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

[HandshakeLine]

Frankie Corrado is pretty much a modern defense equivalent of playing-era Mike Sullivan.

 

[Andy99]

Speaking of players who remind me of someone, Beauvillier is giving me major Dom Simon vibes this season…effective at many things but stone hands and the coach over loves him lol and won’t sit him…

 

[Pancakes]

He's the exact type of fringe NHLer that knows what it'd be like to be marginalized by Sullivan.

I'm not really seeing the problem with a fringe NHLer getting marginalized by a coach. Fringe nhlers stink....that's why they're in and out of the lineup.

It's true with all coaches, but I think there's a difference in how quickly someone earns/loses Sullivan's trust compared to most other coaches.

Look at Puljujarvi for instance. For all intents and purposes, he's performed arguably the best among our bottom six "fringe" guys. Yet he seems to have the least rope. Other coaches may have looked at him with "prove it to me first" eyes, but they likely saw enough of that during pre-season and limited minutes early on to believe in him. With Sullivan it's like Puljujarvi has to be perfect EVERY SHIFT or he's going to find a reason to demote/scratch him.

Sullivan takes the adage about young guys having to earn the trust of the coach to idiotic, ridiculous levels.

I dunno man I think every coach is like this and I'm not seeing Sullivan as uniquely bad at this. He's just bad at it....like everyone. They all do this. Look around at the boards of every fanbase on here that isn't in the midst of a full scale rebuild and you'll probably find many of the same complaints being levied at their coaches.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Beauvillier isn't even Simon. Dude's Fata. Sucks shit.

And Bunting's somehow even worse.

 

[Gurglesons]

I'm not really seeing the problem with a fringe NHLer getting marginalized by a coach. Fringe nhlers stink....that's why they're in and out of the lineup.

I dunno man I think every coach is like this and I'm not seeing Sullivan as uniquely bad at this. He's just bad at it....like everyone. They all do this. Look around at the boards of every fanbase on here that isn't in the midst of a full scale rebuild and you'll probably find many of the same complaints being levied at their coaches.

It's a problem because it further reinforces the fact that Sullivan has very little rope for players that aren't playing a complete game, but he gives rope to players that "earn his trust".

He's got wildly diffferent expectations for his unit and it's why we fail.

 

[Pancakes]

Beauvillier isn't even Simon. Dude's Fata. Sucks shit.

And Bunting's somehow even worse.

I am surprised at how lifeless Bunting looks out there. Very little scrumming or battling. He was doing both so well when he first came over last season. I guess he was just exhibit 919293394 of players who have a brief post trade bump in play and then go right back to being turds once they get comfortable.

It's a problem because it further reinforces the fact that Sullivan has very little rope for players that aren't playing a complete game, but he gives rope to players that "earn his trust".

He's got wildly diffferent expectations for his unit and it's why we fail.

I agree that it's a problem I'm just not sure it'd be any less of a problem with a different coach. Not with the current expectations that are in place for the org.

Imo the only way our young and/or fringe players start getting more rope is if the Pens admit to themselves that they're rebuilding. As long as they keep pretending that they're a playoff team then Sullivan or whatever other moron is behind the bench will keep playing vets as much as they possibly can because they think the mandate is to get into the playoffs at all costs.

 

[Gurglesons]

I am surprised at how lifeless Bunting looks out there. Very little scrumming or battling. He was doing both so well when he first came over last season. I guess he was just exhibit 919293394 of players who have a brief post trade bump in play and then go right back to being turds once they get comfortable.


I agree that it's a problem I'm just not sure it'd be any less of a problem with a different coach. Not with the current expectations that are in place for the org.

Imo the only way our young and/or fringe players start getting more rope is if the Pens admit to themselves that they're rebuilding. As long as they keep pretending that they're a playoff team then Sullivan or whatever other moron is behind the bench will keep playing vets as much as they possibly can because they think the mandate is to get into the playoffs at all costs.

Boston - playing youth in Poitras
Philly - playing tons of youth
Toronto - playing youth in Knies
Montreal playing tons of youth
Canes - playing youth in blake
Tampa - playing youth in Geekie

I don't really feel like wasting my time further.

Sullivan is a dinosaur who sucks at player evaluation.

 

[Pancakes]

Boston - playing youth in Poitras
Philly - playing tons of youth
Toronto - playing youth in Knies
Montreal playing tons of youth
Canes - playing youth in blake
Tampa - playing youth in Geekie

I don't really feel like wasting my time further.

Sullivan is a dinosaur who sucks at player evaluation.

Montreal and Philly are blatantly rebuilding so of course they're playing youth.

Knies/Blake/Geekie are all better prospects than anybody we have with the possible exception of Mcgroarty and Mcgroarty is younger than all of them.

I'll give you Boston. Playing Poitras was a bold move by them.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I dunno, Bunting looks more like he's trying to play the way Sullivan wants us to play, and that's the opposite issue of "being comfortable", from where I sit.

 

[Gurglesons]

Montreal and Philly are blatantly rebuilding so of course they're playing youth.

Knies/Blake/Geekie are all better prospects than anybody we have with the possible exception of Mcgroarty and Mcgroarty is younger than all of them.

I'll give you Boston. Playing Poitras was a bold move by them.

Geekie was taken a few spots ahead of McG.

Blake and Knies are both later round picks from 2021 when McG was taken in 2022.

What exactly are we doing? Dubas said we were bringing in a youth movement.

Where is the youth?

You said all coaches have the issue. I give you examples of multiple coaches playing youth (for the record Knies was playing last season).

Now it’s moving the narrative. Let’s stop pretending Mike Sullivan isn’t predisposed to not play young players.

 

[Pancakes]

Now it’s moving the narrative. Let’s stop pretending Mike Sullivan isn’t predisposed to not play young players.

You're posting examples of players who are better than any prospects we have. The only example you posted of a team taking a leap of faith with a prospect was Poitras. The rest of those guys are/were very obviously better than any prospects we had even before they broke onto the NHL scene.

 

[Big Friggin Dummy]

Sullivan-adjacent, that dude Friedman that Sully hated basically just got assassinated in an AHL game. I've never seen a nondescript guy consistently get so much on-ice hate as that dude.

-edit- Also he's apparently playing forward?

 

[AuroraBorealis]

3 more years of Josh Anderson at 5.5M
20 points last year in 78GP. But dat snarl tho.