Confirmed Signing with Link: [PIT] Penguins sign Justin Schultz (1 yr, $1.4M)

[NORiculous]

So... That makes Pouliot available?

 

[pensfansince88]

i'm glad he's back. he seemed pretty reliable to me, and hopefully even better this year

 

[JimmyTwoTimes]

Really? Who was offering him more? Link please.



Accurate comment - he was a UFA, due to not receiving a qualifying offer. I doubt there were many interested in him as his game has many deficiencies.



UFAs do not qualify for arbitration.



I am sure that had nothing to do with the fact he started in the offensive zone 66.7% of the time. The next highest on the Penguins during the playoffs was Cole at 55.91%

Look, Justin Schultz is a decent enough guy. He is a strong skater and has a good shot. He makes horrible decisions in his own zone with the puck (you should learn this well before you begin your NHL career), as he tends to panic when he anticipates the physical play. He rarely ever wins a puck battle and it looks like he could give a ****... his compete level has to one of the lowest in the NHL.

I was expecting someone to give him a 1 year offer at about $1-$1.2M... so this contract is in line. Those that think he is anything more than a 6/7 Dman with some ability to play on the PP are going to be very disappointed... as most Oiler fans were, when we expected him to be more than that. My guess is he will play about 60-65 games, healthy scratches on some nights when the game is expected to be a bit physical.

I wish him all the best but WYSIWYG.

Why are you talking about him in present tense... He's not on the oilers anymore

 

[mgd525]

So... That makes Pouliot available?

I doubt it. I think Poo is at the stage where it would be unwise to trade him right now. The guy still has a lot of potential and they would at least like to see what he looks like in camp and the start of the season. If he doesn't have a good camp and doesn't play well the first half I could for sure see him as a trade chip at the deadline. The Pens system is basically Barren of NHL ready prospects on defense as well. I mean Poo is about it sadly. The Pens did sign a bunch of borderline NHL talent, long shots and reclamation projects. Bengtsson and or Prow one would think will need at least a year before being ready to try their hand at the NHL.

 

[vipernsx]

For some reason I thought if a team let a player go from RFA to UFA by not qualifying them, they couldn't sign them until the following season.

How much did you expect a bottom pair defenseman to get?

I was hoping the Rangers were going to sign him. They could have bought out Girardi, signed schultz for 2 years @ 1.5m per, been better off and with more cap space. Schultz would excel in NY as a PMD and PP specialist. Schultz is better than Dan Boyle.

 

[zar]

Why are you talking about him in present tense... He's not on the oilers anymore

"Why are you talking about him in present tense... " --- I wasn't.

"...He's not on the oilers anymore" --- For that, I am extremely happy. Enjoy.

 

[mgd525]

For some reason I thought if a team let a player go from RFA to UFA by not qualifying them, they couldn't sign them until the following season.



I was hoping the Rangers were going to sign him. They could have bought out Girardi, signed schultz for 2 years @ 1.5m per, been better off and with more cap space. Schultz would excel in NY as a PMD and PP specialist. Schultz is better than Dan Boyle.

You were thinking of the rules for a buyout I believe.

 

[Pancakes]

Really? Who was offering him more? Link please.



Accurate comment - he was a UFA, due to not receiving a qualifying offer. I doubt there were many interested in him as his game has many deficiencies.



UFAs do not qualify for arbitration.



I am sure that had nothing to do with the fact he started in the offensive zone 66.7% of the time. The next highest on the Penguins during the playoffs was Cole at 55.91%

Look, Justin Schultz is a decent enough guy. He is a strong skater and has a good shot. He makes horrible decisions in his own zone with the puck (you should learn this well before you begin your NHL career), as he tends to panic when he anticipates the physical play. He rarely ever wins a puck battle and it looks like he could give a ****... his compete level has to one of the lowest in the NHL.

