Salary Cap: Pens Salary Cap Thread: If we score 6 we win, its science!
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Gurglesons
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Just Sullysma. I still loathe we didn’t get to see him exposed on the national level in the Olympics. Would been Babcock with Matthews type usage.
Big Friggin Dummy
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- Feb 22, 2019
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It's so weird because I don't think Sully is a dumb coach. Just a coach with a massive ego who is well past his expiration date.
But we're gonna see him for like another 5 years.
Gurglesons
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It's so weird because I don't think Sully is a dumb coach. Just a coach with a massive ego who is well past his expiration date.
But we're gonna see him for like another 5 years.
Honestly the more I see from him the more I doubt he’s a good coach.
Good coaches don’t blow 3 leads in 3 consecutive games.
McGroarty2
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Empoleon8771
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Idk why people are complaining about Rakell's usage. He's averaging 17:30 a night this year, has looked phenomenal with both Crosby and Malkin and has only played in the bottom-6 for maybe 1 or 2 games with the Penguins in total.
I don't see any way that he falls into the bottom-6. Frankly, I don't see any way that Sullivan breaks up Zucker-Malkin-Rakell with how well it has done. It's dominating analytically and it's scoring a ton at 5v5 so far (5 GF in 69 minutes at 5v5). I have issues with Sullivan's usage of GCR, but I have no complaints with those top-6 lines if Sullivan wasn't overusing GCR.
I think the Penguins current top-6 is built with 4 legitimate top-6 wingers that all fit really well with both Crosby and Malkin. I think any combination of those 4 wingers would yield a good pair for either center. The only one I might be iffy on is Zucker and Guentzel, just because of the LW-RW balance. The only way Sullivan can build a top-6 that I think is bad is if it doesn't have those 4 wingers in it.
I don't see any way that he falls into the bottom-6. Frankly, I don't see any way that Sullivan breaks up Zucker-Malkin-Rakell with how well it has done. It's dominating analytically and it's scoring a ton at 5v5 so far (5 GF in 69 minutes at 5v5). I have issues with Sullivan's usage of GCR, but I have no complaints with those top-6 lines if Sullivan wasn't overusing GCR.
I think the Penguins current top-6 is built with 4 legitimate top-6 wingers that all fit really well with both Crosby and Malkin. I think any combination of those 4 wingers would yield a good pair for either center. The only one I might be iffy on is Zucker and Guentzel, just because of the LW-RW balance. The only way Sullivan can build a top-6 that I think is bad is if it doesn't have those 4 wingers in it.
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Sidney the Kidney
One last time
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For starters, Rakell should be on PP1 over Rust. His shot and his ability on the left halfwall is superior to Rust's and that means we don't have to see Geno on his wrong side playing there.
Additionally, when Rakell was with Sid's line we had BOTH top six lines going. Right now we've got Geno's line going with Sid's line looking trash defensively.
Empoleon8771
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Crosby's line has produced just as much as Malkin's line since they swapped Rakell and Rust.
It just seems like such a minor thing to get mad about. Both top-6 lines are scoring a ton and dominating analytically.
Turin
Erik Karlsson is good
- Feb 27, 2018
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Guentzel-Crosby-Rakell
Zucker-Malkin-Tarasenko
McGinn-Carter-Rust
Heinen-Blueger-Poehling/Hallander
Would be awesome even though we all know it would be Rak demoted and not superstar Bryan Gold. I’ve also just wanted Tarasenko since that draft where Shero tried to draft him but couldn’t trade up.
Zucker-Malkin-Tarasenko
McGinn-Carter-Rust
Heinen-Blueger-Poehling/Hallander
Would be awesome even though we all know it would be Rak demoted and not superstar Bryan Gold. I’ve also just wanted Tarasenko since that draft where Shero tried to draft him but couldn’t trade up.
ChaosAgent
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- May 8, 2018
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Despite the board's hate on with Rust, there is not a chance on earth that Zucker and Tarasenko would simultaneously be healthy and as such there would be no need to bump a player down.
Turin
Erik Karlsson is good
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Big Friggin Dummy
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I think too much is made of the coach's impact, both good and bad, when it comes to guys on the ice. All they can really do is set the lines properly, shake things up in that regard when needed, and manage TOI. Sully didn't tell guys like Geno, Jake and Rust to do zilch when Trouba brained Sid. You can only give so many cliche speeches and "get guys ready" (why does the oldest team in the league need to be given a pep talk and a rundown of fundamentals). It's kind of a big reason I don't really subscribe to the idea that coaches should be an integral part of the team's core like the team views Sully.
I'm really not trying to defend Sully. I think he's f***ed up way more than required to fire a coach, and for literal years at this point. Dude's TOI distribution for a team as old as this is awful, and his refusal to go with fundamentally superior lines is aggravating. I just roll my eyes at the stuff that makes him out to be this dude who is a completely inept dolt, or having this omnipotence when it comes to affecting everything wrong.
Cassidy was run outta town in Boston and thought of as a dude making a lot of the same decisions we criticize Sully for here. He was immediately hired by Vegas and they're cruising right along, tops in the NHL. I think if/when Sully is fired, the same kinda thing will happen. He'll get a job somewhere else quickly, if he wants it, and they'll do just fine. It's not a case where a coach is a complete dullard like Bylsma or Johnston, he's an egomaniac who cannot ever be wrong, and I think he's kinda lost the ear of the room over the years, due in no small part to his refusal to hold certain guys accountable. Coaches at the NHL level who are totally out of their league and just complete idiots are few and far between, imo. Even if they shouldn't be working the job they currently have, like Sully.
Gurglesons
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Big Friggin Dummy
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What was he fired for? Afaik, Bruins fans were bemoaning his line combos, player usage and handling of younger players all year last year.
Regardless. I think we're all just pissing into the wind here. Sullivan's beloved by ownership and has a handful of years and likely tens of millions owed to him. There's no reason to even discuss his spot as coach until the Pens miss the playoffs, and even then, it'd probably take two misses in a row. Hell, even then, I think they'd just shrug.
Gurglesons
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Allegedly the team hated him. It’s why Krejci and Bergeron came back.
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Big Friggin Dummy
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Either way, it was an example of a coach being fired and then picked up almost immediately because he's not a complete doofus with no qualifications to coach in the NHL level like Bylsma, or Johnston, or Ducharme. I think the same will happen with Sullivan whenever he's done here because he's a fine coach, even if he's the *wrong* coach and has been for years. /shrug
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