The Pittsburgh Penguins: last in the *East* after *9* games.

[pi314]

Old soft and slow is not a great combo. Was hoping Karlsson could inject some life into the team but so far not happening. It's still early but it could get ugly.

They make a pill for that now.

 

[BallardEra]

They have the Ducks tonight and the Sharks after that.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Thing is lots of teams would like a nicer goalie. Most limited availability of all positions, teams have been playing musical chairs with eh goalies for years now.


If they can’t fix the play in front of Jarry then it’s not at all certain another of the realistically available goalies would do better.


Only exception would have bee Helly but I half (and then some) suspect the Jets really weren’t trying for real to trade him since they’re determined to perpetually run it back to sell tickets, and they can’t do that without him lol.

Certainly this.

They treat their bottom six like 2 - 4th lines, though, the addition of Zohorna has the 3rd line playing respectfully, they are not getting enough from the bottom six or defense enough to justify how many shots this team takes.

This isn't a one-off, either. This goes back years.

So it's a depth kind of thing and quite baffling this team has hedged on going as far away from it as possible. It's as if they are purposely tanking the team than any kind of cap issue. The issue is their choices than cap.

 

[AvroArrow]

At least Karlsson is improving on his plus minus

Only a -1 , big improvement on his -26 from last season

 

[Enniskillen]

Dubas is a gift that keeps on giving. The most discerning GM at the league.

 

[TJHKY]

Mike Sullivan will be the first coach to let go this season.

 

[slapKing]

Mike Sullivan will be the first coach to let go this season.

Yeah. His expiration date has been long overdue. Sometimes you got to let go and move on.

 

[MCR74]

Dubas is a gift that keeps on giving. The most discerning GM at the league.

And to think they signed him to a wonderful 7 year deal.

 

[scoopscj]

This would be very troubling if the season were 10 games.

What an absolutely simple and appropriate response. Slow clap.

 

[dr robbie]

Mike Sullivan will be the first coach to let go this season.

I honestly don't know how he's still around. It's not that he's a bad coach, he's just not what the team needs right now. I thought he'd be gone after multiple first round exits, then after finally missing the playoffs, then after a horrible start to the following season. Yet, here we are.

 

[TheNumber4]

I fail to see how it’s Dubas fault that Crosby/Malkin/Letang are just plain old.

Acquiring an impact player like Karlsson for a bunch of cap dump trash remains a good move.

 

[JTToilinginToronto]

I fail to see how it’s Dubas fault that Crosby/Malkin/Letang are just plain old.

You say that like they're out injured or underperforming.

The forwards are both over a PPG. And Letang has 5P in 8G, which is pretty good for a D.

The reason they stink isn't because of aging stars.

 

[HockeyVirus]

So they don't have their first (which is likely going to be top 10). They can choose to keep it and give an unprotected pick next year.. Can't imagine they want to do that with the team another year older.

Going to be interesting that is for sure. There is a chance Karlsson is traded for top 5 picks twice by complete accident after the fact.

 

[Peasy]

I fail to see how it’s Dubas fault that Crosby/Malkin/Letang are just plain old.

Acquiring an impact player like Karlsson for a bunch of cap dump trash remains a good move.

If Dubas was still with the Leafs I bet you wouldnt be saying this lmao.

Is it really a good move if they miss the playoffs and give up a really high pick?

One of many that im sure I could fine.

 

[TheNumber4]

If Dubas was still with the Leafs I bet you wouldnt be saying this lmao.

Is it really a good move if they miss the playoffs and give up a really high pick?

View attachment 760392

One of many that im sure I could fine.

He was an idiot that didn’t take a free draft pick and he built a soft Leaf’s team. His Karlsson trade was a master class though. Complete fleecing of Grier.

 

[Artemi Panarin]

If Dubas was still with the Leafs I bet you wouldnt be saying this lmao.

Is it really a good move if they miss the playoffs and give up a really high pick?

One of many that im sure I could fine.

The screenshotted post is hilarious.

"DUBAS DIDN'T TRADE WITH MY TEAM SO HE'S DONE AS A GM"

 

[TheNumber4]

The screenshotted post is hilarious.

"DUBAS DIDN'T TRADE WITH MY TEAM SO HE'S DONE AS A GM"

See Hyman sign and trade. It’s not a matter of just “not trading with my team.” Dude was offered a free 6th for nothing and said No.

 

[Empoleon8771]

So they don't have their first (which is likely going to be top 10). They can choose to keep it and give an unprotected pick next year.. Can't imagine they want to do that with the team another year older.

