Gretz is reading HF Boards…everything we’ve all been saying lol…
Some thoughts on Jesse Puljujarvi, Drew O’Connor, Tristan Jarry and Mike Sullivan.
www.pensburgh.com
Sometimes I wonder if I should become a writer and just use a ChatGPT prompt to scour HFPens and shit out an article. I'd only charge $4.99/mo.
I don’t like Kan and think he doesn’t really know hockey, but there’s truth to this…said something similar on his podcast (it’s coming from other more knowledgeable hockey people lol)…we have a lot of low IQ players and have previously obtained a lot of those in the past (see Kapanen)….so if you’re wondering why many players play worse here than they do elsewhere, this is a decent explanation…it’s hard to find high IQ players with speed who are available for trade or aren’t overpriced in FA…so the answer is that Sullivan must change his ways lol…this is also an explanation for why Sid and G like playing for Sullivan and might not want him fired…
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ overall trajectory was always going to be down before it could go up. Such is the nature of salary cap sports run by human beings who must look forward and not make decisions with the benefit of perfect hindsight. Yet several factors are specifically crushing this...
pittsburghhockeynow.com
Actually, that's a decent article (for once), and it brings up interesting points. To summarize:
Sullivan's system requires a high IQ and higher-than-average skating to be effective while also giving star players the latitude they need to be star players. It's a very loose structure that depends on individuals all recognizing the same play and responding accordingly.
Dubas has brought in guys who are not lightning on their feet and, as one could conclude, not super high IQ guys. Now, we understand Hayes and Glass because we got paid to take them, so it focuses on three guys - Gryz, Graves, and Bunting. All did well in a very structured system but now they all suck.
So the basis of the article was - does Dubas understand Sullivan's system when it comes to the guys he brings in?
And I think there's a "no but..." answer there. It would appear that guys like Graves and Gryz do not fit the system well. I focused on these two because they were UFA signings. The others were all trades, so there was a slight loss of control. Graves and Gryz are 100% Dubas and are 100% self-inflicted wounds even though Gryz is a cheap, one year deal. It's the GM and HC's job to look at players they want to sign and determine how they will fit. If they see Graves and Gryz only doing well in their superstructured systems, then maybe Sullivan's freelancing and free-wheeling system isn't the best fit. So that's on Dubas because he's got the ultimate say on who is brought it. The only caveat I have here, though, is that there are only so many available, capable guys to choose from. It's not like there's a buffet of high-quality NHL players that are ripe for signing and trading. I don't think that's something that gets acknowledged often enough which brings me to the next "...but" point.
I do not think Sid, Geno, Letang, and now Karlsson are playing at the level that requires you to have a freelancing system so that you don't "hold them back". I would suggest all four are at the point where you need a bit of structure, especially in the dzone. If you have a roster that doesn't fit your system, I think it's incredibly reasonable to suggest that Sullivan should be looking to tweak the system to the roster he does have. This is where the stubbornness and ego of Sullivan are causing more of an issue than the roster Dubas has put together. Now, if Sid and Geno don't want a new coach who will require them to play a structured system, then fine...but don't look so f***ing sad and sappy and disappointed when the losses mount. And sure as shit they better not ask off the sinking ship they helped create.
If you can't find the players that 100% fit your system, it's the job of the coach to tweak the system so that it does work. Watching losses mount while blaming individual players for not doing well in the system is such a coward's way out.