Post-Game Talk: Pens vs Bruins: Frustrating loss

[The Grim Reaper]

Reimer signed for <2 million. Jonathan Quick did the same.

As for bottom sixers for 3m or so: Pius Suter signed for 3.2. Max Domi signed for $3 million. Matt Duchene signed for $3 million.

Daniel Sprong signed for $2million.

There's tons of guys the Pens could have signed with that money.

Question is whether they lose out goaltending-wise too much by doing so. TJ was good the first part of the season. Maybe Ned wears down if it's like Ned/Quick or Ned/Reimer or whomever

Reimer and Quick, in their twilight years, are not signing on a team like the Pens. They want to play in the playoffs and have a shot at the cup. That's without saying that they're not better than Jarry.

 

[Extra Texture]

If they miss again, does Sullys seat get hot for next year?

I have the distinct feeling that this point streak to bring us back from the dead will have FSG and Dubas believing Sullivan is Christ the messiah come back to earth. He will probably still be coaching this team to play “the right way” after we’re all long dead.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

This team is such an unlikeable joke

 

[Big Poppa Pump]

I thought for sure he was going to be dumped at the deadline. He has been invisible here.

Most teams don't want bad players...

Trade all our bad players for good players, lol.

 

[Ryder71]

Sullivan is Babcock if Babcock wasn't a detestable person. I think the comparison is 1000000% spot on.

I do what I can.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

Reimer signed for <2 million. Jonathan Quick did the same.

As for bottom sixers for 3m or so: Pius Suter signed for 3.2. Max Domi signed for $3 million. Matt Duchene signed for $3 million.

Daniel Sprong signed for $2million.

There's tons of guys the Pens could have signed with that money.

Question is whether they lose out goaltending-wise too much by doing so. TJ was good the first part of the season. Maybe Ned wears down if it's like Ned/Quick or Ned/Reimer or whomever

Thanks for actually doing some work but almost all of them were never an actual option for the Pens.

The only 3 that IMO were even available would be Sproing, Reimer and maybe Suter. The other guys chose which teams they wanted.

We are 100% a worse team with a Ned/Reim tandem and Sprong who Sully would have hated.

 

[66-30-33]

Probably lol. Sullivan's job is safer than being a US senator

Oh well, I hope we keep all our picks from now on. Don't waste them on players, when we keep losing and the idiots keep wondering why we will at least have our picks. It's good we will give this one away because next season we will be older and worse.

 

[Ryder71]

This team is such an unlikeable joke

Except for Bunting, Rust, DOC and Geno.

 

[The Great Mighty Poo]

Sullivan is the Graham Bonnet era Rainbow, Ripper Owens era Judas Priest, or Blaze Bailey era Iron Maiden of NHL coaches.

Think of a bigger insult then that.

 

[66-30-33]

The only silver lining is that there’s only two games left of Carter to endure. That alone is better than making the playoffs lol

re-sign him and Harkins.

 

[Empoleon8771]

It's fair to want more than what we got from EK. But that trade was the only way to be rid of Petry/Rutta and EK provided way more value than those two would have even with all his warts defensively.

And the first is irrelevant now that the Pens aren't handing SJ an unprotected lottery pick

I agree with this, I wouldn't undo the trade because getting out of Petry, Rutta and Granlund is still worth it IMO. I'm just saying that Karlsson's issues make him a piece teams cannot win with at his salary, so while the deal was worth it, it just replaced one issue with a lesser issue.

He is a "shitty team" player: you play him on inflated minutes on bad teams and he puts up a bunch of points, but once you play him on a good team (or even a mediocre team trying to be good), you immediately realize why he's not worth it. It's the same exact situation as Granlund, who has 56 points in 66 games for the Sharks this year.

 

[Ryder71]

re-sign him and Harkins.

Carter maybe, Harkins not likely.

 

[GilbertSeinfeld]

 

[Doctor Coffin]

I seriously don't understand why he is a defenseman, who decided that in his young age and why? He has no f***ing idea how to defend.

Probably because he realized that those are the kind of, ahem, blueliners that get rewarded with huge contracts and accolades. Playing actual defense is for mere mortals.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

re-sign him and Harkins.

I don't hate Carter, I hate the way Sullivan utilizes Cater.

 

[66-30-33]

Carter maybe, Harkins not likely.

NO BOTH AND DO IT NOW!

 

[the penitent]

Let's be honest - it was a good run while it lasted, and while I pissed and moaned for most of the season, the last couple of weeks were at least interesting. But the hard truths are still the hard truths:

- Team simply cannot play a full 60 minute game - ever
- Their run magically coincided with Ryan Graves not being on the ice
- Karlsson is still a disaster - and while you can blame Sullivan for putting the reins on him, can you imagine how his defense would be if completely unfettered?
- You can't have Karlsson, Malkin or Letang anywhere near each other on the power play
- Smith has got to go, period. He's been a HUGE disappointment
- Anyone on this board who thinks that Sully is going anywhere is, to be blunt, out of their minds. He wasn't going anywhere before the run, and he certainly isn't after the run

 

[Pancakes]

Thanks for actually doing some work but almost all of them were never an actual option for the Pens.

