Salary Cap: Pens Summer Salary Thread: Dull days of August... Oooo! A trade!

[Pancakes]

I think that's an awful take on Puustinen. You might want to look around at what type of players ended up getting a contract.

To say Puustinen wouldn't get a contract and then seeing Matthew "Hobbit" Phillips literally getting one is quite the take. I mean hell if Puustinen was called to a cash strapped team to take a 1yr deal knowing he'd get played in the line-up, he'd be an Avs forward right now.

Fairly certain the Canucks or Wild probably would have signed him as well, Guerin has a thing for Ex Penguins and we know Allvin would love to pick up a winger he scouted and likely picked that draft year.

I said he'd get a contract. I just don't think there'd be a bunch of teams bidding for his services. Most other fanbases wouldn't give him a second thought but here he gets that because he's a player under 30 who showed a pulse at the NHL level.

And I'm sure Puustinen knows that, otherwise he would have just gone to UFA and signed somewhere else. Because there's no way (if a bunch of other teams really would be interested in a UFA Puustinen) that playing for Mike Sullivan is the best chance for him to get a lot of playing time and a chance to show what he can do with good players.

 

[Ulf5]

The making of Rutger McGroarty: Jets’ top prospect, family give all to get forward NHL ready

ST. PAUL, Minn. — He is the most intriguing prospect in the Winnipeg Jets pipeline, a unique player whose combination of character, compete and charisma has already made plenty of waves around the hoc...

www.winnipegfreepress.com

Pieniniemi to play in the OHL this year.

Emil Pieniniemi Commits to the Frontenacs - Kingston Frontenacs

Kingston, Ontario – The Kingston Frontenacs Hockey Club is excited to announce the signing of Finnish defenceman Emil Pieniniemi to an OHL Scholarship and Development agreement.

chl.ca

 

[AuroraBorealis]

2023-24 NCAA scoring

Looked through the years to find NHL'ers who produced similarly to McGroarty in their age-19 season in the NCAA:
Schmaltz, Gaudreau, Stepan, Schwartz, Boeser, Parise, Stempniak, Cammaleri, Heatley

Keep in mind some of these guys had much better goal ratios. Still, there's definitely top-six potential here.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

More like McGRAWRty am I right? XD uwu

 

[Honour Over Glory]

I was reading through the Rutger Draft thread and boy I really hope his skating is improved by a shit ton for camp, otherwise Dubas might've been fleeced based on hype.

 

[Pens1566]

Shitty skaters scare the bejesus out of me. If I was a scout, I'd probably just ignore them entirely.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

Shitty skaters scare the bejesus out of me. If I was a scout, I'd probably just ignore them entirely.

I know what you mean because I tend to agree with the first part and value athleticism.

However the best two forwards on the cup champs had their skating picked apart coming out in their draft year. Barkov obviously was both overblown and improved his to above average. Tkachuk has been pretty effective without being huge or a good skater though. It’s tough to say why it kills some guys but not others. I’d bet hockey sense/IQ.

Apparently the kid is grinding on his skating with Barb Underhill? I think that was posted on main boards yesterday. Good to know he’s aware of weaknesses if true.

 

[Ulf5]

I know what you mean because I tend to agree with the first part and value athleticism.

However the best two forwards on the cup champs had their skating picked apart coming out in their draft year. Barkov obviously was both overblown and improved his to above average. Tkachuk has been pretty effective without being huge or a good skater though. It’s tough to say why it kills some guys but not others. I’d bet hockey sense/IQ.

Apparently the kid is grinding on his skating with Barb Underhill? I think that was posted on main boards yesterday. Good to know he’s aware of weaknesses if true.

The article I posted above says he has been and continues to work on it.
Maybe the Pens' staff can come at it from a different perspective and increase the improvements his current coach has made.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

More like McGRAWRty am I right? XD uwu

 

[Jacob]

McGroarty must have some leadership qualities. Captain of the U18 team, captain of the U20 team, already had an A as a sophomore at Michigan.

 

[JTG]

Shitty skaters scare the bejesus out of me. If I was a scout, I'd probably just ignore them entirely.

Same. But I have been saying for years that this team doesn't have any sort of swagger, we have no attitude, and we aren't particularly tough to play against. McGoarty changes a lot of that. He plays like Jake in the way he finds those little soft spots, but he can't wheel like Jake. His skating issues will probably be a good fit with Geno, and Geno feeds off his wingers energy. So when McGoarty starts throwing weight around either look for Geno to start galloping with the puck or taking stupid penalties.

 

[OnMyOwn]

I didn’t think Jake was all that special of a skater. Not bad or anything but he floated a lot. From clips I’ve watched and reports I’ve read, McGroarty is fine. He’s just not gonna carry and dance with speed. He’s much more of an offensive zone type. Also apparently likes to give and go, which fits Sid.

I feel like he can play with either and do well. Like Jake did.

 

[eXile3]

I know what you mean because I tend to agree with the first part and value athleticism.

However the best two forwards on the cup champs had their skating picked apart coming out in their draft year. Barkov obviously was both overblown and improved his to above average. Tkachuk has been pretty effective without being huge or a good skater though. It’s tough to say why it kills some guys but not others. I’d bet hockey sense/IQ.

Apparently the kid is grinding on his skating with Barb Underhill? I think that was posted on main boards yesterday. Good to know he’s aware of weaknesses if true.

