry is a punk, but when you see numbers like this, you kind of can't blame him for staring down his teammates after a goal against.

What kind of goalie would want to play behind this defensive shitshow?

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I still think Jarry is a punk, but when you see numbers like this, you kind of can't blame him for staring down his teammates after a goal against.

What kind of goalie would want to play behind this defensive shitshow?

Which staring down are you talking about?

Also I don't think he's a punk at all, that's some weird narrative that Yohe put out there and then everyone bought it hook line and sinker for some idiotic reason. The one player that anyone got right for being a "punk" and lazy was Derrick Pouliot.

Because if you're talking about the Pettersson stare down, you're so incredibly wrong and you bit hard on some bullshit you were fed. Because Pettersson and others made it clear that wasn't the case at all. Morons like Yohe and Rossi put out so much bullshit and in Rossi's case, he actually had quotes from the players vs Yohe just making shit up. Which is why I say, only time those morons are ever to be taken seriously is only the quotes they got because they can't make up the quotes without being in serious shit.

 

[Dennis Reynolds]

Which staring down are you talking about?

Also I don't think he's a punk at all, that's some weird narrative that Yohe put out there and then everyone bought it hook line and sinker for some idiotic reason. The one player that anyone got right for being a "punk" and lazy was Derrick Pouliot.

You haven't seen him stare down defensemen after gaffes? Did it just the other night to Karlsson in the Buffalo game when he massively misplayed that angle and had Peterka(?) blow by him.

Because if you're talking about the Pettersson stare down, you're so incredibly wrong and you bit hard on some bullshit you were fed. Because Pettersson and others made it clear that wasn't the case at all. Morons like Yohe and Rossi put out so much bullshit and in Rossi's case, he actually had quotes from the players vs Yohe just making shit up. Which is why I say, only time those morons are ever to be taken seriously is only the quotes they got because they can't make up the quotes without being in serious shit.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

I don't read Yohe or Rossi. I watch the games.

 

[BusinessGoose]

I would say, it would give an excuse if Jarry were mad

But it's clearly a mix of he's getting shelled and struggling.

It's like pouring water on a person who is drowning. They're not being helped out but not sure left wing lock 90s NJD would help Jarry out

 

[Honour Over Glory]

You haven't seen him stare down defensemen after gaffes? Did it just the other night to Karlsson in the Buffalo game when he massively misplayed that angle and had Peterka(?) blow by him.

Yeah you fed into the bullshit, you are seeing what you want to see vs what his own teammates have stated before. That's not what's going on at all. Listen you don't want to like him because he's inconsistent and playing poorly - absolutely fair and correct.

But don't pull some moronic narrative that just isn't true.

A good example of this was last season when Jarry said something to Pettersson after a tough goal allowed in a game against the Stars in Dallas. From afar, the scene appeared to show Jarry staring down his defenseman in a moment of frustration. That’s how it ended up being portrayed on talk radio and social media in the days that followed, and it wasn’t long before the media members who cover the Penguins whispered among themselves that there might be a problem between Jarry and his teammates.

“There’s not,” defenseman Kris Letang said. “And I don’t think that’s what actually happened with Petey and Jars.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t,” Pettersson said. “Not at all.”

After that goal against in Dallas, Jarry said he tried to calm a tense moment with some encouraging words in the form of humor — a trick he picked up from Evgeni Malkin.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5826049/2024/10/08/penguins-tristan-jarry-perception/

This is what I mean about the personal bullshit. Then somehow I am some bloke that is protecting Jarry when I just truly hate bullshit that isn't true, don't care who the player is. All you see is someone's eyes in the mask, making up a bunch of bullshit from that is just ridiculous.

 

[Pancakes]

I'll take 20th over 32nd personally.

I'd rather take neither and become an actually good defensive team but there's no chance of that happening as long as Sullivan remains.

Whatever mistakes Dubas/Hextall have made with the roster Sullivan is the one constant that's remained across different gms

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I would say, it would give an excuse if Jarry were mad

But it's clearly a mix of he's getting shelled and struggling.

It's like pouring water on a person who is drowning. They're not being helped out but not sure left wing lock 90s NJD would help Jarry out

Btw, I am not advocating keeping Jarry or playing him or anything of that sort. I've made my stance clear that Blomqvist should be playing and Ned backing him up.

But I think in terms of his play and future, I think there's enough there to work on and get back on track for his career elsewhere, hopefully a team sees that and the Penguins get a break with moving him rather than a compliance buyout or giving up a lot to move him.