Seriously? Neal is on the hook for almost $6M for four more years. Now we'd have him and Horn in the lineup? No thank you.
- Rinosaur

Don't care. Both JJ and Neal would be here until the end of the Crosby/Malkin Era with really poopty cap hits, and after the window officially closes bad contracts don't matterr anymore. Management and Sullivan see Johnson as top 4 defenseman, which is really, really bad as he'll neutralize one of our two puck movers on a game to game basis. At least Neal would probably just get scratched or be banished to the 4th line. Neither are ideal, but I've adopted a get rid of Johnson at all costs because he actively makes our team a ton worse and is loved by management, where as a different bad contract might have less of a negative impact on the ice.

IF the Pens feel they want to move Jack Johnson (the burning question), I actually do think it's possible if they target cap-floor teams.

Ottawa and Vancouver are going to be cap-floor teams. I think retaining 50% on JJ with a little more incentive is entirely doable. It's just a matter if the Pens think they need to move him.

I agree overall but he did win game 1 from coaching.
I would throw Dubas in the suspect lineup as well

CAR and COL are making hockey fun to watch....young, fast, play the body. The Pens brand of hockey lately has gotten stale.

Only reason I'd say Kuz is better is because he's a C...I dont think he's that much better overall. Scoring goals is the hardest thing to do in the NHL and he hasn't touched 30 yet.

I do agree with you and Vic that the supporting cast isnt as mangled with the Caps but I like the Pens forward group better than the Caps'. The real mess is the D for the Pens.

To answer your question I'd rather have Oprik as 6/7th at 1 mill, no doubt.
- MattStrat

I never said that Kuznetsov is better than Guentzel.

I never said that Kuznetsov is better than Guentzel.
- jmatchett383

You said "Yes, but I also think that that Kuznetsov and Holtby are better than Guentzel and Murray, not to take anything away from Guentzel."

You said "Yes, but I also think that that Kuznetsov and Holtby are better than Guentzel and Murray, not to take anything away from Guentzel."
- MattStrat

Could have meant in the aggregate sense, right?

Could have meant in the aggregate sense, right?
- Victoro311

True. Obviously not how I read it haha.

True. Obviously not how I read it haha.
- MattStrat

Wasn't how I read it either, but Mr. J's a pretty straight forward dude. I've never seen him succumb to poopty internet debate tactics of backtracking on something he's explicitly said just to win an argument.

You said "Yes, but I also think that that Kuznetsov and Holtby are better than Guentzel and Murray, not to take anything away from Guentzel."
- MattStrat

Kuz was straight up lazy last night.

Kuz was straight up lazy last night.
- sammy87

Wilson on the game winning goal

I agree with Mr. J. There's really not a ton of difference between the Caps' core's window and the Pens' core's window. They're about the same age and have about the same game breaking ability. The only difference is that the Caps' supporting cast hasn't been mangled to the extent that ours has. They actually have a vision of team construction and are sticking to it, and aren't force feeding Brooks Orpik top 4 minutes anymore.
- Victoro311

I don't think the core has been "mangled" as much as you say. McCann and Bjug really saved the day in that regard.

I see two glaring problems.... JJ and Hornqvist. I'm not entirely convinced Hornie is toast yet, but you can't pay a guy 5+ to be a bottom 6 player. He was having a pretty good season until the concussion. Honestly, just like Kessel, I didn't see a dramatic change in Hornqvists game. I think injuries and the way the Penguins played this season were big contributors to Kessel and Hornie having dry spells. How many games did we actually have Letang and Schultz healthy at the same time? That was a huge problem.

Seriously? Neal is on the hook for almost $6M for four more years. Now we'd have him and Horn in the lineup? No thank you.
- Rinosaur

Imo, I think Hornquist is one of the guys Rutherford was talking about. I dont think him, or Matta will be around next year. Rust is also one of those guys who is a decent trading chip.

Imo, I think Hornquist is one of the guys Rutherford was talking about. I dont think him, or Matta will be around next year. Rust is also one of those guys who is a decent trading chip.
- nateca44

Thing is, if we're trying to get faster, like we should, why would we trade Rust or Simon?

Thing is, if we're trying to get faster, like we should, why would we trade Rust or Simon?
- Victoro311

If I had to guess I think some trades will be made just to get fresh faces.

Unless Simon is used as a piece to make a much bigger move happen, moving him makes little sense.

CAR and COL are making hockey fun to watch....young, fast, play the body. The Pens brand of hockey lately has gotten stale.
- sammy87

They don’t even know what their brand of hockey is anymore lol they completely changed their identity since their first cup win.

If I had to guess I think some trades will be made just to get fresh faces.

