Some of the people complaining were giving Dubas props after the EK deal and shipping out a lot of Hextall’s dead weight. We wound up stuck with the guys who have NMC’s. Again, thanks to Hextall.
Then I firmly believe he brought in guys sully wanted. It was said as much when we signed Eller. You can see in the usage of certain players as well.
I honestly think Dubas was giving sully a legit shot with players he wanted. It’s failed and we need to move on and let Dubas pick his own coach instead of just glazing sully because he’s a Boston guy and we’re owned by a Boston company.
As someone who has watched every game this year, someone who's been watching Sullivan hockey for the first time consistently, it's frustrating. I don't think he's a bad coach, but I don't think he's the right coach for this team. The core for his whole tenure has been Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Guentzel, and Rust. But Dubas acquired Karlsson, one of the best offensive players in the league, and Sullivan didn't adjust at all. It's as if Sullivan thinks if Erik was given the reigns to the offense then the defense would suffer, but EK has shown in his career (11-12, 16-17) that he can be dominant offensively without sacrificing defensively. Hell, even last year, he was pretty much an even player until Meier was traded, and that was on a team with far less skill and depth on it, not to mention terrible goaltending.
As I've said before, EK is actually having a pretty good all-round season, but his offensive numbers will make people think he's having an awful year. In reality, he's performing at 5v5 about what you would expect from a player whose offensive contributions are limited to stretch breakout passes and shots for tips. They rarely find him when he does get low in the o-zone because they aren't looking for him. And most frustratingly of all, one of the best puck rushers
ever doesn't skate the puck up ice. With his skating and vision, he would be creating so many chances for Sid, Geno, Jake, Rust, Rakell, and Smith, and chances are Rakell and Smith wouldn't be having terrible goal scoring seasons.
I highly doubt any of Sid, Geno, EK, Letang, or Rust are going anywhere next year, so if Dubas does come to the decision to fire Sully (please), he has to bring in a guy that knows how to utilize one of the best offensive D ever at 5v5. The funny thing is that this season, his points have come "easier" than they did last year, when he was making a ton of amazing passes and scoring great goals. This year most of his assists have been simple passes or tip-ins, with the exception of a few nice slap-passes. Sid and EK have shown good chemistry, but it feels like we have only seen 40% of what they are capable of together (the slap-pass tip-ins, mainly).
And for the love of all things holy, find a coach who knows how to generate offense that doesn't come by a dump and forecheck. Yes, the Pens forecheck is pretty good but they spend so much time battling along the boards for pucks instead of working towards the middle of the ice.
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