I was expecting someone to give him a 1 year offer at about $1-$1.2M... so this contract is in line. Those that think he is anything more than a 6/7 Dman with some ability to play on the PP are going to be very disappointed... as most Oiler fans were, when we expected him to be more than that. My guess is he will play about 60-65 games, healthy scratches on some nights when the game is expected to be a bit physical.

I wish him all the best but WYSIWYG.

The Pens used him the way he should be used. Give him cozy zone starts and let him use his offensive skills to produce points. Keep him away from better lines. Sure any guy would look better with that type of usage, but not every guy can use that deployment to produce the kind of offense Schultz can. In that regard, he's useful.

 

[aqsw]

I watched this dude in Edmonton, and I cannot believe anybody would give this guy a job.
Wow, Is DP toast?

 

[clefty]

The Pens used him the way he should be used. Give him cozy zone starts and let him use his offensive skills to produce points. Keep him away from better lines. Sure any guy would look better with that type of usage, but not every guy can use that deployment to produce the kind of offense Schultz can. In that regard, he's useful.

You'd think the Penguins were trying to, like, develop him or something. Madness.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I am sure that had nothing to do with the fact he started in the offensive zone 66.7% of the time. The next highest on the Penguins during the playoffs was Cole at 55.91%.

Where did you get your numbers from? Honestly curious because the advanced stats sites I've been to only list regular season totals. And Schultz's regular season numbers have him at 33.3% OZ% and 31.5% DZ%.

It also doesn't make sense since Sullivan uses Cole in a lot of defensive situations, so Cole wouldn't be starting that much of his shifts in the O-zone.

 

[SomeDude]

So... That makes Pouliot available?

I wouldn't be surprised if he is with the Pens through the start of the season, but I doubt he will be around past the deadline barring a breakout.

Letang, Maatta, and Dumoulin will be the Pens protected D in the expansion draft. I doubt they run the risk of losing him for nothing.

 

[Riptide]

Look, Justin Schultz is a decent enough guy. He is a strong skater and has a good shot. He makes horrible decisions in his own zone with the puck (you should learn this well before you begin your NHL career), as he tends to panic when he anticipates the physical play. He rarely ever wins a puck battle and it looks like he could give a ****... his compete level has to one of the lowest in the NHL.

And if that's how he had actually played for Pittsburgh, then PIT fans would not be as happy as they all are that he's resigned.

I was expecting someone to give him a 1 year offer at about $1-$1.2M... so this contract is in line. Those that think he is anything more than a 6/7 Dman with some ability to play on the PP are going to be very disappointed... as most Oiler fans were, when we expected him to be more than that. My guess is he will play about 60-65 games, healthy scratches on some nights when the game is expected to be a bit physical.

I wish him all the best but WYSIWYG.

I guess it's a good thing then he's already shown that that's not what he is?

I watched this dude in Edmonton, and I cannot believe anybody would give this guy a job.
Wow, Is DP toast?

Perhaps that says more about Edmonton then Schultz? I'm not going to deny that he had some issues there. But he played very well for PIT from the start. Again, there's a reason why most of the PIT fans on this board are very happy we signed him. And that's because he was a lot more than a #6/7D for PIT.

 

[Riptide]

Where did you get your numbers from? Honestly curious because the advanced stats sites I've been to only list regular season totals. And Schultz's regular season numbers have him at 33.3% OZ% and 31.5% DZ%.

It also doesn't make sense since Sullivan uses Cole in a lot of defensive situations, so Cole wouldn't be starting that much of his shifts in the O-zone.

http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?rep...t=shotAttemptsPctg&aggregate=0&teamId=5&pos=D

NHL.com has him starting the vast majority of his starts in the offensive zone. Same with Cole.

 

[me2]

Nick Schultz? Sargent Schultz? Which Schultz are you talking about, because it's not Justin.

But let's stoop to bizzaro levels and say that he IS a #6. How is 1.4 out of whack for a #6 with offensive upside, PP QB ability / Letang cover?