I think usage and play style contribute a lot. Tkachuk got 36% of his points on the PP. Watch McGroarty clips a lot of the offense he generated looked to be in zone, and not on the rush.

My biggest worry is Sully will burry the guy with the wrong players and the wrong usage.

 

[CheckingLineCenter]

I didn’t think Jake was all that special of a skater. Not bad or anything but he floated a lot. From clips I’ve watched and reports I’ve read, McGroarty is fine. He’s just not gonna carry and dance with speed. He’s much more of an offensive zone type. Also apparently likes to give and go, which fits Sid.

I feel like he can play with either and do well. Like Jake did.

think usage and play style contribute a lot. Tkachuk got 36% of his points on the PP. Watch McGroarty clips a lot of the offense he generated looked to be in zone, and not on the rush.

My biggest worry is Sully will burry the guy with the wrong players and the wrong usage.

Yeah I think Jake, both Tkachuks, Kucherov, EP40 are great (if not extreme) examples of guys who have been very successful and big time scorers without being puck carriers and 1v1 creators.

I just want a solid cost controlled middle 6 player in McG. Any more is gravy.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

I didn’t think Jake was all that special of a skater. Not bad or anything but he floated a lot. From clips I’ve watched and reports I’ve read, McGroarty is fine. He’s just not gonna carry and dance with speed. He’s much more of an offensive zone type. Also apparently likes to give and go, which fits Sid.

I feel like he can play with either and do well. Like Jake did.

I don't think I can agree with this. Jake is an above average skater in my book.

 

[Rudy Russo]

2023-24 NCAA scoring
View attachment 902738
Looked through the years to find NHL'ers who produced similarly to McGroarty in their age-19 season in the NCAA:
Schmaltz, Gaudreau, Stepan, Schwartz, Boeser, Parise, Stempniak, Cammaleri, Heatley

Keep in mind some of these guys had much better goal ratios. Still, there's definitely top-six potential here.

What a steal for Carolina to get Blake in the 4th round in the 2021 draft.

 

[Jacob]

I think when you’re 5’10” you need to be a good skater, but when you’re 6’1” you don’t.

 

[Gurglesons]

I don't think I can agree with this. Jake is an above average skater in my book.

He was one of our fastest skaters the last few year by the Edge metrics from what I remember.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I think Guentzel has elite edgework/agility but his top end speed was just okay. That didn't really hurt him though, his hockey IQ plus his agility made him a lethal player so he didn't need the insane top end speed.

With McGroarty, I'm less concerned about his skating because it seems that his skating is just "poor/mediocre" rather than "bad". I think I saw it mentioned here that EP rates his skating as a 4/10, with 5/10 being NHL average. Being a slightly below average skater isn't really an issue if you have a high hockey IQ and talent, which it seems like McGroarty has. I do wonder if the lack of skating speed will be a reason Crosby doesn't like playing with him (similar to Hornqvist), though.

 

[JTG]

I think usage and play style contribute a lot. Tkachuk got 36% of his points on the PP. Watch McGroarty clips a lot of the offense he generated looked to be in zone, and not on the rush.

My biggest worry is Sully will burry the guy with the wrong players and the wrong usage.

I agree with you on he scores within zone time, which is why I think if they are committed to Geno staying at C...that works.

I think when you’re 5’10” you need to be a good skater, but when you’re 6’1” you don’t.

And then after 6'2, how good of a skater a player needs to be starts rising again. Nothing worse than a 6'6 traffic cone.

I think Guentzel has elite edgework/agility but his top end speed was just okay. That didn't really hurt him though, his hockey IQ plus his agility made him a lethal player so he didn't need the insane top end speed.

With McGroarty, I'm less concerned about his skating because it seems that his skating is just "poor/mediocre" rather than "bad". I think I saw it mentioned here that EP rates his skating as a 4/10, with 5/10 being NHL average. Being a slightly below average skater isn't really an issue if you have a high hockey IQ and talent, which it seems like McGroarty has. I do wonder if the lack of skating speed will be a reason Crosby doesn't like playing with him (similar to Hornqvist), though.

Correct. Guentzel is a great technical skater. Part of edge work is being able to take hits and maintain yourself - he did that insanely well for a guy as light as he was because of how strong he was on his edges.

SKating can be improved. Totally possible. I watched Brooks Orpik go from an AHL level skater to being a really solid skater. Anything is possible in that regard. Hornqvist was able to operate in today's NHL and I'd say his skating was 4/10.

 

[Sideline]

I don't remember hating McGroarty's skating at the World Juniors. That's a long way from being an asset to his game, but I usually notice guys that are just Ramzi Abid'ing there way to video game numbers with the foot speed of a 3 toed sloth.

 

[Ryder71]

More like McGRAWRty am I right? XD uwu

Redo your list bub!

I think when you’re 5’10” you need to be a good skater, but when you’re 6’1” you don’t.

What if you're 5'11 1/2?

 

[Gurglesons]

What if you're 5'11 1/2?

Trying to impress her?

 

[Jacob]

Redo your list bub!


What if you're 5'11 1/2?

Or if you're 15'11" like Mike Zigomanis in EA NHL 03 and you can take faceoffs without being inside the faceoff circle.

 

[Ryder71]

Trying to impress her?

I fail to understand the point.