Salary Cap: Pittsburgh Penguins Salary Cap Thread: A New Error?
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I hate to be over reactionary but man, Matheson sure did look good yesterday. The fast PMD thrive on confidence so hopefully he can continue to play like that.
Jesse
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Overall I don't put a lot of stock into goal totals at all because of the nature of shooting and save percentages. Certainly the most important result in the game but the pathway to getting there is more important than anything.
Jason Zucker has stunk. I'm not sure how else to say it. I predicted before the year he'd score at a 40 goal clip. I felt like the chances were at least there in bunches while Malkin was struggling, but they've seem to almost reversed-roles in some kind of bizarre Freaky Friday scenario. Kapanen seems to be one of the primary play-drivers on that line and I love the partnership there so far. I wonder if a member of the third line might not be a suitable replacement (Tanev? ZAR?) for the interim, because the top line must be preserved at all costs.
Randy Butternubs
Eat the Sock
Might be nice if the coach had any interest in finding out, preferably before someone has to sign Malkin's commitment papers.
@Jesse . . . as I said yesterday, sometimes two players just don't work together. At some point, one has to stop asking why or looking for rationalizations or hope it will get better and make a change.
Forget the BART line. I'm hard pressed to think you'd be worse off swapping second and fourth line LW. I'm also hard pressed to think, when he returns, a McCann-Malkin-Kapanen or even a Zucker-McCann-Kapanen 2nd line would be worse than the current one.
EDIT: Glass 2/3 full . . . Hextall certainly has pieces in Zucker and one of the injured LD to address the 2nd line mix (and frankly goaltending if need be).
Forget the BART line. I'm hard pressed to think you'd be worse off swapping second and fourth line LW. I'm also hard pressed to think, when he returns, a McCann-Malkin-Kapanen or even a Zucker-McCann-Kapanen 2nd line would be worse than the current one.
EDIT: Glass 2/3 full . . . Hextall certainly has pieces in Zucker and one of the injured LD to address the 2nd line mix (and frankly goaltending if need be).
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Tom Hanks
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Told you @Tom Hanks -- and I was drunk when I said it.
He said goal totals so again I’m not sure if he means individual.
I think GF% is a good tool because that’s what actually is happening. If in a short sample size it’s good but xGF% is not then I’d still continue with the line/pair in the interim but have other ideas in mind if it starts to decline as expected.
Coach still has to win games so if it is working well enough and other lines are doing well I wouldn’t change too much. That could be a discussion with the GM though
Randy Butternubs
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Tom Hanks
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I was right.
Im not even sure what you said
There’s not much to do right now anyway.
The only thing Sully could look at is swapping ZAR and Zucker.
Zucker could still fit on L3 and ZAR looks to be in good form. Maybe just try it for a game or two and see.
I imagine Sully doesn’t want to break up L1 & L3 though and L4 sucks............so Hextall enters the chat.
Le Magnifique 66
Let's Go Pens
Matheson is still young IMO to give up on. He is turning 27 at the end of the month, I know his contract isn't looking good when we acquired him, but not many defensemans have looked good on the Panthers in the last few years, even Ekblad has had trouble. Hopefully like Schultz, he just needed a change of scenery
Randy Butternubs
Eat the Sock
I suspect it's this. And I just took a peak at the teams who are lower in the standings for some LWers. Here's three who I'd have interest in, ranked:
- Namestnikov
- Dzingel, but he was just traded
- Roussel, mostly just for the laughs
On paper, the Pens are the furthest thing from a good trade partner regarding Anaheim and Gibson.
A team with a healthy prospect pool and a young top 6 forward or first pairing D to spare is going snag Gibson.
If the Pens make a decision to move in a different direction this summer - with this not rebuilding, rebuilding, maybe rebuilding, we’re not going to call it a rebuild, the standard is the standard, we will call it a retool so everyone can sleep at night thing........
Then yes, send the likes of Guentzel their way and build from the net out.
A team with a healthy prospect pool and a young top 6 forward or first pairing D to spare is going snag Gibson.
If the Pens make a decision to move in a different direction this summer - with this not rebuilding, rebuilding, maybe rebuilding, we’re not going to call it a rebuild, the standard is the standard, we will call it a retool so everyone can sleep at night thing........
Then yes, send the likes of Guentzel their way and build from the net out.
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ChaosAgent
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Dipsy Doodle
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If the team wants to commit to a 3rd line that isn't going to be a regular scoring threat like ZAR-Blueger-Tanev, it needs both scoring lines to be firing on all cylinders and the PP to be a genuine threat.
We're a long, long way from that.
So what are they going to do about it? Keep rolling out the same lines and wish to make it better?
We're a long, long way from that.
So what are they going to do about it? Keep rolling out the same lines and wish to make it better?
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I thought about Namestnikov as a decent bottom 6 target. I believe it was part of a larger Mantha+Namestnikov for Zucker+ trade.
Gurglesons
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To be honest, if the team can get their D healthy and they continue to play as they have over the last stretch I don’t see any need for an immediate fix upfront.
DRAGO 18
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What realistically would Anaheim want from the Penguins if theyre letting Gibson become available?
Marino/POJ + Poulin?
Marino/POJ + Poulin?
vodeni
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I'm not sure we're as far as you and @Andy99, who liked your post, think.
The Pens have pieces to move to improve the L2 mix (Zucker, one of the injured LD).
Pretty clear to me what they need with Malkin-Kapanen is a Nick Foligno circa a few years ago type. Ugly. Physical. Create space. But also skilled enough to belong there.
@Gurglesons mentioned Boone Jenner in another thread. Someone like that . . .
The Pens have the pieces to get someone like that.
Turin
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I was excited about the Zucker trade because he should have been (and was imo) a fit with Crosby. But if that’s not going to happen for some stupid reason, explore moving him for a guy who can play on the power play or with Malkin, or a number one goalie.
There's an immediate need to fix the 2nd line . . .
The Pens need a more appropriate L2 LW fit. They need an upgrade in goal.
They have Zucker and/or McCann. They have Dumo or Pets. They have the pieces to tweak this one.
Reminds me of 2016. You need the moves to be right, but IF they are, then things start to align more quickly for a deeper run than perhaps one would have appreciated just a month before.
Gurglesons
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Empoleon8771
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Dipsy Doodle
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Okay, the d gets healthy but we get an injury or two in the top 6? How do we look then?
Not leaving a lot of wiggle room there.
One way or another these are issues that'll need to be sorted out by deadline day. I think it's pretty risky to wait that long though, considering how important chemistry is to both Crosby and Malkin.
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