Going to be interesting that is for sure. There is a chance Karlsson is traded for top 5 picks twice by complete accident after the fact.

The Penguins are fundamentally not bad enough to end up with that high of a draft pick. That's not saying they're good, they're just not bad enough to be that bad.

You say that like they're out injured or underperforming.

The forwards are both over a PPG. And Letang has 5P in 8G, which is pretty good for a D.

The reason they stink isn't because of aging stars.

The reason they stink is because their powerplay is ghastly level bad and they've gotten wildly inconsistent goaltending. The first one you can definitely put the blame on the aging stars.

The Penguins are 31st in the NHL in powerplay%, with only 2 powerplay goals in 8 games. That is by far the biggest reason why the team is in the spot it's in.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Has Crosby tried not padding his stats and playing defense

I've been told that's why things like this happen

 

[LaCarriere]

Is the Crosby/Malkin/Letang era coming to an end? I think the same question can be asked of the Ovechkin/Backstrom era. Boston seems to be weathering the loss of Bergeron/Krejci but we'll see if they can it going all season and for how many more seasons.

As a Hawks fan - it was painful to watch the team get old and fall apart and it took years for mgmt to acknowledge the Toews/Kane era was over and to finally do what was necessary to rebuild. How many more years will it take for the Hawks to become legitimate Cup contenders again - 5 years or 10 years or never? Before the 2010 Cup it had been 49 years since winning the Cup in 1961.

The hawks cup window should realistically be in 5-10 years, if everything goes right and they don't go the direction the oilers appear to be going. They still need to surround bedard with great supporting pieces.

For a while the avs window didn't look like it was ever coming, until maybe a year or so before they actually won. MacKinnon was what, in his 10th year? Crosby won in his 4th year I believe, but had some superstars players along side him also.

Picking up guys like lekohnen, rantanen, nuke, etc, plus guys like Kadri having career years all helped For the avs. A pleasant surprise in a dominant guy in makar almost coming out of nowhere put them over the top.

There's certainly no guarantees in this league, just go look at the oilers. One guy is not going to win you the cup. The oilers had all those first overall picks and they still don't look anywhere good enough to get past the 2nd round.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I don't see why everybody is dramatising pittsburghs demise , honestly pittsburgh fans seem to be chill about it ,its not like they say they have a great team.... rival fans are licking their chops but can you even chirp a team/fanbase that's 100% more succesful than whatever mediocre team us mere mortals have been cheering for while they won a bunch of cups

 

[3074326]

I don't see why everybody is dramatising pittsburghs demise , honestly pittsburgh fans seem to be chill about it ,its not like they say they have a great team.... rival fans are licking their chops but can you even chirp a team/fanbase that's 100% more succesful than whatever mediocre team us mere mortals have been cheering for while they won a bunch of cups

We saw our boys win three cups. The people dunking on a 36 year old Crosby are hilarious. They've been waiting nearly 20 years to do this.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

We saw our boys win three cups. The people dunking on a 36 year old Crosby are hilarious. They've been waiting nearly 20 years to do this.

yeah its sad , im just happy my team is in the atlantic or we would also all hate your guts

 

[Empoleon8771]

I don't see why everybody is dramatising pittsburghs demise , honestly pittsburgh fans seem to be chill about it ,its not like they say they have a great team.... rival fans are licking their chops but can you even chirp a team/fanbase that's 100% more succesful than whatever mediocre team us mere mortals have been cheering for while they won a bunch of cups

It's partially this plus Leafs fans wanting to remind everyone how much they hate Dubas and think he's terrible.

The reality is that the Penguins are the late-era Red Wings at this point and realistically nothing was going to change that, unless you invented anti-aging for Crosby and Malkin. There are problems with the team that need to be fixed (Sullivan's system, terrible powerplay and inconsistent goaltending being the big 3 IMO), but this team is realistically nothing more than a mediocre wildcard caliber team. Even without those issues, their realistic upside is a 3rd seed in the Metro.

The Penguins acquired Karlsson because the only chance they could even possibly win again is if Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Karlsson, Guentzel and Jarry get super hot in the playoffs and carry them to a cup win. The chance is incredibly slim, but that's the only way this team could even possibly win again. It's likely not going to work, but realistically it's likely that nothing would work. The team is just old.

 

[HockeyVirus]

The Penguins are fundamentally not bad enough to end up with that high of a draft pick. That's not saying they're good, they're just not bad enough to be that bad.

Even if Ownership refuses to let Dubas fire Sullivan?