I get that people love to blindly hate players for different reasons, but these two posts are out to lunch and not at all based in reality.

$1.4m 1 year for a young RH #6/7 with potential to turn his career into a decent offensive NHLer. Posted on for Pittsburgh in that role.

I don't see how anyone could have issues with this contract. As I look around the league most teams seem to have a genuinely bad contract for one of their #5/6, this looks pretty good compared to them. 1 year, at worst he's waivers and only a 450k cap hit from $1.4m, which is cheap if he plays as well as he did last year.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

http://www.nhl.com/stats/player?rep...t=shotAttemptsPctg&aggregate=0&teamId=5&pos=D

NHL.com has him starting the vast majority of his starts in the offensive zone. Same with Cole.

That doesn't seem right. For starters, it doesn't seem to include NZ faceoffs. So those percentages don't take into account the NZ in the equation.

For instance, the regular season lists Letang as 54.17% in favor of OZ versus DZ (500 OZ and 423 DZ), which is where the poster I quoted got his OZ% from. But that's not accurate because the 54.17% figure doesn't include Letang's 493 NZ starts. His actual OZ, DZ, and NZ percentages actually break down to 35.3%, 29.9%, 34.8%, respectively.

So while Schultz's OZ/DZ percentage may be 66% if you only include OZ and DZ, that's not quite accurate in terms of what percentage of his OVERALL faceoffs were taken in the OZ because it doesn't include the faceoffs in the neutral zone, which is why I question the accuracy of the 66% OZ figure since it doesn't seem to include any shifts he had in the NZ.

Links for comparison:
NHL site that only lists OZ and DZ
Hockey Analysis that lists OZ, DZ, and NZ

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

extremely good gamble. if he gets his confidence back this is a kid with the obvious raw tools to be a top pair dman.

sadly playing pro sports is mostly mental. the actual talent difference between the 300 best hockey player in the world and the 1300 best is minimal. can justin schultz unlearn his edmonton trauma?

i remember wayyyyy back when toronto had their 3 cant miss kid dmen... broimstruck and nylund and benning... sometimes you ruin these young dmen and they never fix.

but 1 year at 1.4 for a potential top pair guy is great roll of the dice

 

[varano]

closer to polak money, personally

Yes....especially as a UFA.... I believe he took less to stay in pittsburgh....I would....

 

[Riptide]

Yes....especially as a UFA.... I believe he took less to stay in pittsburgh....I would....

Shh. If you can't provide a link, then this is false and never happened - at least according to Zar.

 

[ElysiumAB]

 

[Riptide]

Keep posting gifs all you want of him sitting in the pressbox. Doesn't change the fact that he helped PIT win their 2nd cup in 7 years.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Nice post!

We sure do love acquiring players out of shape, especially the hot dog and pop corn eaters!!!!

 

[ElysiumAB]

Keep posting gifs all you want of him sitting in the pressbox. Doesn't change the fact that he helped PIT win their 2nd cup in 7 years.

You're really overthinking the intent behind posting a gif.

1) The image is funny, for multiple reasons.
2) If I meant to imply anything by it, it was that he could be home eating popcorn and reading this thread.

Intense.

 

[Dying Alive]

Is there some kind of bat signal that goes up in the skies over Alberta any time a thread about Justin Schultz is started?

We're glad he's here. You're glad he's gone. We're all glad. No need to show up and tell us how awful he was in Edmonton. We know. He was better here, so it's no longer relevant.

I do hope he gets that tooth fixed though because it looks weird.

 

[Extra Texture]

When he scored this beauty, I was pretty convinced he could be a real positive force. Strange as it might sound for non-Pens fans to hear, this team was crying out all year for a true PPQB type or a guy who could just put accurate shots through on net. If he continues to get PP minutes and see an expanded role, I cant wait to see what the future holds. Like this, teeing off from Daley:



Man, look at that bomb. At the time I was all like...