Unless Simon is used as a piece to make a much bigger move happen, moving him makes little sense.
- Rinosaur

Yeah I have no idea why either of them would be traded.

https://twitter.com/caniacdak/status/1121272346034278401?s=21

The guy who shoulda been a penguin with a monster game last night.
- j.boyd919

I knew exactly who you were talking about before I clicked on the link. But JR wanted a different d-man.

Justin Williams or Sidney Crosby?
- jmatchett383

Both

If I had to guess I think some trades will be made just to get fresh faces.

Unless Simon is used as a piece to make a much bigger move happen, moving him makes little sense.
- Rinosaur

I wouldnt trade Simon. I just think that Rust is overpaid. Again, my opinion. Although he can slot anywhere in the lineup, so can guys like McCann at half the price and put up the same ir better numbers.

They don’t even know what their brand of hockey is anymore lol they completely changed their identity since their first cup win.
- j.boyd919

Yeah I thought a big part of why the Pens lost to the Isles was because they don't really play with any sort of identity. It really seems like every line plays a different way.

I wouldnt trade Simon. I just think that Rust is overpaid. Again, my opinion. Although he can slot anywhere in the lineup, so can guys like McCann at half the price and put up the same ir better numbers.
- nateca44

Rust is like the fourth or fifth most overpaid guy on the team depending on your opinion of Oli Maatta. If the object is to trim the fat to get value elsewhere, we have much bigger fish to fry. Rust plays the way our team should all play, so I don't mind paying him a bit. If he were our most overpaid player, we'd be in a great place right now. His contract is as average as it gets.

they can poop on Babcock all they want, but I think a lot of blame should also be thrown at Dubas. He made a lot of mistakes too:

- he signed Marleau to a big deal without the foresight to realize that it went beyond when all their big young names would be due extensions. they're going to be in cap hell because they're paying huge money to a 40 year old 3rd liner.

- signing Tavares was great, but he gave huge money to a center (which was already an area of strength for the team) while he let some other really good players walk away for nothing....and he failed to address the teams actual needs

- he waived 2 solid backup goalies and kept Sparks.....who almost singlehandedly cost the leafs atleast 10 points in the standings (if not more)

- even with the addition of Muzzin, there was a severe lack of depth on the blueline that he failed to address


he gets all this praise in Toronto for being such a great young GM, but in reality what has he done that was so great, other than sign Tavares (which a half-trained monkey with a pen could have done.

granted he's still early in his career, but in terms of how they're portrayed, I think Dubas is more of a "fraud" than Babcock is.
- sensarmy_11

1. Lou signed Marleau, not Dubas.

2. Centre depth is so important and the leafs know this. They were trying to get a top centre since Sundin left. If you can add someone like Tavares without giving up any assets to aquire them you do it.

3. After the year Sparks had last year given his age compared to Mcelhinney you take a gamble on the younger guy everytime. Goalies take longer to mature, not unheard of it taking till 24 or later for a goalie to find their way. I would have loved if Pickard could have been kept too but it is what it is. It didn't work out but you have to take gambles.

4. Adding Muzzin was a great move as it didn't give up any roster players and he has an extra year. With the price of defence out there and who was available during the season he didn't really have much options to add. Pressure is on to do it during this offseason now though, but it shows he didn't want to give up anything from the roster and wanted to keep this roster together going into the playoffs.

In his short time he has done a good job in my opinion. This offseason is going to be big though so we will see how we feel in September.

1. Lou signed Marleau, not Dubas.

2. Centre depth is so important and the leafs know this. They were trying to get a top centre since Sundin left. If you can add someone like Tavares without giving up any assets to aquire them you do it.

3. After the year Sparks had last year given his age compared to Mcelhinney you take a gamble on the younger guy everytime. Goalies take longer to mature, not unheard of it taking till 24 or later for a goalie to find their way. I would have loved if Pickard could have been kept too but it is what it is. It didn't work out but you have to take gambles.

4. Adding Muzzin was a great move as it didn't give up any roster players and he has an extra year. With the price of defence out there and who was available during the season he didn't really have much options to add. Pressure is on to do it during this offseason now though, but it shows he didn't want to give up anything from the roster and wanted to keep this roster together going into the playoffs.

In his short time he has done a good job in my opinion. This offseason is going to be big though so we will see how we feel in September.
- harps43

Yeah I’m not sure how people are shîtting in Dubas. I think he’s done well in his short time at GM.

Yeah I thought a big part of why the Pens lost to the Isles was because they don't really play with any sort of identity. It really seems like every line plays a different way.
- BINGO!

They also kind of have to because every D pair plays a different way because there is no semblance of an identity along the D Corp either. You’ve got one really good pair and then another that sucks and can’t get the puck out of their own zone and then you’ve got Pettersson and Guddy who played well for what they are but I’m not really sure that pairing has the identity we’re looking for either.