The only 3 that IMO were even available would be Sproing, Reimer and maybe Suter. The other guys chose which teams they wanted.

We are 100% a worse team with a Ned/Reim tandem and Sprong who Sully would have hated.

I mean Duchene chose the Stars but the Pens were never even an option for him so who knows if Dubas says we want you maybe he'd be interested.

I probably could find some other names that signed for 2-3 million that would be good options. Do agree that Sully probably hates Sprong. The research I did was pretty quick just to find a few names. I'm sure a deep dive into last year's FAs would yield even more options than I saw at a quick glance.

All what ifs anyways. Dubas had enough cap space to put together a better bottom six than he did but he blew it.

 

[Extra Texture]

Even a 25th ranked powerplay and we’re in, comfortably.

This fact alone should have seen the coaching staff shitcanned by now. The way such unmitigated failure, at a level below the lowest lottery teams, has been explained away and chalked up to bad luck has been a joke.

They don’t know what they’re doing with these players and it’s obvious. Leave nobody behind the bench, and tell the players to figure it out, and results might improve. If things are THAT bad, then only a cowardly ownership and GM would refuse to act

 

[Pancakes]

I agree with this, I wouldn't undo the trade because getting out of Petry, Rutta and Granlund is still worth it IMO. I'm just saying that Karlsson's issues make him a piece teams cannot win with at his salary, so while the deal was worth it, it just replaced one issue with a lesser issue.

He is a "shitty team" player: you play him on inflated minutes on bad teams and he puts up a bunch of points, but once you play him on a good team (or even a mediocre team trying to be good), you immediately realize why he's not worth it. It's the same exact situation as Granlund, who has 56 points in 66 games for the Sharks this year.

I liked your post before the edit but I 100% do not agree with the latter part of your post. Granlund is a guy who only produces when spoonfed #1pp time and minutes.

EK would produce for any team he goes to. He has warts, yes, but he's not a guy whose only producing due to minutes aka what Granlund is

 

[Karl Prime]

2017 is not 2024.

I don't mean Karlsson has always been that way. I mean at this point in his career, he is a "shitty team" player. Just like Granlund used to be good but he's also now a "shitty team" player.

The last two games have been rough defensively, but most of the season he's played pretty clean. Tonight the big defensive miscue was more a miscommunication with Jarry - or thinking a forward was coming down the wall. There were a few rough plays with the puck but he wasn't alone in that, certainly. I think on the whole at 5v5 he and Letang have had similar amounts of screwups with the puck. Letang has been great on the PK but I've seen him screw up plenty defensively. Even Pettersson isn't playing the way he was the first half of the year.

Most of the season EK has done pretty well in the Sullivan system, even though it has limited his breakout game severely. I've watched EK his whole career, he's done a lot of things well defensively this year that he hasn't always done - but whereas in his prime in Ottawa he would make a nice play and then bomb up ice with the puck to start a rush, here he'll gather the puck and fire it to the centre line, or just send it over to his partner. However much he may want to get up ice, he's done what Sullivan has wanted all season.

 

[Ragamuffin Gunner]

This reminds me

Another big - to everyone who told me that the points don't matter in Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan.

 

[FlightlessBird]

If they miss again, does Sullys seat get hot for next year?

If they continued to play how they were playing a few weeks ago and never went on this streak to (probably) miss by 1 point again, I would have said it was 50/50 he was gone. But there is now no way he’s not back to start next year, even if they miss by 1 point. IMO, the “turnaround” bought him more time, unfortunately.

 

[The Grim Reaper]

I liked your post before the edit but I 100% do not agree with the latter part of your post. Granlund is a guy who only produces when spoonfed #1pp time and minutes.

EK would produce for any team he goes to. He has warts, yes, but he's not a guy whose only producing due to minutes aka what Granlund is

If only the Pens could have some more of those guys that, once away from Sullivan, produce with increased minutes.

 

[Doctor Coffin]

This fact alone should have seen the coaching staff shitcanned by now. The way such unmitigated failure, at a level below the lowest lottery teams, has been explained away and chalked up to bad luck has been a joke.

They don’t know what they’re doing with these players and it’s obvious. Leave nobody behind the bench, and tell the players to figure it out, and results might improve. If things are THAT bad, then only a cowardly ownership and GM would refuse to act

Very true. What happens this summer should show us if management has a winning mentality, or a budget-cutting one.